Transparency News 9/16/14

Tuesday, September 16, 2014



 
State and Local Stories

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones announced Monday that he had accepted the resignation of Chief Administrative Officer Byron C. Marshall, but the mayor’s office offered no details on what led to the departure of the official who ran the city government’s daily operations for five years. The mayor’s office took steps to prevent information from going public by asking City Council members to sign a confidentiality agreement before being briefed on Marshall’s departure, according to several city sources. City Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell said she hasn't been told anything about the resignation of the city’s top administrator because she refused to sign. "I told them it's going to be a cold day in hell before I sign anything like that," said Trammell, 8th District. "I think it's a damn shame that everything we do we've got to go sign something to keep the taxpayers of Richmond in the dark."
Times-Dispatch

A former employee of the Richmond City Auditor’s office attempted to misuse sick leave time by submitting falsified doctor’s notes, according to a report that required City Auditor/Inspector General Umesh Dalal to investigate one of his own employees. The report from Dalal’s office, dated Sept. 11, states that one of his employees submitted a letter of resignation with a three-week notice, then attempted to use 71 hours of sick leave within that period. In an interview, Dalal said his office is “not going to tolerate any sort of impropriety,” whether in his office or other city departments. “We are going to fully investigate and report it,” Dalal said. “So at all times we are going to do the right thing.” Dalal said he could not recall any other case in which his office has investigated one of its own.
Times-Dispatch

A Virginia company is developing a radar gunlike device that would help police catch drivers as they text. The technology works by detecting the telltale radio frequencies that emit from a vehicle when someone inside is using a cellphone, said Malcolm McIntyre of ComSonics. Cable repairmen use similar means to find where a cable is damaged - from a rodent, for instance - by looking for frequencies leaking in a transmission, McIntyre said. A text message, phone call and data transfer emit different frequencies that can be distinguished by the device ComSonics is working on, according to McIntyre. That would prove particularly useful for law enforcement in states such as Virginia, where texting behind the wheel is banned but talking on the phone is legal for adult drivers.
Virginian-Pilot

Spotsylvania County residents seeking information about this year’s bond referendum can check out spotsybond.org. The link redirects people to Spotsylvania’s main government web site, which has detailed information about the bond referendum and a schedule of informational meetings in October.
Free Lance-Star

Caroline County residents who subscribe to Comcast will be able to watch the Board of Supervisors’ meetings on TV soon. The supervisors approved an agreement last week in which the county will provide a DVD to the cable television service. Meetings will air within two days of the actual meetings. Currently, the meetings are recorded and put on the county’s website. The board meetings are the only county meetings put online.
Free Lance-Star

In an endeavor to continue Northern Virginia's place as a leader in the big data arena, the Northern Virginia Technology Council in Herndon announced the formation of the Big Data and Analytics Committee Sept. 9.  Through its efforts in promoting the area as a data hub through education and collaboration projects, the committee hopes to stimulate economic growth throughout the region and the country.  “We're hoping the region will be branded as a hub for big data,” said Dova Wilson, marketing and communications specialist for George Washington University's Science and Technology Campus in Ashburn. “Northern Virginia is in a good position to (collect and analyze data)...The foundation is there, but we need to capitalize on it now before someone else does.” 
Loudoun Times-Mirror

National Stories

In the summer of 2006, not far from Mount Rushmore, a truck collided with a motorcycle. The rider lost part of his leg. The rider sued, but a South Dakota jury sided with the truck driver. A few days later, one of the jurors approached the rider’s lawyer. The juror, Stacey Titus, said he was having second thoughts. Those qualms set in motion a Supreme Court case to be argued next month, one that will examine the privacy of jury deliberations and consider how to address dishonesty during jury selection. In a sworn statement, Mr. Titus said the jury’s forewoman, Regina Whipple, had allowed her judgment to be warped by her family’s experiences.
New York Times

Four universities, including two in Chicago, one in New York and one in Hawaii, have been picked as finalists to host a future Barack Obama presidential library, the library's foundation said on Monday. The Barack Obama Foundation said it had issued a "Request for Proposal" to the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia University in New York and the University of Hawaii. The four were picked from 13 contenders.
Reuters

A Guantanamo Bay military judge overseeing the trial of an accused al Qaeda leader heard arguments on Monday on what information can be released during his upcoming trial without jeopardizing national security. The Iraqi suspect, Abd al Hadi al Iraqi, is accused of being a senior al Qaeda commander who conspired to bomb Western forces in Afghanistan and of killing civilians and U.S. soldiers. He was captured in 2007 and has been held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, designated a "high-value detainee."
Reuters

A Tampa, Florida woman can proceed with part of an invasion of privacy lawsuit against the U.S. government over leaks to the media about her connection to a scandal over former CIA Director David Petraeus' extramarital affair, a federal judge ruled on Monday. Last year, Tampa socialite Jill Kelley and her husband Scott sued the FBI, the Department of Defense (DOD) and several government officials, saying they willfully leaked damaging and false information about the couple. While U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson dismissed 13 of the 14 counts against most defendants in the lawsuit, she let part of one count related to privacy violations move forward. She also allowed a few other counts to move forward only against some unnamed officials.
Reuters
 

Editorials/Columns

At city council meetings in many communities, the public comment period serves as window into the concerns and fears of citizens. Speakers bring ideas and problems directly to elected officials who, when possible, answer questions, provide clarification or suggest solutions. Giving a live microphone to members of the public is a gamble. It is ripe for abuse by those with an ax to grind or a personal agenda to advance. But those who hold elected office should know their responsibilities include listening to citizens carry out their constitutional right to petition their government.That seems pretty straightforward, so we struggle to understand how local officials keep getting it so wrong. The latest offense came last week when Hampton Mayor George Wallace silenced a citizen and had law enforcement officers escort him out rather than endure three minutes — three whole minutes — of comment.
Daily Press