Transparency News 11/19/14
State and Local Stories
When Mike Pallone Chevrolet, a four-decade-old car dealership in the prosperous Northern Virginia suburbs, needed a lawyer to argue its case for help from the Department of Motor Vehicles back in 2007, it went looking to the small country town of Front Royal, more than a hour's drive to the west — assuming no traffic jams on the Beltway or Interstate 66. That's where Clay Athey, soon to be chairman of the civil law panel of the House Courts of Justice Committee, practiced law. Athey, elected a judge in 2012 by his fellow legislators, is one of several members of the General Assembly over the years who practiced before the state agencies whose budgets they decided, and among the even larger number of lawmakers who practice before judges they elect. Virginia is one of only two states where the state legislature elects judges.
Daily Press
The contractor that ultimately won Richmond’s Stone Brewing construction project was named on work permit applications filed the same day the Stone plan was announced, city documents show, a revelation that raises new questions about the process used to award the $18 million contract to build the brewery facility. The permit applications were filed nearly two weeks before the Richmond Economic Development Authority voted to award the project to Hourigan, the same local company that the EDA selected to build the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center. The online system says the applications were filed Oct. 9, the day when city and state officials announced that the California-based brewery had chosen Richmond for its coveted eastern expansion. The application date field on the documents is blank, but the permits are coded as “14100901” and “14100902,” which indicates they were the first two applications filed Oct. 9.
Times-Dispatch
Mayor Will Sessoms presided over a packed City Council meeting Tuesday night, ignoring a call earlier in the evening for him to take a leave of absence while a special prosecutor reviews his voting record. That request, from fellow City Council member and 2008 campaign rival John Moss, came via a letter circulated to the council and news reporters ahead of the 6 p.m. City Council session. Sessoms did not publicly acknowledge Moss’ letter, but he read a brief statement. He has said he has no plans to step down as mayor.
Virginian-Pilot
Hannah Graham, whose disappearance sparked a month-long search, died from “homicidal violence” but the exact cause is unknown, authorities said Tuesday. The Albemarle County Police Department outlined the findings from the Virginia medical examiner’s office in the death of 18-year-old Graham but said a final autopsy report has not been issued. In an emailed statement, county police and prosecutors said they would not be answering any further questions or providing additional information so they can “protect the integrity of the case.” County police are currently leading the investigation into her death.
Roanoke Times
State Sen. Steve Newman, R-Forest, said Tuesday he supports a blanket ban on gifts for state legislators — a prohibition he’s practiced for years. “I know some are leery of it,” said Newman, vice chair of the Senate Republican Caucus. “But I’ve done it for about 10 years, and it’s just very easy. There’s no question about where the line is.” This is a shift in outlook for Newman, who as recently as September reaffirmed his commitment to eschewing gifts but stopped short of saying it should be required of all representatives.
News & Advance
About $25 million in unclaimed royalties from gas accounts in Southwest Virginia is being held in an escrow account. The Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy is trying to help get some of that money to the rightful owners with a new section of its website. On the site, people can now search for property or a certain gas well, if they believe money in escrow is due them. A person using the site can identify land they believe to be theirs, estimate how many acres of the gas well unit are theirs and the site will calculate the estimated worth of that land. Some of the parcels are worth pennies, but others are worth thousands of dollars.
Bristol Herald Courier
e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government announced the top-ranked cities in the 2014 Digital Cities Survey. In its 14th year, the annual survey is part of the Center’s Digital Communities Program, which focuses on collaboration among cities, counties and regions. Open to all U.S. cities, this year’s survey questions targeted which initiatives cities were most proud of in the areas of citizen engagement, policy, operations, and technology and data. Among Virginia winners… Alexandria, Hampton, Lynchburg, Roanoke and Williamsburg
Digital Cities Survey
Local real estate developer Chris Henderson on Tuesday told the Williamsburg-James City School Board he continues to work on an idea for a public-private partnership that could result in a new middle school built at a property on News Road. Whereas he previously directed his queries to a select few county and school officials via email in October, this time Henderson took his idea to the podium at a School Board meeting. During Tuesday's public comment session Henderson told the School Board that preparing a formal public-private partnership proposal is costly, citing the figure of $20,000 in administrative charges alone. He asked the board members whether they would even consider an unsolicited proposal. "I do not want to waste your time or mine in presenting you with an option you are not prepared to consider," he said. "Provided you are in agreement to at least consider an unsolicited ... proposal, I will do my part to try to bring you one for you to consider." However, his question went unanswered during the public meeting. That's because the Williamsburg-James City School Board has an established policy of not responding to the statements made by speakers during the public comment session at each meeting.
Virginia Gazette
National Stories
For much of her career in government service, Miriam Nisbet has been on the cutting edge of the intersection of digital technology and the Freedom of Information Act. But more than 35 years after she began government service in 1978, Nisbet will leave her post as the government's top FOIA ombudsman at the end of November to take a break and pursue a career in the private sector. Nisbet has spent the last five years as the director of National Archives and Records Administration's office of government information services. "FOIA will always remain in my heart," Nisbet said. "I'll look for opportunities to contribute from the private side."Fierce Government
The U.S. State Department said its unclassified email system was up again after being shut down this weekend to improve security following a cyber attack several weeks ago. The department said a day earlier that its unclassified email systems were the victim of a cyber attack at around the same time White House systems were breached, but no classified data was compromised.
Reuters
The secrecy surrounding future Ohio executions might be lifted, but only a decade after the fact. Withholding the name of the supplier of drugs used in executions is the latest wrinkle in proposed state legislation aimed at allowing capital punishment to resume next year. House Bill 663, introduced just last week, is on a fast track.
Columbus Dispatch
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is taking a lead role inan effort to unseal grand jury transcripts from a 1942 Department of Justice effort to prosecute the Chicago Tribune for publishing classified government information, which is the only time the government has attempted to prosecute the mainstream press under the Espionage Act of 1917. The Reporters Committee and a coalition of historical organizations have joined author and naval historian Elliot Carlson in asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to unseal records from the grand jury proceeding.
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Some of the pornographic emails that were exchanged among state government officials in a scandal that has claimed some of their jobs involved children and violent sexual acts against women, the state attorney general said Tuesday. Attorney General Kathleen Kane said in an interview televised Tuesday night on CNN the images are "deplorable." Kane, a Democrat, said a court order is preventing her from investigating them or explaining why. The court order stems from an investigation by a special prosecutor into whether Kane's office breached grand jury secrecy when it gave documents about a 2009 investigation to the Philadelphia Daily News. Kane did not describe the material involving children and violent sexual acts against women or say who exchanged it, and she was not asked in the interview to elaborate on it. In any case, no one who has viewed the emails has described them as having involved child pornography.
Fox News
Editorials/Columns
Open Virginia Law
In our continued fight for greater openness and transparency in government, we found the following items worthy of comment. For the first time in 14 years, the General Assembly earlier this year ordered a thorough review of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. Specifically, the resolution instructed the commonwealth's Freedom of Information Advisory Council to streamline the law by examining the numerous exemptions it contains. We were immediately delighted. As the review has proceeded, however, we have begun to question whether a review of the exemptions is specifically the best approach. As the review proceeds, with the council tending to keep exemptions and even consider adding to them, it feels as if members are asking the wrong questions to solve the problem at hand. Finally, we continue to go round and round with local law enforcement on the issue of mug shots, which are, by law, public records available for the asking.
Daily Press
