Transparency News 12/2/16
Friday, December 2, 2016
State and Local Stories
Taking the stand in his own defense in federal court, Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot testified Thursday that he never took bribes in exchange for votes, but instead voted for what he thought was in the best interest of the city.
Virginian-Pilot
At a Thursday news conference, a few of the Charlottesville City Council’s most outspoken critics presented a petition that included more than 1,000 signatures, asking that the city to revoke several new meeting procedures that were adopted in February on a 4-1 vote. The procedures were amended slightly in October in an attempt to compromise with those who said the new meeting procedures are antithetical to government transparency and free speech rights. Now, city officials have started to question how they might change them again. “… these procedures hamper serious discussion and debate by councilors,” said Walt Heinecke, a University of Virginia professor opposed to the meeting process, reading from a news release prepared for the conference at the Free Speech Wall near City Hall. Among the new rules is a restriction on councilors responding to public speakers during council meetings without the mayor’s approval. Restrictions on how much time they have to deliberate on agenda items also had been adopted.
Daily Progress
A high-level delegation of Chinese and U.S. officials recently toured local breweries and eateries in what local officials described as a friendly visit to Loudoun County. The nearly four-hour long Nov. 20 visit was attended by local leaders from Visit Loudoun, Loudoun County Economic Development, Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors Phyllis Randall (D-At-Large), Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R) and Chinese media. Local media, however, were prohibited from attending, and details of China’s interest in Loudoun County in particular are few. Beth Erickson, President and CEO of Visit Loudoun, said all “media and security protocols” that prevented U.S. media from covering the event were enforced not locally but by the U.S. Department of State, Commerce and Embassy of China without giving any specific details on the arrangement. The Times-Mirror reached out to the State Department for additional details about the trip but was referred to the Chinese Embassy in Washington and Department of Commerce. Neither the Chinese embassy nor the Commerce Department responded to the inquiries.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
This week citizens noticed language posted to the Virginia Beach city website that seemed to soften the impact of the recent advisory referendum in which voters opposed extending the Tide from Newtown Station to Town Center. By factoring in past referenda that were on the same topic but used different questions, the site suggested public opinion on extending light rail was that of “ambivalence” over time. Official returns from the Tuesday, Nov. 8, vote show 57.1 percent said “no” to 42.9 percent on the “yes” side. The city page took that margin — which followed a spirited, costly and sometimes-bitter campaign — and effectively added to it. “For broader context,” it said, “the combined vote of the 1999, 2012 and 2016 light rail related referendums equaled exactly 50 percent ‘Yes’ to 50 percent ‘No.’”
Princess Anne Independent News
All but one of the schools in Planning District 17 of Virginia have passed resolutions to approve Delegate Margaret Ransone to sponsor an amendment to section 2.2-3119 of the Code of Virginia, which prohibits the the employment of family members of superintendents and school board members. Some of the schools who passed the resolution include Richmond County, Northumberland County and Lancaster County.
Northern Neck News
National Stories
Prince George’s County Council member Mel Franklin, who was charged with driving under the influence last week in a crash that injured two people, also damaged another government vehicle on two separate occasions four years ago, according to county records. Franklin (D-Upper Marlboro) totaled a county-owned Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle in a distracted-driving crash in 2012, the records show, two months after banging up the same vehicle in an incident that he did not report to police. The more serious collision involved Franklin rear-ending a car on the Beltway and resulted in more than $33,000 in repair costs and losses to the government, according to damage reports. Neither crash was reported to the public when it occurred.
Washington Post
The U.S. Department of Agriculture must disclose to the Argus Leader newspaper the annual food stamp revenues for stores nationwide participating in the federal program, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Sioux Falls disagreed with the Agriculture Department's argument that such disclosure would inflict competitive harm on grocery stores participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. Witnesses for the Department of Agriculture during a 2016 bench trial said that the grocery industry is highly competitive because profit margins are low and that disclosing the food stamp information could be used against businesses by their competitors. Citing the "speculative nature" of the agency's claims and the Freedom of Information Act's preference for transparency, Schreier wrote that the release of the information wouldn't likely cause significant competitive harm to retailers participating in SNAP.
Daily Progress
Editorials/Columns
Petersburg’s financial collapse has inflamed the citizenry. The city’s response to its budget crisis has not restored trust. The ACLU of Virginia faults Petersburg officials for secrecy, a lack of openness. It cites special meetings called at the last minute and held not only at inconvenient times but in cramped quarters. The circumstances discourage public participation. Residents want to know. They have a right to know. Petersburg citizens have shown up at meetings with tape over their mouths. This is not the image the city ought to project. And, as the ACLU notes, Petersburg is not alone. Other Virginia jurisdictions, including Grayson and Fairfax counties, have attempted to block the sunshine as well.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Good heavens. Another book banning. Make that an attempted ban. They never learn, do they? Some book bans are instigated by religious zealots, others by the politically correct. Bans take place in the North and the South. In cities and in rural areas. Modern novels fall victim, and so do classics. It’s the tyranny of the minority. When a parent finds a tome objectionable, often it isn’t enough to keep it away from their own kid. These busybodies don’t want any other child exposed to it, either. This time, Accomack County on the Eastern Shore is bowing to the objections of one parent, who wants “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” swept off the public school shelves and out of classrooms – because the U.S. Constitution apparently protects this individual’s sacred right not to be offended. According to news reports, a disgruntled parent filed a protest against the two books and – by following an onerous Accomack County school policy – the two American masterpieces have been temporarily hidden while a committee looks into the matter. What a splendid use of public resources. Pity these school officials don’t simply take a stand against censorship.
Kerry Dougherty, Virginian-Pilot
Virginian-Pilot
At a Thursday news conference, a few of the Charlottesville City Council’s most outspoken critics presented a petition that included more than 1,000 signatures, asking that the city to revoke several new meeting procedures that were adopted in February on a 4-1 vote. The procedures were amended slightly in October in an attempt to compromise with those who said the new meeting procedures are antithetical to government transparency and free speech rights. Now, city officials have started to question how they might change them again. “… these procedures hamper serious discussion and debate by councilors,” said Walt Heinecke, a University of Virginia professor opposed to the meeting process, reading from a news release prepared for the conference at the Free Speech Wall near City Hall. Among the new rules is a restriction on councilors responding to public speakers during council meetings without the mayor’s approval. Restrictions on how much time they have to deliberate on agenda items also had been adopted.
Daily Progress
A high-level delegation of Chinese and U.S. officials recently toured local breweries and eateries in what local officials described as a friendly visit to Loudoun County. The nearly four-hour long Nov. 20 visit was attended by local leaders from Visit Loudoun, Loudoun County Economic Development, Chairwoman of the Board of Supervisors Phyllis Randall (D-At-Large), Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R) and Chinese media. Local media, however, were prohibited from attending, and details of China’s interest in Loudoun County in particular are few. Beth Erickson, President and CEO of Visit Loudoun, said all “media and security protocols” that prevented U.S. media from covering the event were enforced not locally but by the U.S. Department of State, Commerce and Embassy of China without giving any specific details on the arrangement. The Times-Mirror reached out to the State Department for additional details about the trip but was referred to the Chinese Embassy in Washington and Department of Commerce. Neither the Chinese embassy nor the Commerce Department responded to the inquiries.
Loudoun Times-Mirror
This week citizens noticed language posted to the Virginia Beach city website that seemed to soften the impact of the recent advisory referendum in which voters opposed extending the Tide from Newtown Station to Town Center. By factoring in past referenda that were on the same topic but used different questions, the site suggested public opinion on extending light rail was that of “ambivalence” over time. Official returns from the Tuesday, Nov. 8, vote show 57.1 percent said “no” to 42.9 percent on the “yes” side. The city page took that margin — which followed a spirited, costly and sometimes-bitter campaign — and effectively added to it. “For broader context,” it said, “the combined vote of the 1999, 2012 and 2016 light rail related referendums equaled exactly 50 percent ‘Yes’ to 50 percent ‘No.’”
Princess Anne Independent News
All but one of the schools in Planning District 17 of Virginia have passed resolutions to approve Delegate Margaret Ransone to sponsor an amendment to section 2.2-3119 of the Code of Virginia, which prohibits the the employment of family members of superintendents and school board members. Some of the schools who passed the resolution include Richmond County, Northumberland County and Lancaster County.
Northern Neck News
National Stories
Prince George’s County Council member Mel Franklin, who was charged with driving under the influence last week in a crash that injured two people, also damaged another government vehicle on two separate occasions four years ago, according to county records. Franklin (D-Upper Marlboro) totaled a county-owned Ford Explorer sport-utility vehicle in a distracted-driving crash in 2012, the records show, two months after banging up the same vehicle in an incident that he did not report to police. The more serious collision involved Franklin rear-ending a car on the Beltway and resulted in more than $33,000 in repair costs and losses to the government, according to damage reports. Neither crash was reported to the public when it occurred.
Washington Post
The U.S. Department of Agriculture must disclose to the Argus Leader newspaper the annual food stamp revenues for stores nationwide participating in the federal program, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Sioux Falls disagreed with the Agriculture Department's argument that such disclosure would inflict competitive harm on grocery stores participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. Witnesses for the Department of Agriculture during a 2016 bench trial said that the grocery industry is highly competitive because profit margins are low and that disclosing the food stamp information could be used against businesses by their competitors. Citing the "speculative nature" of the agency's claims and the Freedom of Information Act's preference for transparency, Schreier wrote that the release of the information wouldn't likely cause significant competitive harm to retailers participating in SNAP.
Daily Progress
Editorials/Columns
Petersburg’s financial collapse has inflamed the citizenry. The city’s response to its budget crisis has not restored trust. The ACLU of Virginia faults Petersburg officials for secrecy, a lack of openness. It cites special meetings called at the last minute and held not only at inconvenient times but in cramped quarters. The circumstances discourage public participation. Residents want to know. They have a right to know. Petersburg citizens have shown up at meetings with tape over their mouths. This is not the image the city ought to project. And, as the ACLU notes, Petersburg is not alone. Other Virginia jurisdictions, including Grayson and Fairfax counties, have attempted to block the sunshine as well.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Good heavens. Another book banning. Make that an attempted ban. They never learn, do they? Some book bans are instigated by religious zealots, others by the politically correct. Bans take place in the North and the South. In cities and in rural areas. Modern novels fall victim, and so do classics. It’s the tyranny of the minority. When a parent finds a tome objectionable, often it isn’t enough to keep it away from their own kid. These busybodies don’t want any other child exposed to it, either. This time, Accomack County on the Eastern Shore is bowing to the objections of one parent, who wants “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” swept off the public school shelves and out of classrooms – because the U.S. Constitution apparently protects this individual’s sacred right not to be offended. According to news reports, a disgruntled parent filed a protest against the two books and – by following an onerous Accomack County school policy – the two American masterpieces have been temporarily hidden while a committee looks into the matter. What a splendid use of public resources. Pity these school officials don’t simply take a stand against censorship.
Kerry Dougherty, Virginian-Pilot
Categories:
