Transparency News 2/9/17

Thursday, February 9, 2017


State and Local Stories

VCOG’s legislative bill chart has updated committee assighments

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the release of the name of a Fairfax County police officer involved in a fatal shooting after the officer filed a lawsuit claiming the move could put his or her safety at risk. The case in U.S. District Court in Alexandria potentially sets up a major legal clash that pits police departments’ efforts to be more transparent about police shootings against growing concerns by some officers that they could be targeted for reprisals. U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III granted the officer’s request for a temporary restraining order Monday and scheduled a preliminary injunction hearing for Thursday.
Washington Post

The Peninsula Airport Commission, which says it was not its job to monitor how People Express Airlines used taxpayer-backed funds, wants to charge $1,300 for copies of any records it may have about the loan it guaranteed to the heavily-indebted firm whose founder had filed for bankruptcy five years earlier. The Daily Press requested under the Freedom of Information Act access to any records the commission may have used in deciding in 2014 to guarantee up to $5 million of People Express IOUs, any records related to its decision to pay $4.5 million to make good on the money People Express borrowed from TowneBank, and any records it may have that related to how People Express used that loan.
Daily Press

Petersburg City Council members arrived to gifts Tuesday at the first council meeting since residents petitioned the court to remove two representatives from office — copies of the procedural bible, “Robert’s Rules of Order,” and an organizational chart explaining that the voters are in charge. That did not stop the council from suspending its own rules over complaints from its own members and city residents to allow for a vote on using tax dollars for a private lawyer to defend Mayor Samuel Parham and Councilman W. Howard Myers from the removal petitions. The move appeared to further inflame tensions between Petersburg’s governing body and the community it serves at a time when the council has come under fire from good-government advocates and the ACLU of Virginia. The vote followed a brief recess called after Petersburg resident Ron Flock asked the council when, exactly, they voted to hire a lawyer for Myers and Parham. “There should be no reason why (the city attorney) cannot represent the defendants in this hearing,” Flock said. “At what point did you as City Council approve this expenditure?”
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Virginia’s Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission says two judges who publicly urged voters to reject a county courthouse relocation proposal should be disciplinedfor “political activity.” The JIRC is asking the Supreme Court of Virginia to censure Court of Appeals Senior Judge Rudolph Bumgardner III and retired Augusta County Circuit Judge Humes J. Franklin Jr.
Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Nine months ago, the state billed John Rowe for a pair of contracts deemed illegal because they let him get retirement pay while working for Portsmouth. Today, the new mayor could still be on the hook for about $400,000. Virginia retirement officials say Rowe got the money while working full time, which violates state law. At the same time, the city didn’t make required contributions to the Virginia Retirement System for Rowe, who served as city manager after a stint as a deputy. Portsmouth has paid its share of just over $80,000, according to figures provided to The Pilot and city officials by Councilman Mark Whitaker. But he also has said the overall bill was about $480,000. Both VRS and Rowe have refused to discuss dollar amounts, though his lawyer says the two parties will meet in May to negotiate. “He disputes that he owes anything,” attorney Bill Bischoff said, adding that he has advised his client not to speak publicly on the matter.
Virginian-Pilot





National Stories

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's office has not released public documents for more than two years, two plaintiffs contended in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The Center for Media and Democracy and the Oklahoma Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union are asking for the court's help to get thousands of emails and documents. The plantiffs hope the records would shed light on communication between energy companies and Pruitt, who awaits U.S. Senate confirmation as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Lincoln Ferguson, a spokesman with the attorney general's office, said he only saw a copy of the lawsuit after it was dispersed to the media.
The Oklahoman

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan uses his Facebook page to share his cancer journey, promote his agenda and, at times, urge voters to contact Democratic lawmakers who oppose him. The Republican also uses the social media platform to quiet his critics. After a deluge of comments last week asking that he denounce President Trump’s controversial travel ban, Hogan’s office blocked numerous posters and deleted their messages from the page. Hogan spokesman Doug Mayer said those who were blocked were believed to be part of an organized campaign — a description that several of the blocked commenters denied.  Mayer said the governor’s office has blocked a total of 450 people since Hogan took office two years ago. About half were blocked for using “hateful or racist” language, he said. The rest were blocked after the 2014 riots in Baltimore or in the days since the travel ban — each time, Mayer said, because the governor’s office thought the postings were part of a “coordinated attack.”
Washington Post

A former National Security Agency contractor has been indicted on 20 criminal counts involving the theft of highly classified information from the federal government during more than two decades of employment, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday. Harold T. Martin III of Glen Burnie, Maryland, is accused of stealing more than a half-billion pages of top-secret documents and records from the U.S. government from 1996 to 2016. The indictment against Mr. Martin indicates that the classified documents found at his home and in his car included information from the NSA, the U.S. Cyber Command, the National Reconnaissance Office and the CIA.
Washington Times

Two Tennessee lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday that would scratch away an open records exemption of the Tennessee Lottery. The bill, introduced by Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, and Rep. John Crawford, R-Kingsport, would eliminate a portion of the lottery’s implementation law that currently blocks public access to lottery retailer sales information. The specific exemption excludes from public examination “any information concerning lottery sales made by lottery retailers unless otherwise provided by law.” The bill is the result of the Bristol Herald Courier’s reporting about the exemption last December. In a package of stories about the Virginia and Tennessee lotteries, the paper looked at which retailers in Bristol sell the most tickets. While the paper was able to show the top-selling lottery retailers in Virginia, it was unable to do the same in Tennessee because of the exemption.
Herald Courier

Open data can help you even if you know nothing about data, because it can power tools and resources that are usable by anyone. This was on clear display recently at TransportationCamp, an unconference that focuses on the intersection of transportation and technology. Several developers from Mapzen ran a session presenting some of the open-source mapping tools they’ve been working on recently. One in particular, the Mobility Explorer, allows users to visualize and understand local transportation networks. For example, here’s a map of all transit lines around Washington, D.C. Note that this map is showing routes across multiple transit agencies — this is possible thanks to all transit providers using a common data standard for their schedule and route data.
Sunlight Foundation



Editorials/Columns

The president’s proclamations puts the press in a strange place. The American media may have its institutional shortcomings, but in no previous instance has it ever been accused of insufficient enthusiasm for reporting public catastrophes. Trump’s press criticism has relentlessly threatening edge to it, and his ultimate destination remains foggy. But you cannot expect restraint. Not in Virginia, either, where threats directed at the press in Virginia have taken a more concrete form, thanks to the efforts of a leading member of the General Assembly. State Sen. Thomas J. Norment Jr. frequently gets riled up by statehouse reporters and, despite a public persona that grows more prickly with each passing year, would just as soon not be troubled by personal questions. Or professional ones. Or political ones. Or any question that may cause him a moment’s discomfort.
Virginian-Pilot