Transparency News 2/24/17
Friday, February 24, 2017
State and Local Stories
State and Local Stories
How much power will the AT&T Short Hill underground facility on Short Hill Mountain consume? Does the facility pose a fire risk to its neighbors and will the local fire department have access to the site in case of an emergency? Those questions and several others submitted by concerned western Loudoun residents living below the underground facility on top of Short Hill Mountain AT&T has owned since the Cold War have gone unanswered by the telecom giant and the county. In an email obtained by the Times-Mirror, county administration declined to answer six questions, citing “critical infrastructure” as defined in the “Homeland Security Act.”
Loudoun Times-Mirror
A representative of the Bristol field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had no comment Thursday about a New York Times story this week that revealed ATF operatives used a system of cigarette sales in southern Virginia to funnel millions of dollars into a secret bank account. As the Times reported, the bank account provided agents with a covert way to finance other operations and pay informants without submitting paperwork or being subject to oversight. The bank account has since become part of a federal racketeering lawsuit brought by a collective of tobacco farmers that believes its members were cheated out of money.
Herald Courier
The Culpeper Police Department’s implementation late last year of a body-worn camera program has contributed to the need for an additional prosecutor in the Culpeper County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office. That was the report from top prosecutor Paul Walther at a board of supervisors’ fiscal year 2018 budget meeting Thursday morning. “I really need an additional attorney,” Walther said, noting an increase in cases is also a factor. Reviewing police camera footage takes a lot of time, he said, resulting in increased workload for his staff. Walther added that having the recorded evidence is certainly a benefit in terms of higher conviction rates and fewer complaints. “It’s necessary,” he said, adding that body-worn cameras usually result in more civil interactions between police and the public.
Star-Exponent
National Stories
Can government employees be legally fired for criticizing the government? It’s a question that many federal workers are asking as they look for ways to express opposition to their new boss but keep their jobs. During the presidential campaign last year, one survey found that 95 percent of federal workers’ donations went to Hillary Clinton. Now they find themselves working for President Donald Trump, the candidate they tried to beat. Some are attending workshops. Others are refusing to implement orders they don’t agree with. Many are airing their grievances in public and on social media. This kind of uncertainty isn’t limited to federal employees. People on state and local payrolls struggle with similar issues all the time. In fact, the dilemma is so complicated that the U.S. Supreme Court has revisited the debate several times -- most notably in 1968 and again in 2006.
Governing
A state judge has ordered Doña Ana County government to pay more than $90,000 to an Alamogordo-based pet advocacy group for failing to hand over public records in a timely way. Alamogordo nonprofit Animal Village NM sued the county in late 2015, alleging officials had not provided public records in response to a request made under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, one of the state's key government-transparency laws. The lawsuit sought compliance with the state law. In late January, 3rd Judicial District Judge Mary Rosner concluded that the county "had not acted in a manner consistent with the well-articulated public policy of the state of New Mexico" regarding open records. She awarded Animal Village NM costs, actual damages and attorney fees, as called for by the records act in instances of noncompliance, totaling $90,334, according to court records.
Las Cruces Sun-News
Editorials/Columns
Officials at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail haven’t done enough to assuage concerns raised by the death of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell in August 2015. And now it appears the authority acted with something less than aggressive diligence in selecting a replacement. In February 2013, a guard [at the Glenn Detention Center in Richland County, S.C., where new hire Ronaldo Myers was last employed] savagely beat Robert Sweeper III, a 51-year-old man with a history of mental illness. Sweeper was at the facility having been charged with trespassing after his arrest for sleeping in the doorway of a University of South Carolina building. The details of the Sweeper incident are readily obvious through a simple Internet search, so board members have no excuse for failing to even raise the question. But the HRRJ authority long ago showed itself inattentive and incurious about such matters. When jail officials refused to release any documents from an internal review of staff actions and procedures associated with Mitchell’s death, and dodged questions from members of the media and the public about the incident, the authority did nothing. And when HRRJ leaders told the Mitchell family’s lawyer that it did not preserve surveillance video taken outside Mitchell’s cell, the board did nothing. (Officials then claimed to have located the footage — a revelation tucked into the jail’s response to the family’s lawsuit — but refused to release it, later relenting to allow one Associated Press to view it with jail officials.)
Virginian-Pilot
This week's thorns to go to: The Senate General Laws Committee in Richmond, which seems intent on finding more and more exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act. FOIA is legislation that should be respected, not subverted.
Daily Press
Loudoun Times-Mirror
A representative of the Bristol field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had no comment Thursday about a New York Times story this week that revealed ATF operatives used a system of cigarette sales in southern Virginia to funnel millions of dollars into a secret bank account. As the Times reported, the bank account provided agents with a covert way to finance other operations and pay informants without submitting paperwork or being subject to oversight. The bank account has since become part of a federal racketeering lawsuit brought by a collective of tobacco farmers that believes its members were cheated out of money.
Herald Courier
The Culpeper Police Department’s implementation late last year of a body-worn camera program has contributed to the need for an additional prosecutor in the Culpeper County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office. That was the report from top prosecutor Paul Walther at a board of supervisors’ fiscal year 2018 budget meeting Thursday morning. “I really need an additional attorney,” Walther said, noting an increase in cases is also a factor. Reviewing police camera footage takes a lot of time, he said, resulting in increased workload for his staff. Walther added that having the recorded evidence is certainly a benefit in terms of higher conviction rates and fewer complaints. “It’s necessary,” he said, adding that body-worn cameras usually result in more civil interactions between police and the public.
Star-Exponent
National Stories
Can government employees be legally fired for criticizing the government? It’s a question that many federal workers are asking as they look for ways to express opposition to their new boss but keep their jobs. During the presidential campaign last year, one survey found that 95 percent of federal workers’ donations went to Hillary Clinton. Now they find themselves working for President Donald Trump, the candidate they tried to beat. Some are attending workshops. Others are refusing to implement orders they don’t agree with. Many are airing their grievances in public and on social media. This kind of uncertainty isn’t limited to federal employees. People on state and local payrolls struggle with similar issues all the time. In fact, the dilemma is so complicated that the U.S. Supreme Court has revisited the debate several times -- most notably in 1968 and again in 2006.
Governing
A state judge has ordered Doña Ana County government to pay more than $90,000 to an Alamogordo-based pet advocacy group for failing to hand over public records in a timely way. Alamogordo nonprofit Animal Village NM sued the county in late 2015, alleging officials had not provided public records in response to a request made under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, one of the state's key government-transparency laws. The lawsuit sought compliance with the state law. In late January, 3rd Judicial District Judge Mary Rosner concluded that the county "had not acted in a manner consistent with the well-articulated public policy of the state of New Mexico" regarding open records. She awarded Animal Village NM costs, actual damages and attorney fees, as called for by the records act in instances of noncompliance, totaling $90,334, according to court records.
Las Cruces Sun-News
Editorials/Columns
Officials at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail haven’t done enough to assuage concerns raised by the death of 24-year-old Jamycheal Mitchell in August 2015. And now it appears the authority acted with something less than aggressive diligence in selecting a replacement. In February 2013, a guard [at the Glenn Detention Center in Richland County, S.C., where new hire Ronaldo Myers was last employed] savagely beat Robert Sweeper III, a 51-year-old man with a history of mental illness. Sweeper was at the facility having been charged with trespassing after his arrest for sleeping in the doorway of a University of South Carolina building. The details of the Sweeper incident are readily obvious through a simple Internet search, so board members have no excuse for failing to even raise the question. But the HRRJ authority long ago showed itself inattentive and incurious about such matters. When jail officials refused to release any documents from an internal review of staff actions and procedures associated with Mitchell’s death, and dodged questions from members of the media and the public about the incident, the authority did nothing. And when HRRJ leaders told the Mitchell family’s lawyer that it did not preserve surveillance video taken outside Mitchell’s cell, the board did nothing. (Officials then claimed to have located the footage — a revelation tucked into the jail’s response to the family’s lawsuit — but refused to release it, later relenting to allow one Associated Press to view it with jail officials.)
Virginian-Pilot
This week's thorns to go to: The Senate General Laws Committee in Richmond, which seems intent on finding more and more exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act. FOIA is legislation that should be respected, not subverted.
Daily Press
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