"...the city’s insurance policy has spared it from paying for any of the litigation"
|
Albemarle County, Charlottesville and the University of Virginia spent at least $540,000 in their responses to white supremacist rallies this year, including the July 8 Ku Klux Klan demonstration and the failed Aug. 12 Unite the Right rally, according to documents provided by the three institutions. The Aug. 12-related documents detail expenses incurred by the city police, the fire department, public works and other city divisions, as well as the cost of mutual-aid agreements with almost a dozen other municipalities and a private medical transportation service company. Aside from police costs, city officials did not provide information about how much other city departments spent for the July 8 event. In its response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the city did not provide a summary of legal costs related to its efforts to remove the statues. Instead, City Attorney Craig Brown said the city’s insurance policy has spared it from paying for any of the litigation.
The Daily Progress
After successfully becoming the first independent candidate elected to the Charlottesville City Council since 1948, the council voted, 4-1, Tuesday to make Nikuyah Walker the first African-American female mayor of the city. Democratic Councilor Heather Hill, who nominated party colleague Kathy Galvin for mayor, was elected vice mayor following a tense two-hour discussion that saw councilors openly share grievances with each other. Walker said she pushed for her colleagues to have an open discussion about who should be mayor, breaking from the usual practice of councilors picking a new mayor and vice mayor immediately following each two-year term. “In cities and counties in Virginia, one of the reasons the decision comes worked out ... is because it’s awkward to talk critically about your potential colleagues going forward for a two-year or four-year term,” former Mayor Mike Signer said during the discussion Tuesday. “You don’t want to have this casting shade with people you’re going to have to work with in difficult times.”
The Daily Progress
The Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to hear a case brought forth on appeal from Marian M. Bragg, regarding alleged Freedom of Information Act violations by the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors. The Sperryville resident seeks resolution of a case she filed in the county’s Circuit Court last fall and amended in November. Alfred D. Swersky (retired), the Judge Designate and former judge for the 18th Judicial Court, in Alexandria, heard arguments in January. He issued his denial ruling March 15 on technicalities, writing Bragg “failed to include a required affidavit showing good cause.” Based on the denial, Judge Swersky never addressed Mrs. Bragg’s original assertions that led to the original lawsuit.
Culpeper Star-Exponent
Weeks after a stirring ceremony this July dedicating the Stafford Armed Services Memorial, a visitor noticed a spelling error in one of the bricks honoring a fallen World War II veteran. Jason Pelt, a lawyer who worked nearby, often lunched by the imposing monument that etches in stone and brick the sacrifices of local veterans as far back as the birth of the nation. After requesting information from the National Personnel Records Center and the public, the county confirmed errors in 38 of the bricks. They ordered new ones. By the time Stafford held a Veterans Day celebration at the Armed Services Memorial some four months after its dedication, each of the 38 bricks had been replaced. The new bricks included corrections to names and ranks. One more was added to the section for a veteran whose name was originally left off. “I’m very satisfied with their progress,” Pelt said this week. But he says there is still a problem. All but one of the now 67 bricks say that the service member listed on it was KIA, or killed in action. Pelt says that’s simply not true.
The Free Lance-Star
Shenandoah County leaders have adopted a new schedule that eliminates a monthly meeting but shouldn’t cut public participation, officials say. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 at its organizational meeting Tuesday to approve a new meeting schedule for the year. The board may call special meetings or change the schedule at any time during the year. Supervisors denied one members’ attempt to put the proposed schedule on hold to give the public time to comment. Under the previous schedule, the board would discuss a tax-exemption request at a work session and schedule the public hearing at its next day meeting. The county must advertise the hearing at least two weeks prior to the board’s night meeting. Supervisors then can take action at its following day meeting. The process takes about 10 weeks, County Administrator Mary T. Price said. The new schedule eliminates two to three weeks of the process time.
The Northern Virginia Daily
|
