Transparency News 1/20/20
Monday
January 20, 2020
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state & local news stories
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Emily Abbitt Woodrum, wife of the late Chip Woodrum, died Jan. 14. Her obituary is below. As you know, VCOG has an internship for college students or recent graduates to learn about the legislative process by shadowing me at the General Assembly and by spending time with others essential to the process -- the House clerk's office, legislators, staff attorneys, journalists, etc. There wouldn't be a Chip Woodrum Legislative Internship if it were not for Mrs. Woodrum. She embraced our idea and gave her blessing to our efforts to raise money to create an endowment for the internship. She then made that task easier when she also arranged for one of Chip's retirement accounts to contribute an amount to us each year since 2014. The internship is fully endowed, and Mrs. Woodrum's children continue to carry the torch of their parents' thoughtfulness and civic-mindedness. VCOG owes them all a tremendous debt, and I am so sorry to hear of the passing of such a gracious, spirited woman.
The Roanoke Times
A clash over the public’s right to see how Virginia courts are run is sparking a challenge to one of the basics of American politics: the checks and balances of the three branches of government. Legislators from both parties, upset by the Virginia Supreme Court’s declaration last year that the state Freedom of Information Act doesn’t apply to the court system’s administrative agency, the Office of the Executive Secretary, have introduced bills to say it does. “We’re saying the public has a right to see how the people who handle its money do their business, that the courts are subject to the law, just like the executive branch and the legislative branch are,” Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, who is sponsoring some of the bills. said. “We’re saying the public has a right to see how the people who handle its money do their business, that the courts are subject to the law, just like the executive branch and the legislative branch are,” Mullin said. In an Office of the Executive Secretary memo on the bills, a copy of which was obtained by the Daily Press, it calls the bills “highly problematic ... their effect is to treat a separate co-equal branch of government as if it were an agency of the executive or legislative branch.”
Daily Press
Higher education is a billion-dollar industry — and universities are often among their regions’ major economic drivers. So universities’ costs and governing decisions are on the minds of a few lawmakers as Virginia’s General Assembly on Friday wrapped up its final week to propose legislation this session. Numerous bills dealing with higher education in 2020 revolve around transparency and accountability: from mandating disclosure of certain donors’ names and gifts, to requiring college governing boards to explain why tuition increases are needed. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, says some of the bills are aimed at improving transparency in university decision-making and finances overall. “We’re not trying to pick on anybody. No one school is bad or good or anything,” she said. “It’s really just about overall accountability of our higher education system.”
The Daily Progress
Following months of questions, public records requests and an election, attorneys for a Southwest Virginia family have now seen video evidence of a man who was shot and killed by officers in Glade Spring in 2018. But the public may never see video of the shooting that resulted in the death of Phillip Cameron Gibson II, 37, of Castlewood. Last year, then-Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman and the Virginia State Police denied the family’s requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act to view the video. The Bristol Herald Courier also filed FOIA requests for the footage, but it was also denied. Newman didn’t seek reelection and Blake Andis was elected sheriff in November. Prior to being sworn in, Andis told the family he would be transparent and show their attorney the video. After reviewing the videos, Andis said he’s satisfied and believes the officers involved had no other choice but to act with deadly force. The new sheriff said releasing the video to the public would “only cause more undue stress to the officers involved and the family.”
Bristol Hearld Courier
When 83-year-old Bill Day was told to either submit to a strip search by the Virginia Department of Corrections officials or risk never seeing his step-grandson again, he says there really was no choice. “To me, standing naked in front of two guys was nothing compared to never being able to see him again,” Day said. DOC officials claim it does not permanently ban people from visiting prisoners, but an investigation by The Virginian-Pilot has uncovered five documents signed by DOC officials who referred to a permanent ban following a strip search refusal by a visitor. Among those were 16 children under the age of 18, including four 13-year-olds, an 8-year-old , a 6-year-old, a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old. The DOC provided limited information regarding strip searches in response to a Virginian-Pilot Freedom of Information Act request. Almost half of the incidents — more than one visitor may have been asked to strip in each incident — since 2017 occurred last year.
The Virginian-Pilot
The former top official at Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport will have to stand trial for his role in using public funds to pay off the debt of a defunct airline that operated briefly at the facility, a federal judge ordered. U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson denied Ken Spirito’s motions asking him to dismiss federal corruption charges filed last year. The 24 charges involve a loan guarantee using federal, state and local government funds to back a loan to People Express airlines, after that start-up was unable to obtain funding from private investors, as well as Sprito’s use of an airport credit card. They include allegations of a misuse of public money, money laundering, perjury and obstruction of justice.
Daily Press
The first 911 call that sent medics to the Newport News Behavioral Health Center at 6:38 p.m. on June 29, 2018 came from a 15-year-old patient. Raven Nichole Keffer, a 17-year-old patient at the mental-health facility, had collapsed and was unconscious. In a recording of the phone call that the Daily Press obtained from Newport News police through the Freedom of Information Act, an emergency dispatcher asks the caller what happened to Raven. In the background of the 911 call, multiple people are shouting.
Daily Press
Berryville Mayor Patricia Dickinson insists that Town Recorder Jay Arnold plotted a “sneak attack” by not informing Berryville Town Council that he was going to criticize her during its December meeting, when he accused her of threatening him in an email. Dickinson’s assertion comes as she has continued to maintain that Arnold’s business dealings with the town are a conflict of interest. That is despite special prosecutors determining that Arnold broke no laws, and ultimately dropping malfeasance charges lodged against him, following a Virginia State Police investigation. The mayor’s claim also comes after the council, in a formal vote during the December session, charged that she violated the town’s code of conduct through remarks she made in emails to Arnold. She faced no penalties as a result of the vote. As for the sneak attack, Arnold countered, “What did she do?” — she apparently did not tell anyone ahead of time what her remarks would be about.
The Winchester Star
stories of national interest
The Michigan Senate may not release the findings of a sexual harassment probe of a male lawmaker who told a young reporter that high school boys visiting the Capitol could have “fun” with her. The Legislature isn't subject to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act. It does release broad financial records related to harassment investigations, but not much else. A spokeswoman for the state Senate's leader says there's no precedent for releasing personnel files.
WILX
editorials & columns
Journalism, especially newspapers, endured some tough times during the past decade, including layoffs, buyouts and massive shrinkage in newsrooms and investigative resources. There is some light at the end of that tumultuous tunnel, however, as a number of former journalists elected to state legislatures are fighting to strengthen the institution that America’s founding generation saw as a necessary bulwark for democracy. A pair of young state lawmakers in the Virginia General Assembly who worked as reporters before being elected is offering legislation to rally around the First Amendment, protect journalists and boost the teaching and support of journalism.
Bob Gibson, The Roanoke Times
When I talk with citizen groups in Tennessee about open government, people tell me they want more information about what their government is doing, not less. An informed citizenry results in better and more accountable government. But in plain language, people just want to know what’s going on, particularly when it affects their lives directly. How do people get informed? How does information about what government is doing flow to the public? And in this day and age, what methods are reliable, trustworthy and accurate? One reliable way is through the public notice laws.
Deborah Fisher, Bristol Herald Courier
