Transparency News, 1/4/2023

Wednesday
January 4, 2023

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state & local news stories

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A new majority on the Portsmouth City Council voted to fire City Manager Tonya Chapman Tuesday in its first meeting of the new year. Chapman was at City Hall earlier in the morning, but did not attend the meeting for the council’s 5-2 vote to fire her after only six months on the job. It’s no surprise the council made firing Chapman its first order of business. New council members Vernon Tillage Jr. and Mark Hugel joined Mayor Shannon Glover, councilman Bill Moody and newly appointed Vice Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke in the vote to fire Chapman, signaling a shift in the council majority. Glover documented his reasons for wanting to fire Chapman — and presented them to the council — in a closed session before the vote. A copy of the document, obtained by The Pilot, states Chapman overlooked the background of a deputy city manager — presumably Sunshine Swinson — and assigned her to departments in which she had active conflicts of interest. Another reason cited in the document is the city’s failure to complete its annual comprehensive financial report by Dec. 15, which puts the city’s credit rating at risk. The document also states that the city lost out on at least $500,000 in state funding for law enforcement officers because Chapman requested body camera equipment, which wasn’t applicable to the grant.
The Virginian-Pilot

There's new leadership on the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors with vows of unity from members following a year that was riddled with divisions. Tim Dudley was tapped as vice chair, with only Ingram casting a no vote for him. By unanimous vote, Darrell Dalton was elected chairman — replacing Vic Ingram — in a special reorganizational meeting Tuesday evening in Chatham. When it came time for nominations for chair, Ingram submitted Dalton's name. Tim Chesher, representing the Dan River District, seconded that motion. Dudley was the first to offer comments.  "I’ll just tell everyone here at the table and in the audience, Darrell and I met" earlier in the afternoon, he said. "We had some discussions; tried to work some things out," Dudley, who represents the Staunton River District, said. "I’m being as frank and absolutely honest as I can be.” The references come after a year of infighting among board members — at meetings and via social media avenues — mainly centered around the January 2022 firing of Pittsylvania County Administrator David Smitherman. “I’d just like to very deeply address the board and the audience," Supervisor Robert Tucker said. “I have worked behind the scenes in the last three weeks to bring these two factions together.”
Danville Register & Bee

Roanoke City staff did not defame a police officer when publishing Facebook posts in 2020 about a street mural focused on racism and police brutality, a judge has ruled. Roanoke police Sgt. Jason Hicks had sued the city, saying that a city employee’s description of the “End Racism Now” mural on Campbell Avenue implied he was fueled by racism when he fatally shot a Black man in 2009.
Roanoke Rambler

Blackstone’s new Mayor and Town Council have postponed their organizational meeting until next Tuesday, Jan. 10th, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting had been scheduled last week for tonight (Wednesday, January 4th), but it was delayed when at least three business days’ of Public Notice could not be given.
Courier-Record

The new Purcellville Town Council on Tuesday appointed Ron Rise Jr. to the vacant council seat as well as three new Planning Commission members. Mayor Stanley Milan nominated Rise Jr. saying he was the logical choice since he garnered the fourth most votes in the November election, behind now council members Carol Luke, Mary “Boo” Bennett and Rayner. Rise campaigned on a slate of candidates with Milan, Luke and Bennett. Council member Erin Rayner questioned why the council was not following the traditional practices of interviewing applicants for the vacancy and objected that Milan did not inform her or Williams who he would be nominating for the appointment prior to the meeting, calling his nomination “a surprise.” She said she had emailed Milan on Dec. 21 asking about the issue but got no response. “I just don’t think that is fair and transparent government,” she said. “And it kind of disturbs me that it went down this way. It didn’t have to be.” Milan said because the vacancy occurred just weeks after the council election, it made sense to pick the next highest vote getter—Rise Jr.—for the seat.  “My logic, as I explained to you, the citizens have voted,” Milan said. “If we were to do an interview it would slap in the face of the citizens that voted for the six candidates that ran for the town council.”
LoudounNow
 

editorials & columns

Two important local governing bodies will open new eras in 2023 with fresh faces and voter mandates for change. A common theme in November’s election results for the Smithfield Town Council and Isle of Wight School Board was voters’ desire for more transparent governance. We have high hopes that [newly elected town council members] will live up to their pledge to make the Town Council more transparent. An early symbolic, but important, change would be to join returning Councilwoman Valerie Butler in her long push for livestreamed meetings of the council and other town boards. Such simple technology is about two decades past due in Smithfield. In the 21st century, citizens shouldn’t have to physically attend a meeting in order to watch their government in action.
The Smithfield Times