Transparency News 10/24/14
Coming to you from sunny Florida and the National FOI Coalition conference!
State and Local Stories
A former Associated Press editor filed a lawsuit against the wire service in Richmond Circuit Court last week, alleging that she was unjustly fired for an error in a story edited by another staffer. During Virginia’s gubernatorial campaign last October, the AP published a story alleging that Democratic candidate and now Gov. Terry McAuliffe had lied to federal officials who were investigating a death benefits scam. The story turned out to be false, and the AP retracted it a little more than an hour and a half after posting it. The AP fired three staffers in connection with the incident: longtime state political reporter Bob Lewis, Richmond news editor Dena Potter and an editor in the AP’s Atlanta bureau, Norman Gomlak. A year later, Potter is seeking $950,000 in damages plus court costs, saying in a lawsuit filed Oct. 14 that the AP and its executive editor, Kathleen Carroll, defamed her by suggesting that she’d violated the AP’s code of conduct and was unfit to serve as a news editor.
Style Weekly
Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s Commission to Ensure Integrity and Public Confidence in State Governmentwill hold its first meeting Monday morning at the state Capitol in Richmond. The 10-member commission, chaired by former Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th, and former Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a Republican, is scheduled to review current ethics laws and policies and discuss possible recommendations for changes. Members of the public who wish to offer comments and review the commission’s work can access more information online at https://governor.virginia.gov/integrity-commission.
Times-Dispatch
After hearing Hanover County residents’ concerns about density and traffic, supervisors voted down a proposed residential development this week. But after one supervisor changed his mind, the matter may be up for reconsideration. The board denied the request to rezone the property for residential use on a 4-3 vote. Supervisors Angela Kelly-Wiecek, G.E. “Ed” Via and W. Canova Peterson IV, voted in favor. Sean Davis, Elton J. Wade Sr., Wayne T. Hazzard and Aubrey M. “Bucky” Stanley voted in opposition. However, Wade said Thursday that he wants to change his vote and has asked County Administrator Cecil R. “Rhu” Harris to bring the matter up for reconsideration at the next meeting in November. Wade said that he erred in his vote, but declined to share what had caused him to change his mind. He contacted supervisors and the county administrator Thursday morning to inform them of his changed position.
Times-Dispatch
Hanover citizens may no longer have to take time out of their busy schedules to stay up to date on what’s happening in their local government and school division. Chairman Sean Davis said the board of supervisors put forth an initiative at its Oct. 8 meeting to have county staff review all options for broadcasting their meetings to the public on various platforms. Davis instructed the rules committee to delve into the topic, discuss opportunities that might be available and look at any potential challenges they might face. “We’ll have to look at everything,” he said. Also, Davis asked the county administrator to look into all options and report back to the board periodically. “This isn’t going to go to committee and die and never be heard from,” Davis said.
Herald-Progress
More than $5.2 million in “tobacco” grants to Virginia communities have disappeared, leaving some of the state’s most depressed areas deeper in the red. From July 2007 until October 2014, 22 localities defaulted on Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund (TROF) grants or owe the Virginia Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission money, said Ned Stephenson, the commission’s deputy director. Fifteen of those localities owe a total of $5.2 million, according to documents obtained byWatchdog.org through a Freedom of Information Act request. Of the 22 localities that defaulted, 15 still owe money. “I do not have or maintain a list,” Stephenson told Watchdog in an email. “We work these one at a time as they mature.”
Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau
A bill filed in July would require any state agency in the executive branch of government that receives email services from VITA to also utilize email archiving services provided by VITA.
Legislative Information System
National Stories
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection violated the state's Freedom of Information Act when it denied a law firm's request for water pollution data, a Kanawha County judge ruled. Circuit Judge Charles King ordered the DEP this week to provide the data to Appalachian Mountain Advocates. The law firm sued the DEP after the agency denied its FOIA request in 2013 for the most recent quarterly data showing water pollution levels at coal mines statewide. Mine operators are required to file the data with the DEP to disclose pollution levels under state and federal clean water laws.The Republic
Editorials/Columns
Daily Press
Paul Fraim. The magnanimous mayor of Norfolk. Bless his generous heart. Back in June, Fraim and two other city officials made a quick trip to Baltimore to meet with the developers planning to overhaul Waterside. Fraim booked a private plane to fly the trio up and back. And paid for it himself. Total cost, according to Hizzoner: About $1,400. Many of us gripe when public servants squander tax dollars. So what’s not to like about a politician who reaches into his own wallet to pay for a city business trip? Frankly, there’s a lot not to like. First, it’s odd. Second, at the risk of sounding cynical, by paying for a private plane out of his piggy bank, the mayor ensured there is no public record of the trip. Third, it raises questions about the mysterious person who brokered what appears to be a drastically discounted fee that Fraim paid for a private plane. The Pilot’s Patrick Wilson reported that a similar charter from a Landmark Aviation would have cost more than $6,000 later this month. Could this unnamed person be someone wanting to curry favor with the city?
Kerry Doughterty, Virginian-Pilot
Transparency is, it seems, on the minds of Hanover’s government for once. Earlier this month, Chairman Sean Davis, Henry District supervisor, introduced an initiative to look into the possibility of streaming government meetings through either cable television or an Internet platform. Disregarding the fact that the issue was brought up at the end of a meeting after the press had left and that it wasn’t on the board’s agenda Oct. 8 – transparency, right? – we applaud our county leaders for pursuing this worthy goal. There’s no real excuse for a county of Hanover’s size to not offer this service to its citizens. It’s a service that Ashland already makes available. The town airs meetings on television and also offers an Internet option so that subscribers without a Comcast account are able to keep up with their local government. There are many benefits of Hanover County providing similar services.
Herald-Progress
