Transparency News 11/15/16
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
State and Local Stories
Jan Hathcock, who oversees public information and is a policy coordinator at the Library of Virginia, is retiring. Her last day is Dec. 1. “I wish I could find the right words to describe this rite of passage,” Hathcock said in an email Monday morning. Hathcock’s retirement comes as the Library of Virginia faces budget cuts that are forcing the organization to cut back on both hours and staff.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Mismanagement and lax oversight at the state’s primary agency for spurring business expansion have left Virginia vulnerable to fraud for more than two decades, according to an audit released Monday. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, which doles out millions in economic development incentives, ignores basic management and marketing practices and uses an inconsistent and unstructured approach to grant programs that exposes the state to potential fraud, according to the report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, a state legislative watchdog agency.
Virginian-Pilot
Only after an investigation by The Roanoke Times exposed gaping due diligence failures did Virginia’s lead economic development agency institute safeguards to shield state taxpayer money against bad deals, according to a report released Monday by the General Assembly’s watchdog agency. Starting in July 1995, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership operated for more than 20 years without “a formal due diligence process to protect the state from fraud and loss,” the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission wrote in a 132-page report. That approach changed after the newspaper’s investigation, published Jan. 17, the commission said. Protocols suggested more than four years earlier were enacted and a committee began meeting weekly to vet projects, including a review of companies’ credit ratings and reports, legal histories and financial statements.
Roanoke Times
In an attempt to glean the direction of its future, Ashland has obtained a key — albeit inconclusive — document related to a high-speed rail line slated to connect Richmond to Washington. The Town of Ashland received on Nov. 9 an early version of the highly anticipated DC2RVA Draft Environmental Impact Statement from the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The arrival of the 1,426-page document shed little light on what impact putting a third rail through Ashland would have on the town as part of a high-speed rail project that would link Richmond to Washington.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
An employee of Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot testified Monday she waived penalties and fees for a local developer at the direction of her boss. Wendy Petchel also testified she went to a North Carolina hotel with Burfoot several years ago, and that Burfoot claimed he owned the hotel with that developer: Richard Levin. Burfoot, 50, stands charged with eight felonies relating to public corruption and perjury.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Mismanagement and lax oversight at the state’s primary agency for spurring business expansion have left Virginia vulnerable to fraud for more than two decades, according to an audit released Monday. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, which doles out millions in economic development incentives, ignores basic management and marketing practices and uses an inconsistent and unstructured approach to grant programs that exposes the state to potential fraud, according to the report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, a state legislative watchdog agency.
Virginian-Pilot
Only after an investigation by The Roanoke Times exposed gaping due diligence failures did Virginia’s lead economic development agency institute safeguards to shield state taxpayer money against bad deals, according to a report released Monday by the General Assembly’s watchdog agency. Starting in July 1995, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership operated for more than 20 years without “a formal due diligence process to protect the state from fraud and loss,” the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission wrote in a 132-page report. That approach changed after the newspaper’s investigation, published Jan. 17, the commission said. Protocols suggested more than four years earlier were enacted and a committee began meeting weekly to vet projects, including a review of companies’ credit ratings and reports, legal histories and financial statements.
Roanoke Times
In an attempt to glean the direction of its future, Ashland has obtained a key — albeit inconclusive — document related to a high-speed rail line slated to connect Richmond to Washington. The Town of Ashland received on Nov. 9 an early version of the highly anticipated DC2RVA Draft Environmental Impact Statement from the Department of Rail and Public Transportation. The arrival of the 1,426-page document shed little light on what impact putting a third rail through Ashland would have on the town as part of a high-speed rail project that would link Richmond to Washington.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
An employee of Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot testified Monday she waived penalties and fees for a local developer at the direction of her boss. Wendy Petchel also testified she went to a North Carolina hotel with Burfoot several years ago, and that Burfoot claimed he owned the hotel with that developer: Richard Levin. Burfoot, 50, stands charged with eight felonies relating to public corruption and perjury.
Virginian-PIlot
University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan is being asked to refrain from quoting Thomas Jefferson because of his racist beliefs, according to The Cavalier Daily. A letter, signed by 469 faculty members and students, was sent to Sullivan Nov. 11 protesting the use of a Jefferson quotation in her email calling for unity after the presidential election, the student newspaper reported.
Roanoke Times
The Honor Committee at the University of Virginia will hold its first public Honor trial of the year this coming Saturday, Nov. 19 — its first since Feb. 2013. The open hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and will be held in the trial room on the fourth floor of Newcomb Hall, Honor Committee Chair Matt West, a fourth-year College student, said in an email statement. “The accused student is enrolled in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and has been accused of cheating on an exam,” West said in an email statement. West declined to identify the student in question. The case goes through several other steps before an open trial is possible. For a hearing to occur, the student must have opted for a full investigation instead of choosing to submit an Informed Retraction or to claim a Contributory Mental or Medical Disorder. The investigation then goes to a panel that decides if there was evidence to support an accusation or “more likely than not.” A hearing is then established if the student does not call for a CMD or leaves admitting guilt.
Cavalier Daily
The CEO of Nexus Services said Monday he would be willing to drop federal litigation against Augusta County Commissioner of the Revenue Jean Shrewsbury and a part-time employee of her office if the commissioner and the employee would commit to restorative justice. CEO Mike Donovan of the Verona-based company said "in lieu of continued litigation'' he would agree to use the restorative justice process through the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.Nexus filed a $1.2 million suit in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg in June charging defamation, ethnic and racial harassment and conspiracy against Shrewsbury, Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith and Ergenbright and others. Donovan said in a telephone interview that he is not willing to drop the civil case against Smith, saying "there are real serious issues with the Sheriff's Department."
News Virginian
National Stories
In many ways, it’s a brutal time to be a public official. The past year has seen an exhausting slog of political scandals, personal attacks, negative headlines and anti-government outrage. Government, we've been told from both sides of the aisle, is broken. Which is why it’s all the more vital to highlight the outstanding accomplishments of Governing’s 2016 Public Officials of the Year. These eight remarkable men and women know that public service isn’t about casting blame or pointing fingers. It’s about forging real solutions to real problems.
Governing
Now that the presidential campaign and most of the furor over Hillary Clinton's email scandal are behind us, the Pence administration is going to court to argue for its own brand of email secrecy. The administration is fighting to conceal the contents of an email sent to Gov. Mike Pence by a political ally. That email is being sought by a prominent Democratic labor lawyer who says he wants to expose waste in the Republican administration. But legal experts fear the stakes may be much higher than mere politics because the decision could remove a judicial branch check on executive power and limit a citizen's right to know what the government is doing and how it spends taxpayer dollars.
USA Today
In one of the biggest legal battles over government transparency in New Jersey, the state Supreme Court is poised to determine how much information the public receives in the hours and days after police officers use fatal force. A key question in the case is whether law enforcement agencies must release records that name police officers who use fatal force in the line of duty. Another is whether dashboard-camera videos of such incidents are public or confidential.
Courier-Post
The nation’s second-highest court heard arguments Monday over where protesters will be allowed to demonstrate along the Inauguration Day parade route — and whether they will be blocked from areas in front of the Trump International Hotel and in Freedom Plaza. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seemed to agree that the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the private entity that organizes the event, should be able to reserve some set-aside seats and questioned protesters’ challenge on the placement of private bleachers in those areas.
Washington Times
University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan is being asked to refrain from quoting Thomas Jefferson because of his racist beliefs, according to The Cavalier Daily. A letter, signed by 469 faculty members and students, was sent to Sullivan Nov. 11 protesting the use of a Jefferson quotation in her email calling for unity after the presidential election, the student newspaper reported.
Roanoke Times
The Honor Committee at the University of Virginia will hold its first public Honor trial of the year this coming Saturday, Nov. 19 — its first since Feb. 2013. The open hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and will be held in the trial room on the fourth floor of Newcomb Hall, Honor Committee Chair Matt West, a fourth-year College student, said in an email statement. “The accused student is enrolled in the School of Engineering and Applied Science and has been accused of cheating on an exam,” West said in an email statement. West declined to identify the student in question. The case goes through several other steps before an open trial is possible. For a hearing to occur, the student must have opted for a full investigation instead of choosing to submit an Informed Retraction or to claim a Contributory Mental or Medical Disorder. The investigation then goes to a panel that decides if there was evidence to support an accusation or “more likely than not.” A hearing is then established if the student does not call for a CMD or leaves admitting guilt.
Cavalier Daily
The CEO of Nexus Services said Monday he would be willing to drop federal litigation against Augusta County Commissioner of the Revenue Jean Shrewsbury and a part-time employee of her office if the commissioner and the employee would commit to restorative justice. CEO Mike Donovan of the Verona-based company said "in lieu of continued litigation'' he would agree to use the restorative justice process through the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University.Nexus filed a $1.2 million suit in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg in June charging defamation, ethnic and racial harassment and conspiracy against Shrewsbury, Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith and Ergenbright and others. Donovan said in a telephone interview that he is not willing to drop the civil case against Smith, saying "there are real serious issues with the Sheriff's Department."
News Virginian
National Stories
In many ways, it’s a brutal time to be a public official. The past year has seen an exhausting slog of political scandals, personal attacks, negative headlines and anti-government outrage. Government, we've been told from both sides of the aisle, is broken. Which is why it’s all the more vital to highlight the outstanding accomplishments of Governing’s 2016 Public Officials of the Year. These eight remarkable men and women know that public service isn’t about casting blame or pointing fingers. It’s about forging real solutions to real problems.
Governing
Now that the presidential campaign and most of the furor over Hillary Clinton's email scandal are behind us, the Pence administration is going to court to argue for its own brand of email secrecy. The administration is fighting to conceal the contents of an email sent to Gov. Mike Pence by a political ally. That email is being sought by a prominent Democratic labor lawyer who says he wants to expose waste in the Republican administration. But legal experts fear the stakes may be much higher than mere politics because the decision could remove a judicial branch check on executive power and limit a citizen's right to know what the government is doing and how it spends taxpayer dollars.
USA Today
In one of the biggest legal battles over government transparency in New Jersey, the state Supreme Court is poised to determine how much information the public receives in the hours and days after police officers use fatal force. A key question in the case is whether law enforcement agencies must release records that name police officers who use fatal force in the line of duty. Another is whether dashboard-camera videos of such incidents are public or confidential.
Courier-Post
The nation’s second-highest court heard arguments Monday over where protesters will be allowed to demonstrate along the Inauguration Day parade route — and whether they will be blocked from areas in front of the Trump International Hotel and in Freedom Plaza. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seemed to agree that the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the private entity that organizes the event, should be able to reserve some set-aside seats and questioned protesters’ challenge on the placement of private bleachers in those areas.
Washington Times
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