Transparency News, 11/4/2022
Friday
November 4, 2022
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state & local news stories
"Although citizens should be allowed to voice their opinion on matters of public concerns, I deserve the same deference as every other council member of staff … and should not have to endure personal attacks."
Portsmouth City Manager Tonya Chapman claims that a series of alleged disparaging behavior from Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover and Councilmember Bill Moody constitutes a breach of her contract. She outlined her grievances to the mayor and city council in a four-page letter obtained by WAVY, dated October 7. In the letter, Chapman says she’s been subject to “incidents of continued insolent behavior, disparate treatment, apparent bias, and disparaging comments” from Glover and Moody, as well as citizens in public comment sessions whose comments are allowed through despite a screening process. “Although citizens should be allowed to voice their opinion on matters of public concerns, I deserve the same deference as every other council member of staff … and should not have to endure personal attacks.”
WAVY
The Norfolk School Board voted to adopt “special rules” for its public comment period, splitting it into two separate sections. The new procedure passed in a split 4-3 vote Oct. 26. Members Adale Martin, Tanya Bhasin and Rodney Jordan voted against it. Interim Board Chair Carlos Clanton said the new rules will help “streamline” board meetings, though there were several questions raised about how the rules had come about and whether they were even necessary. The new rules split the public comment period held during monthly business meetings into two portions: agenda items and nonagenda items. Public comments related to agenda items will continue to be streamed online and recorded. However, nonagenda item comments will be heard separately “at the completion of the monthly business meeting.” This portion would not be streamed or recorded. The first time the Norfolk School Board separated public comment into two sections was during the Sept. 21 meeting. Following the meeting’s adjournment, the live feed ended and the board stayed to hear comments on nonagenda items. Jordan later told The Pilot that he and other board members were “blindsided” by this and then once again, the issue came up without further board discussion. “We had a full month since the September fiasco to talk about what we were going to do as a board, and there was no full board discussions,” Jordan told The Pilot after the Oct. 26 meeting.
The Virginian-Pilot
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office quietly shut down an email address he’d touted as a way for parents to directly reach his office, his spokesperson said Thursday. “The help education email was deactivated in September, as it had received little to no volume during that time,” spokesperson Macaulay Porter said in an email. “Constituents are always able to confidentially reach out to the governor’s office through various constituent service methods.” Porter did not respond to follow-up questions, including on asking for clarification on what she meant by “that time.”
VPM
Town of Mineral Mayor Pamela Harlowe violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act by failing to properly notify the public of Town Council’s October 24 special meeting, General District Court Judge Claiborne Stokes ruled in a hearing yesterday.
Twitter
stories of national interest
"A spokesman for the port said the port would not offer more details on the 2021 attack 'because making that information public will make the port vulnerable to another attack.'"
The Louisiana state agency overseeing one of America's largest ports by volume suffered a cyber attack in last year that cost it more than $420,000, a newly public audit has found. Auditors for the Port of South Louisiana said the cyber attack led to the money being misappropriated. Port officials have been able to recoup about $250,000 through insurance and are filing paperwork to seek more reimbursement. A new annual audit, which covered the fiscal year ending on April 30, 2022, disclosed the theft last fiscal year but offered few details about what the hack was, when it happened or if any arrests had been made. But port officials' response to the auditors offered some clue. Officials told auditors that they were training employees to protect against future attacks and have started "a third-party verification process" for vendors seeking payment that includes "verifying information through a phone call with a representative of the requesting vendor." Micah Cormier, spokesman for the port, said Wednesday the port would not offer more details on the 2021 attack "because making that information public will make the port vulnerable to another attack."
Governing
