Transparency News, 2/2/21
Tuesday
February 2, 2021
February 2, 2021
state & local news stories
“Making a parole board member stand by their votes is not novel, it’s not burdensome, and it’s just a basic measure of oversight and accountability.”
A bill to add two additional members of the governor's administration to the working papers exemption advanced on a party-line vote from a House subcommittee. It next goes to the House General Laws Committee. VCOG opposes the bill.
Legislation to bring more transparency and accountability to the secretive Virginia Parole Board is moving through the General Assembly with bipartisan support. The board has been under scrutiny for the past several months following controversies involving the release of several inmates from prison. Gov. Ralph Northam has put money toward improving the notification system so that victims and other appropriate people are made aware of the board’s decisions to release people. On Monday, the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 33-6 to approve a bill from Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, to require that board members’ votes be made public on whether to release someone. “There are a multitude of public bodies and officials, from the governor to you as members of the General Assembly, from state and local judges, prosecutors, mayors and local boards, who make unpopular decisions that some will feel threaten their safety or rights, and the parole board is no different,” Rhyne told a Senate panel. “Making a parole board member stand by their votes is not novel, it’s not burdensome, and it’s just a basic measure of oversight and accountability.”
The Roanoke Times
Note: An identical bill filed in the House has not been docketed for hearing, even though the deadline for action is Friday.
State officials say they’re confident that no COVID-19 vaccines are going to waste in Virginia. But seven weeks into the state’s vaccine rollout, the Virginia Department of Health won’t release data on wastage, which vaccinators are required to report under a provider agreement distributed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The document, which providers must fill out in order to administer vaccines, requires them to report the number of doses that were “unused, spoiled, expired, or wasted as required by the relevant jurisdiction.” In practice, that means hospitals, pharmacies and other administrators should be reporting the data to VDH, which then passes the information onto the CDC. The Mercury first requested the data from VDH in late January, after Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, stated in a telebriefing that the reporting was required but that he didn’t have information on wastage in Virginia.
Virginia Mercury
The city of Norfolk is starting a massive overhaul of the St. Paul’s area that will ultimately mean moving thousands of residents and demolishing about 1,700 public housing units. But city officials now say they won’t answer questions from the press about any of it — indefinitely. City spokeswoman Lori Crouch abruptly called off a scheduled interview with The Virginian-Pilot last week, saying staff would not answer questions from the media related to the billion-dollar redevelopment. The cited reason? City Attorney Bernard Pisko had advised them not to take questions “in light of pending litigation.” That means a federal lawsuit filed in January 2020 by a group of St. Paul’s residents and other advocates. The suit argues that the city’s plans for relocating residents would run afoul of federal housing rules meant to prevent racial segregation. But city officials like Susan Perry, the director of the Office of St. Paul’s Transformation, have given regular public statements and media interviews since the lawsuit was filed a year ago. It’s unclear what changed last week. City Manager Chip Filer did not return several calls between Thursday and Monday seeking comment on the sudden silence.
The Virginian-Pilot
After a heated public hearing Monday evening, the Richmond Electoral Board voted to remove Kirk Showalter as the city’s general registrar, an action she said last week could lead to a legal challenge. In a heated public hearing before the board met in closed session Monday, a few election officials from Richmond and around the state defended Showalter, noting difficult circumstances and recent changes to absentee voting rules amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A newly-elected Suffolk City Councilman just lost a $157,000 lucrative landscaping contract with the City of Suffolk. Councilman LeOtis Williams wants the council to allow him to keep the contract -- but he also wants to continue serving on council. The rest of City Council may not be going down that path. Suffolk taxpayer dollars are used to pay Williams' business, LW’s Lawn Service, $157,000 to landscape several city-owned properties, including Suffolk City Hall, the grounds of Riddicks Folley, next door at the Suffolk Visitors Center and Pavilion. The business also cares for 12 other city properties and a few cemeteries. All that was OK -- until Williams was elected to a City Council seat, bringing up the possibility of a conflict of interest between his position on council and the money the city was paying to his business. Williams sought opinion from the Richmond-based Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council.
WAVY
Legislation to bring more transparency and accountability to the secretive Virginia Parole Board is moving through the General Assembly with bipartisan support. The board has been under scrutiny for the past several months following controversies involving the release of several inmates from prison. Gov. Ralph Northam has put money toward improving the notification system so that victims and other appropriate people are made aware of the board’s decisions to release people. On Monday, the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 33-6 to approve a bill from Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, to require that board members’ votes be made public on whether to release someone. “There are a multitude of public bodies and officials, from the governor to you as members of the General Assembly, from state and local judges, prosecutors, mayors and local boards, who make unpopular decisions that some will feel threaten their safety or rights, and the parole board is no different,” Rhyne told a Senate panel. “Making a parole board member stand by their votes is not novel, it’s not burdensome, and it’s just a basic measure of oversight and accountability.”
The Roanoke Times
Note: An identical bill filed in the House has not been docketed for hearing, even though the deadline for action is Friday.
State officials say they’re confident that no COVID-19 vaccines are going to waste in Virginia. But seven weeks into the state’s vaccine rollout, the Virginia Department of Health won’t release data on wastage, which vaccinators are required to report under a provider agreement distributed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The document, which providers must fill out in order to administer vaccines, requires them to report the number of doses that were “unused, spoiled, expired, or wasted as required by the relevant jurisdiction.” In practice, that means hospitals, pharmacies and other administrators should be reporting the data to VDH, which then passes the information onto the CDC. The Mercury first requested the data from VDH in late January, after Dr. Danny Avula, the state’s vaccine coordinator, stated in a telebriefing that the reporting was required but that he didn’t have information on wastage in Virginia.
Virginia Mercury
The city of Norfolk is starting a massive overhaul of the St. Paul’s area that will ultimately mean moving thousands of residents and demolishing about 1,700 public housing units. But city officials now say they won’t answer questions from the press about any of it — indefinitely. City spokeswoman Lori Crouch abruptly called off a scheduled interview with The Virginian-Pilot last week, saying staff would not answer questions from the media related to the billion-dollar redevelopment. The cited reason? City Attorney Bernard Pisko had advised them not to take questions “in light of pending litigation.” That means a federal lawsuit filed in January 2020 by a group of St. Paul’s residents and other advocates. The suit argues that the city’s plans for relocating residents would run afoul of federal housing rules meant to prevent racial segregation. But city officials like Susan Perry, the director of the Office of St. Paul’s Transformation, have given regular public statements and media interviews since the lawsuit was filed a year ago. It’s unclear what changed last week. City Manager Chip Filer did not return several calls between Thursday and Monday seeking comment on the sudden silence.
The Virginian-Pilot
After a heated public hearing Monday evening, the Richmond Electoral Board voted to remove Kirk Showalter as the city’s general registrar, an action she said last week could lead to a legal challenge. In a heated public hearing before the board met in closed session Monday, a few election officials from Richmond and around the state defended Showalter, noting difficult circumstances and recent changes to absentee voting rules amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A newly-elected Suffolk City Councilman just lost a $157,000 lucrative landscaping contract with the City of Suffolk. Councilman LeOtis Williams wants the council to allow him to keep the contract -- but he also wants to continue serving on council. The rest of City Council may not be going down that path. Suffolk taxpayer dollars are used to pay Williams' business, LW’s Lawn Service, $157,000 to landscape several city-owned properties, including Suffolk City Hall, the grounds of Riddicks Folley, next door at the Suffolk Visitors Center and Pavilion. The business also cares for 12 other city properties and a few cemeteries. All that was OK -- until Williams was elected to a City Council seat, bringing up the possibility of a conflict of interest between his position on council and the money the city was paying to his business. Williams sought opinion from the Richmond-based Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council.
WAVY
stories from around the country
"The report was initially filed ... under seal by request of the county, whose attorneys have maintained that the content ... should remain out of the public eye."
Attorneys in Prince George’s County continue to spar over whether an expert report outlining alleged officer misconduct and systemic racial discrimination within the police department should be released to the public without redactions. The report, which has been partially under seal since it was first filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland last summer, is part of an ongoing discrimination lawsuit filed against the department more than two years ago by a group of Black and Hispanic police officers. It was written by a former Los Angeles deputy sheriff who was hired by the officers to analyze demographic, disciplinary and use-of-force data that was obtained from the police department. The report was initially filed with the court under seal by request of the county, whose attorneys have maintained that the content and the names of the officers identified in it — including those currently or formerly in leadership positions — should remain out of the public eye.
The Washington Post
editorials & columns
"If the city’s right, then the statute is wrong — morally wrong."
Now, let’s see if we got this right: Members of the public cannot use the Virginia Public Records Act — even though the records ultimately should belong to the public? Briefly summarized: The City of Charlottesville has argued in court that a plaintiff has no right to challenge city actions under the PRA. And if the city’s right, then the statute is wrong — morally wrong. If the act doesn’t exact meaningful penalties for wrongly deleting records, what force does it have to hold governments accountable? And suppose the Librarian of Virginia isn’t inclined to get involved in a case of wrongdoing. Then who can? Someone else needs to have that chance.
The Daily Progress
The Daily Progress
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