Senior Richmond City Hall officials would be eligible to receive up to a full year’s salary in severance pay under a more generous policy proposed by Mayor Danny Avula’s administration. … The Avula administration says the change will bring Richmond more in line with the benefits other cities offer to top government administrators. … Though severance pay is a common benefit in local government to allow mutually beneficial exits for high-ranking officials, it’s been a touchy subject in Richmond. Severance payouts have occasionally been used when officials are being asked to leave City Hall under a cloud of controversy. Payouts for departing employees are often coupled with broader separation agreements that are treated as confidential but can include provisions prohibiting former employees from suing or criticizing the city. … Avula has committed to releasing severance pay information on an annual basis, but it’s unclear how much detail would be immediately available if a top city official were to suddenly depart.

Culpeper County has hired its first-ever “clerk to the board,” dividing a role previously filled by the county administrator, who was recently fired. Following several hours of interviewing three candidates in a closed session on Thursday, the board appointed Shane McCrum, 29, of Amissville, to the position, earning $150,000 annually. … As Clerk to the Board, McCrum will provide primary administrative support to the seven-member elected body, preparing meeting agendas, maintaining official records and minutes, managing public notices, and coordinating communications between the board and county staff. He will ensure board proceedings comply with all applicable laws, including the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, the county said.

No one, it’s fair to say, likes red-light runners. The same might be said about law enforcement agencies that fail to abide by state laws restricting the use of information from red-light cameras. A State Crime Commission report released in January indicated that 29 Virginia jurisdictions acknowledge they’ve shared data from automatic license plate readers with federal and/or out-of-state law enforcement agencies, despite the General Assembly passing and former Gov. Glenn Youngkin signing a ban on such uses into law last year. In addition, 33 law enforcement agencies responding to a commission survey admitted they’ve kept ALPR data beyond the maximum 21 days allowed by law. … That’s troubling and disappointing news, compounded by the fact that the crime commission won’t release the contents of its survey or name the agencies that broke the laws, all of which are classified as misdemeanors. As Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, rightfully says, the failure to disclose the violators sends the wrong message to the public. “I think they made a mistake in implementing this very invasive technology without any way for the public to oversee its implementation,” she told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, adding that the silence casts a shadow on all agencies, regardless of whether they’re following the law.