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"... his point wasn’t about someone moving but about the public’s perception the council wasn’t considering issues raised by residents."
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The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation (Midland, Michigan) and Virginia Tech Professor Marc Edwards launched a lawsuit today against Wayne State University for deliberately ignoring multiple Freedom of Information Act requests. The requested documents are related to questions about the qualifications and actions of Wayne State University personnel who were awarded millions of dollars in research funding after the water crisis became national news in early 2016. Edwards is a professor of environmental engineering and an expert on water treatment and corrosion and has become well known in Michigan for being one of the first to call attention to the problems with the Flint water system.
Mackinac Center
Days after two City Council members called for him to be fired, City Manager Dave Hansen released a statement Wednesday defending his conduct. The Virginian-Pilot reported this week that council members John Moss and Jessica Abbott wanted Hansen removed, in part because he had forwarded to developer Bruce Thompson an email Moss had sent to him about an upcoming closed-door City Council meeting on an Oceanfront pier project that Thompson was proposing. Hansen wrote in his statement that he did not reveal confidential information or briefing details to Thompson. The exchange was “a matter of public record,” he wrote, and he thought Thompson “had the right to know that the confidential terms of his proposal would be emerging in the public realm, most likely from the Councilmember.” “I regret that an email I forwarded to Bruce Thompson has become a distraction from the important work of this City Council,” Hansen wrote. He continued: “I do not believe the content of the email I forwarded compromised negotiations or eroded trust.”
The Virginian-Pilot
Sparks flew at the Bristol City Council meeting after Councilman Bill Hartley voiced concern over statements made last month by one resident who disagreed with the council’s decision to reduce school funding, prior to any votes on the budget. “When we had the public hearing at the high school, one lady who sat on the front row talked about how she was going to move to Tennessee. She also said, ‘I don’t know why I’m here talking because you all have already made up your minds.’ I’m not going to say whether she’s right or wrong, but, if that’s the perception, perception is reality, and we need to work on that,” Hartley said. “All of us have said we need people to participate and become engaged. If that’s the attitude they have, then we have to work on that.” Councilman Doug Fleenor immediately disagreed. “People are moving in here. I’m sorry if somebody wants to move out; that’s their prerogative. We can’t be held up as council because one person says, ‘We’re gonna move out,’” Fleenor said. “To me that is ludicrous. … Bristol is moving in the right direction, period. Period.” Hartley said that his point wasn’t about someone moving but about the public’s perception the council wasn’t considering issues raised by residents.
Bristol Herald Courier
Two Leesburg Town Council members are disputing media reports and trying to distance themselves from recent statements related to allegations against Mayor Kelly Burk. Councilmen Ron Campbell and Josh Thiel, who jointly called a special council meeting on June 1 to address unsubstantiated claims of drunken driving and public intoxication against the mayor, have waged public relations campaigns denying statements made in reference to the allegations. Citing a voicemail left on Burk's cell phone, the Times-Mirror reported last week that Thiel called the effort part of a smear campaign. After the story was published, Thiel denied that he ever called the effort by Campbell a “smear campaign.” The newspaper is in possession of the voicemail left on Burk's cellphone where Thiel twice refers to the meeting as part of a “smear campaign.” (Link to voicemail in the story.)
Loudoun Times-Mirror
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