Transparency News, 6/25/20

Granby High School’s new principal will be Norfolk City Council member Tommy Smigiel, who has led one of the city’s specialty, lottery-based schools since its founding in 2014. One Norfolk School Board member abstained from the decision and another voted against his promotion, which was approved last week in an unusually secretive fashion. The board’s agenda included Smigiel’s appointment among a slate of other staff hirings or promotions, which are usually uncontroversial. But after their usual closed-door talk about the personnel changes, members returned and told the public they would vote separately on “the one individual.” Someone watching would have had no idea that meant Smigiel or why it was happening. Even after the 5-1-1 vote, school officials wouldn’t say who the “individual” was, though they have done so after similar votes in the past. The board’s clerk said she wasn’t privy to the information. A spokeswoman said she didn’t know, either. Told that Tanya Bhasin, who abstained from the vote, identified the individual as Smigiel, Chairwoman Noelle Gabriel confirmed that but said she wasn’t sure his name could be shared publicly because the board had discussed his appointment in closed session first.
The Virginian-Pilot

A document posted online and on social media Monday evening provided a scathing response to a lawsuit filed last week by School Board member Sherri Story against the board and her fellow members. Story’s attorney, Kevin Martingayle, found the response “highly unusual.” “In nearly 30 years of litigation, I cannot recall ever seeing a government-issued press release so emotional and potentially defamatory as a reply to a lawsuit,” Martingayle stated in an emailed response to questions Tuesday morning. The response issued Monday said the lawsuit is “without merit and will be vigorously defended.” Martingayle said the press release raises lots of questions, including who drafted and authorized it and when and how it was approved. The News-Herald contacted the school division with some of these questions and received this statement from Community Engagement Officer Anthonette Ward: “The initial article presented by the Suffolk News-Herald only presented a one-sided view. To present the position of the School Board, the Board Chair took the unusual step of issuing a press release during pending litigation. There was no meeting. The response was drafted by the chair with consultation by legal counsel. There will be no further comments made by the School Board regarding this matter.”
Suffolk News-Herald

Administrators stated that University of Mary Washington Police Department did not participate in use of tear gas at the Fredericksburg protests on May 31. In an email response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Blue & Gray Press, Anna Billingsley, associate vice president of University Relations, asserted that the five UMW officers present at the protest did not use tear gas or other caustic chemicals.
Blue and Gray Press

The Hanover County School Board abruptly adjourned in a split vote Tuesday after a two-hour closed session, putting off an expected decision on a pair of schools named for the Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson. The board went into closed session to discuss the Hanover NAACP’s lawsuit seeking new names for the schools and mascots. Lee-Davis High School’s mascot is the Confederates; Stonewall Jackson Middle School’s mascot is the Rebels. The board’s clerk then came out of the virtual closed session and said the board intended to amend the agenda and “take action” on the school names. Instead, board member Sterling Daniel of the Mechanicsville District made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Daniel was not on the board during the first 2018 vote, when a 5-2 vote upheld the name and mascots.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

A dispute between a local immigrant advocacy group and Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson continues to linger in Rockingham County General District Court. In March, the group asked a judge to issue a court order to force Hutcheson to release information about detainers on inmates booked into the jail. A hearing scheduled for Wednesday was postponed by Judge John Hart until July 30. It’s unclear why the hearing was delayed.  The filing was made on behalf of Boris Ozuna of local group FUEGO, or Friends United for Equity and Grassroots Organizing. Ozuna said he filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the sheriff on July 31 of last year asking for information regarding his collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hutcheson replied: “All communications with DHS/ICE are secure and confidential communications that are subject to their approval and consent in order to be released.”
Daily News Record

California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes cannot sue Twitter over allegedly defamatory remarks made about him by satirical accounts pretending to be his mother and a cow, a Virginia judge ruled Wednesday. Twitter is immune to Nunes’ claims of defamation and negligence, the judge said, because the company is protected by a critical law at the heart of a roiling policy debate in Washington: Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. “Plaintiff seeks to have the court treat Twitter as the publisher or speaker of the content provided by others based on its allowing or not allowing certain content to be on its internet platform,” Marshall wrote in the decision, a copy of which was reviewed by CNN. “The court refuses to do so.”
WTOP
 

 

In the fatal shooting of a black man by police in Atlanta last week, officers’ body cameras captured about 40 minutes of footage, but not the critical moments that end with one of them opening fire. In Oklahoma City, it took police more than a year to release video from the arrest of a man who died in custody. It came out months after the officers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing, and shows them struggling with the man as he says “I can’t breathe.” One officer replies: “I don’t care.” Nationwide, police departments have rushed to ramp up the use of body cameras, which have been hailed as a potential equalizer that would show the unvarnished truth of an encounter with officers. But the cases in Georgia and Oklahoma highlight why the technology’s benefit has come into question amid protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd and calls for sweeping changes to American law enforcement. With budget crises looming and cries to “defund the police,” some are asking whether the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars spent to outfit officers with cameras has provided the accountability and transparency expected.
The Washington Post
 

The Farmville Town Council’s decision to take down the Confederate soldier statue was exactly the right decision, but the way it was carried out should cause great concern for the future of open and citizen-participatory government with this town council. The Machiavellian plan to quickly remove the statue without an opportunity for any input by a divided citizenry showed just how sneaky this council can be. As happy as many people are that the statue has been removed, it is hard to celebrate that great sign of progress without being at least a little concerned the fast-tracked process used to remove the statue could be used for other issues in the future that may not be deemed a safety concern. Farmville Herald reporter Crystal Vandegrift was ready to watch Thursday’s town council meeting on Facebook. It was advertised as a simple vote to approve the town’s budget. The phrase, “Discuss and take possible action on any other business that may come before council” was the only thing one may take as a suggestion that the council was there for other business. Vandegrift was waiting at 7 p.m. for the town to begin broadcasting the meeting on Facebook. It never happened. All of the other public meetings held by the town council had been on Facebook. A notice in the town’s June water bill said the town’s public meetings would be broadcast on Facebook and YouTube due to the public not being able to attend the meetings. Even if the meeting had been broadcast on Facebook, a recording of the meeting revealed that the council discussed removal of the statue in closed session using an exemption typically reserved for buying or selling town-owned property.
The Farmville Herald