Transparency News, 6/3/2022

Friday
June 3, 2022

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state & local news stories

A judge ruled Thursday in Suffolk Circuit Court that the recall effort against Suffolk School Board Chairwoman Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck was without merit and dismissed the petition against her.  Brooks-Buck, who represents the Nansemond Borough on the board, smiled as the judge gave his ruling, but said afterward she believes the efforts of the group who organized the petition against her will continue. More than 800 residents had signed a petition filed in the court by Margaret Rankin of the group Suffolk Citizens for Accountability to recall Brooks-Buck due to what it said were violations of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, silencing board and school division critics, threatening to arrest other board members while also censoring and restricting them from questioning her actions, and deflecting her responsibility for what it says are the board’s failures.  
Suffolk News-Herald

Another Portsmouth city official is off the job.  Interim Deputy City Manager Robert Moore resigned Tuesday, city spokesperson Dana Woodson and interim City Manager Mimi Terry said.  Woodson, nor Terry, shared a reason for Moore's departure.  Moore's resignation comes one week after Portsmouth City Council members fired former City Manager Angel Jones during a heated meeting. Now, Mark Yatrofsky said he and a group of Portsmouth residents are working on petitions to recall Barnes and Whitaker. The seats held by Battle and Woodard are up for election in November.
WRIC

stories of national interest

National Public Radio filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies that allegedly wrongly withheld information about police behavior during protests over George Floyd’s death. NPR and Alameda County journalist Eric Westervelt claim that the FBI, the National Guard and the U.S. Park Police are withholding records requested in June 2021 concerning law enforcement agencies’ actions during protests in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., in 2020. The complaint demands that the feds comply with the First Amendment and immediately provide all requested records.
Courthouse News Service

When New Jersey officials passed sweeping tax cuts for Atlantic City’s casinos last year, they offered broad claims but little evidence. former Judge Steven P. Perskie, an Atlantic City adviser and the former state lawmaker who authored the Casino Control Act legalizing gaming, predicted dire consequences. “The impact of the increases that would take place in 2022 would put a significant portion of the industry in extreme financial distress,” he said, citing a “comprehensive” financial analysis conducted by the state. But when The Press of Atlantic City and ProPublica sought that financial analysis from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, which is tasked with direct oversight of Atlantic City, the agency would not produce it. In an interview, Sweeney also declined to provide evidence of potential closures, saying it would be clear “if you do your homework and you look at the increase that some of these casinos were facing.” So that’s what we did. Over the past few months, The Press of Atlantic City and ProPublica filed a series of public records requests with local and state agencies to help calculate the casino tax liabilities that the state refused to reveal.
ProPublica

Every year, the Department of Education sends a checklist to colleges and universities reminding them of the various federal laws and regulations they have to comply with, including environmental standards, Title IX and FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. For many years, that checklist did not mention any reporting requirements for foreign gifts and contracts. As a result, many higher education institutions were caught off guard in 2019 when the department began launching investigations of colleges and universities for noncompliance with the regulations. Institutions scrambled to bring their disclosure practices into line, combing through gifts and contracts and sometimes hiring expensive auditors to turn over every stone, said Deborah Altenburg, associate vice president for research policy and government affairs at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Now, three years later, lawmakers are attempting to strengthen and clarify the reporting mandates for donations that come from abroad. The Bipartisan Innovation Act, versions of which passed the House and Senate this spring, is meant to boost America’s competitiveness in the global economy, but it also includes language that would beef up foreign donation transparency laws for higher education institutions.
Inside Higher Ed