Transparency News, 6/4/20
Thursday
June 4, 2020
June 4, 2020
"It's very important to understand how much work was done behind the scenes."
Prince William County Public Schools has rejected a request by the Board of County Supervisors to provide more than 20,000 private messages posted on Twitter, most between schools Superintendent Steve Walts and students. After a Freedom of Information Act request from a county resident revealed a handful of the messages from Walts account, @SuperPWCS, county supervisors made a FOIA request May 13 for the past 18 months of messages. Tanisha S. Holland, equity and compliance officer for the school division’s human resources department, said in a response Wednesday that the messages were either protected by state code or withheld as part of the school division’s internal investigation.
InsideNoVa
Nobody spoke Tuesday night during a public hearing on Boyce’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year that will start July 1. Concerned that the town hall on East Main Street would be too small to adhere to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, Boyce Town Council held the hearing in the Boyce Volunteer Fire Company’s social hall on Greenway Avenue. Only two members of the general public showed up, though, and neither chose to speak about the spending plan. Another hearing has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. June 11 after Town Recorder Ruth Hayes expressed concern that Tuesday night’s hearing may not have been advertised in a way that meets state requirements. Under state law, the council cannot adopt a final budget until at least seven days after a hearing is held. The council also slated a special meeting for 6 p.m. June 18 to consider adoption.
The Winchester Star
Petitioners have turned in enough signatures to force Norfolk’s City Council to consider a measure that would instruct city police to effectively ignore new gun-control measures passed by the Virginia General Assembly, the lead organizer behind the petition effort said. Bob Brown, the chairman of Norfolk’s Republican Party and the lead petitioner, said his group turned in roughly 1,400 signatures to Norfolk’s Circuit Court clerk on Thursday, just ahead of the deadline. The drive began Jan. 30, and Brown said they lost months of time to collect signatures when quarantine measures went into place as the coronavirus pandemic heated up in America, but things had loosened up enough for them to collect signatures on Election Day in May. That 1,400 is enough to prompt the city to schedule at least two public hearings on the matter and force council’s consideration under the city charter, though that may ultimately not look much like, well, consideration. City Attorney Bernard Pishko has previously advised the council that declining to take a vote on the resolution is a form of consideration and an effective rejection. This is how they treated a similar petition effort from critics of the city’s casino deal late last fall.
The Virginian-Pilot
Danville City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night officially selecting Caesars Entertainment as the city's preferred casino provider. Whether the company brings a gambling resort to Danville depends on the outcome of a referendum among city voters in November. Council voted 8-0 — which was held remotely via Zoom — to pass a resolution to choose Caesars from among four finalists. Councilman Madison Whittle was absent due to internet problems. The resolution was added to the agenda at the start of the meeting. It authorizes the city manager to execute a non-binding letter of intent with Caesars, headquartered in Paradise, Nevada. Though no discussion was held before the vote, Councilman Fred Shanks pointed out during end-of-the-meeting communications from councilmen and other city officials that a lot of effort went into attracting Caesars to Danville. "It's very important to understand how much work was done behind the scenes," Shanks said.
Register & Bee
The first body camera law in Virginia takes effect on July 1 but advocates say the state should go further. Protests surrounding the death of George Floyd have reinvigorated conversations about police accountability in the commonwealth. Virginia NAACP State Conference President Robert Barnette says body cameras are part of the answer. “Transparency, transparency, transparency. We need to be able to trust law enforcement,” Barnette said. Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria) was behind the recently passed law that he says will make body camera policies more consistent statewide. He says you can’t hold officers accountable if standards aren’t in place before incidents occur.
WFXR
InsideNoVa
Nobody spoke Tuesday night during a public hearing on Boyce’s proposed budget for the new fiscal year that will start July 1. Concerned that the town hall on East Main Street would be too small to adhere to COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, Boyce Town Council held the hearing in the Boyce Volunteer Fire Company’s social hall on Greenway Avenue. Only two members of the general public showed up, though, and neither chose to speak about the spending plan. Another hearing has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. June 11 after Town Recorder Ruth Hayes expressed concern that Tuesday night’s hearing may not have been advertised in a way that meets state requirements. Under state law, the council cannot adopt a final budget until at least seven days after a hearing is held. The council also slated a special meeting for 6 p.m. June 18 to consider adoption.
The Winchester Star
Petitioners have turned in enough signatures to force Norfolk’s City Council to consider a measure that would instruct city police to effectively ignore new gun-control measures passed by the Virginia General Assembly, the lead organizer behind the petition effort said. Bob Brown, the chairman of Norfolk’s Republican Party and the lead petitioner, said his group turned in roughly 1,400 signatures to Norfolk’s Circuit Court clerk on Thursday, just ahead of the deadline. The drive began Jan. 30, and Brown said they lost months of time to collect signatures when quarantine measures went into place as the coronavirus pandemic heated up in America, but things had loosened up enough for them to collect signatures on Election Day in May. That 1,400 is enough to prompt the city to schedule at least two public hearings on the matter and force council’s consideration under the city charter, though that may ultimately not look much like, well, consideration. City Attorney Bernard Pishko has previously advised the council that declining to take a vote on the resolution is a form of consideration and an effective rejection. This is how they treated a similar petition effort from critics of the city’s casino deal late last fall.
The Virginian-Pilot
Danville City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night officially selecting Caesars Entertainment as the city's preferred casino provider. Whether the company brings a gambling resort to Danville depends on the outcome of a referendum among city voters in November. Council voted 8-0 — which was held remotely via Zoom — to pass a resolution to choose Caesars from among four finalists. Councilman Madison Whittle was absent due to internet problems. The resolution was added to the agenda at the start of the meeting. It authorizes the city manager to execute a non-binding letter of intent with Caesars, headquartered in Paradise, Nevada. Though no discussion was held before the vote, Councilman Fred Shanks pointed out during end-of-the-meeting communications from councilmen and other city officials that a lot of effort went into attracting Caesars to Danville. "It's very important to understand how much work was done behind the scenes," Shanks said.
Register & Bee
The first body camera law in Virginia takes effect on July 1 but advocates say the state should go further. Protests surrounding the death of George Floyd have reinvigorated conversations about police accountability in the commonwealth. Virginia NAACP State Conference President Robert Barnette says body cameras are part of the answer. “Transparency, transparency, transparency. We need to be able to trust law enforcement,” Barnette said. Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria) was behind the recently passed law that he says will make body camera policies more consistent statewide. He says you can’t hold officers accountable if standards aren’t in place before incidents occur.
WFXR
Categories:
