Ronald “Bobby” Hathaway, the former director of facilities for Richmond Public Schools, was accused of enlisting subordinates to help him disable security cameras to return a zero-turn lawn mower to the facilities site undetected, according to an internal investigation a city judge recently released to The Richmonder under the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Hathaway denied ever doing such to investigators despite the two subordinates – a supervisor and technician – confirming the incident taking place. “Mr. Hathaway’s claims are demonstrably false,” investigators wrote. “He utilized his position to coerce subordinates into committing a security breach for his personal benefit. This constitutes a gross abuse of authority.” … The findings of Hathaway’s financial misconduct come at a time when school leaders are making cuts to the division’s budget – including the recent last minute cut to teacher stipends – saying that RPS is strapped for resources. The division initially redacted the investigation heavily when The Richmonder requested the document through a Freedom of Information Act. The Richmonder sued, and the division had to turn over and completely unredact the report following a court order.

The Virginia Main Street organization paid close attention to a recent legal dispute in Blackstone over the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). Councilman Chris Page’s lawsuit against the Town, DBI, DBI Exec. Director Sallie Glenn, and Councilman Jake Allman apparently has raised eyebrows of concern in Richmond. The state Dept. of Housing & Community Development (DHCD), which oversees the Virginia Main Street Program, recently contacted the Virginia Coalition for Open Government for a presentation on organizational transparency. Megan Rhyne, Executive Director of the Williamsburg-based Coalition since 2008, said she led a virtual presentation in June to downtown organization Board Presidents of about 30 groups across the state. Ms. Rhyne told the Courier- Record, “I essentially said, (1) if you get two-thirds or more of your funding from state/local dollars and/or perform a delegated function, then you’re a public body subject to FOIA; but (2) if you don’t meet the definition of a public body for FOIA purposes, you should still want to be as transparent as possible and use FOIA as your guide.” Director Rhyne told the Courier Record that after her presentation, she heard from one organization that wants to arrange Board training. “The state agency folks followed-up to say that the presentation was eye-opening to many on the call.”

While Purcellville Vice Mayor Carl “Ben” Nett remains suspended from office until his criminal trials in October and December, he will not be removed from office following a hearing June 30 in Loudoun County Circuit Court. After listening to oral arguments, Judge Randy Bellows denied a request by Special Prosecutor Eric Olsen to vacate a jury’s decision following a civil trial in April. Olsen filed a motion May 28 seeking to set aside the verdict issued by a seven-member jury that allows Nett to retain his office. … Bellows added that if he were to vacate the decision, the only appropriate relief would be a new trial, not simply removing Nett from office.

The good news? Pennsylvania has a public database showing how much compensation every state employee and public official earns. The bad news? The data is incomplete. Take Auditor General Tim DeFoor: The state database lists his 2025 salary as $204,471, but his annual compensation that year is listed as $197,955. … Since 2012, in an effort to increase transparency in government spending, Pennsylvania has published state employees’ salary and compensation data on the website PennWATCH. But the compensation data — which is supposed to be more comprehensive than salary data alone — still isn’t complete. Because of how the state law governing the site was written, PennWATCH only shows employee earnings subject to state income tax. That includes things like salary, bonuses and overtime pay, but excludes certain paycheck deductions, such as healthcare premiums, group life insurance and workers’ compensation.