Transparency News, 7/1/20
Wednesday
July 1, 2020
July 1, 2020
state & local news stories
The full text of Virginia's Freedom of Information Act, including changes made during the 2020 legislative session is available on VCOG's website.
Nearly two months after Virginia announced its plan to employ some 1,300 contact tracers to aggressively box in new COVID-19 cases before the virus can spread, officials won’t say how successful the multi-million dollar program has been in practice. In interviews and press conferences, health officials and experts have touted the old-school practice of contact tracing — when government workers alert people who come in contact with an infected person — as a linchpin of the state’s reopening plan. But even with hundreds of new hires, it is unclear how effective this process has been in Virginia. Officials have declined to release any statistics — such as the percentage of patients who have been reached and how many people are providing information on close contacts — that would show how the program is working. Julie Grimes, a health department spokeswoman, said they were still “in the process of building the data flow to support the ongoing monitoring.” “At this time, it would be premature to report any of these yet,” she said in an email.
The Virginian-Pilot
Inside an Accomack County courtroom, a small-town mayor decided to take his colleagues to court. “I’m sorry to all my constituents that we have to go through this, but they left me no choice,” said Onley Mayor Matt Hart. In June, Hart was publicly reprimanded by his fellow council members. They say he created a hostile, abusive work environment. “I’m not perfect, but nobody is perfect,” Hart added. “I’m certainly not abusive.” Hart believes council doesn’t like that he speaks his mind. In May, fellow council members held a closed-door session to discuss his performance. Hart decided not to go to the meeting. His attorney sent a letter to council, because it was believed the meeting would be against the Freedom of Information Act. The council still had the meeting. A couple weeks later during open session, the council passed a resolution reprimanding Hart. On Tuesday, Hart and council members were in an Accomack County courtroom. Hart and his attorney argued that the closed-door meeting was illegal. “He argues that we didn’t go into closed session properly,” said Onley Town Attorney Rachel Kellam. “We certainly argued differently today.”
WAVY
Henry County businessman Ray Reynolds has hired an attorney who seems to want to know why Martinsville City Attorney and Assistant City Manager Eric Monday was authorized to write a threatening letter to Reynolds based on a private conversation he had with a member of the Martinsville City Council. Monday threatened in a letter on city stationery last week to file suit against Reynolds and seek his arrest and incarceration if he didn’t stop public comments that emerged after an allegedly private telephone conversation with council member Jennifer Bowles. Reynolds, 59, a photographer and construction contractor and an admitted outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, said he reached out to Bowles, an African-American, as a friend to ask her if she could help to defuse the escalating comments about his reputation on social media. But that conversation turned public when Bowles did not agree to help and the two exchanged words that became more fodder for more social media comments. Work included an email sent at 3:49 p.m. Monday from [Reynolds' attorney] to Martinsville City Manager Leon Towarnicki, Monday and all members of the City Council, demanding, under the Freedom of Information Act, copies of all communication, authorization, or direction from Towarnicki and City Council to Monday, authorizing Monday to write the cease-and-desist letter to Reynolds “on official letterhead on behalf of the city of Martinsville.”
Martinsville Bulletin
Nearly two months after Virginia announced its plan to employ some 1,300 contact tracers to aggressively box in new COVID-19 cases before the virus can spread, officials won’t say how successful the multi-million dollar program has been in practice. In interviews and press conferences, health officials and experts have touted the old-school practice of contact tracing — when government workers alert people who come in contact with an infected person — as a linchpin of the state’s reopening plan. But even with hundreds of new hires, it is unclear how effective this process has been in Virginia. Officials have declined to release any statistics — such as the percentage of patients who have been reached and how many people are providing information on close contacts — that would show how the program is working. Julie Grimes, a health department spokeswoman, said they were still “in the process of building the data flow to support the ongoing monitoring.” “At this time, it would be premature to report any of these yet,” she said in an email.
The Virginian-Pilot
Inside an Accomack County courtroom, a small-town mayor decided to take his colleagues to court. “I’m sorry to all my constituents that we have to go through this, but they left me no choice,” said Onley Mayor Matt Hart. In June, Hart was publicly reprimanded by his fellow council members. They say he created a hostile, abusive work environment. “I’m not perfect, but nobody is perfect,” Hart added. “I’m certainly not abusive.” Hart believes council doesn’t like that he speaks his mind. In May, fellow council members held a closed-door session to discuss his performance. Hart decided not to go to the meeting. His attorney sent a letter to council, because it was believed the meeting would be against the Freedom of Information Act. The council still had the meeting. A couple weeks later during open session, the council passed a resolution reprimanding Hart. On Tuesday, Hart and council members were in an Accomack County courtroom. Hart and his attorney argued that the closed-door meeting was illegal. “He argues that we didn’t go into closed session properly,” said Onley Town Attorney Rachel Kellam. “We certainly argued differently today.”
WAVY
Henry County businessman Ray Reynolds has hired an attorney who seems to want to know why Martinsville City Attorney and Assistant City Manager Eric Monday was authorized to write a threatening letter to Reynolds based on a private conversation he had with a member of the Martinsville City Council. Monday threatened in a letter on city stationery last week to file suit against Reynolds and seek his arrest and incarceration if he didn’t stop public comments that emerged after an allegedly private telephone conversation with council member Jennifer Bowles. Reynolds, 59, a photographer and construction contractor and an admitted outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, said he reached out to Bowles, an African-American, as a friend to ask her if she could help to defuse the escalating comments about his reputation on social media. But that conversation turned public when Bowles did not agree to help and the two exchanged words that became more fodder for more social media comments. Work included an email sent at 3:49 p.m. Monday from [Reynolds' attorney] to Martinsville City Manager Leon Towarnicki, Monday and all members of the City Council, demanding, under the Freedom of Information Act, copies of all communication, authorization, or direction from Towarnicki and City Council to Monday, authorizing Monday to write the cease-and-desist letter to Reynolds “on official letterhead on behalf of the city of Martinsville.”
Martinsville Bulletin
stories of national interest
Public access to police officer disciplinary and use-of-force cases in California, including records about racist and discriminatory acts by cops, would be greatly expanded under legislation introduced Monday in Sacramento. State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, announced the effort to reform and broaden Senate Bill 1421, the landmark police accountability law she sponsored in 2018, and which took effect Jan. 1, 2019. That law requires police to release to public records about officer shootings, use of force, sexual misconduct and dishonesty. Senate Bill 776 would expand the existing law, include fines for public agencies that fail to provide records and allow the public to seek punitive damages if they are forced to sue to obtain the records.
Governing
Governing
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