Transparency News, 7/20/2022

Wednesday
July 20, 2022

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state & local news stories

"The purpose of the notice requirements is to give the public time to assess the importance of the issues being considered so they can plan whether or not to attend, whether or not to comment."

Norfolk officials have scrapped plans for a temporary casino inside Harbor Park stadium over concerns it would not meet the specifications of the city’s 2020 casino referendum. Instead, the temporary casino will be built on the same property that the permanent casino will eventually call home. The switch comes after a Virginian-Pilot article last month revealing that the city changed the address of Harbor Park baseball stadium in an apparent attempt to circumvent language in the casino referendum that Norfolk voters approved in 2020. At the time, city officials dodged questions about the address change, described it as a routine “boundary adjustment” and would not say the referendum was the reason for it. However, on Tuesday, they acknowledged the address change as the reason for scrapping plans to put the temporary casino in Harbor Park.
The Virginian-Pilot

A General District Court judge on Tuesday granted a motion to strike a former Spotsylvania County student’s complaint that members of the Spotsylvania School Board violated her rights under Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act by not properly voting to enter a closed session at its first meeting this year. Judge John Martin stressed during the trial that he needed to hear evidence that School Board Chair Kirk Twigg and members April Gillespie, Rabih Abuismail and Lisa Phelps “willfully and knowingly” violated FOIA by not voting to go into a second closed session during the Jan. 10 meeting.
The Free Lance-Star

Isle of Wight County’s School Board, on July 14, retroactively amended its April 5, April 26 and May 12 meeting minutes — seemingly in hopes of heading off at least one of the claims Carrollton resident Katie Carter Lemon made in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Lemon filed the suit on June 28, alleging that the School Board violated Virginia’s FOIA law by failing to disclose in its recorded minutes the location from which Vice Chairman Michael Cunningham had participated remotely during the board’s April 5 and 26 meetings. The lawsuit is Lemon’s third against the school system concerning FOIA in the past three years. She filed two complaints in 2020, both of which, according to past reporting by The Smithfield Times, accused the board of providing insufficient details to the public regarding decisions to enter closed session, and communicating an incorrect start time for board meetings.
The Smithfield Times

Tony Clark, of Southampton County, filed a lawsuit Tuesday, July 12, in Southampton Circuit Court against the Southampton County School Board and the Southampton County School Board Selection Commission, stating that the commission acted in violation of the Code of Virginia. The Southampton County School Board Selection Commission published notices in The Tidewater News on May 25, June 1, June 8 and June 15, announcing that it would be meeting in the Southampton County School Board Office Complex in Courtland at 11 a.m. on June 20 and June 27 for the purpose of appointing three members of the Southampton County School Board. “At 10:15 a.m. on the 20th, candidates who had already notified the commission of their intent to apply for a board position were informed by call and/or text that the meeting was being moved to the Southampton High School auditorium (approximately 3 miles away), same date, and time,” he wrote.  “The purpose of the notice requirements is to give the public time to assess the importance of the issues being considered so they can plan whether or not to attend, whether or not to comment, etc.,” said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. “If the notice advertises one location but then is held in a different location, that defeats the purpose."
The Tidewater News

The Covington City Treasurer was arrested on Tuesday for possession of drugs and divulging tax information, according to Virginia State Police. State Police said Theresa Harrison, 60, was charged with three felony counts of possession of Schedule II narcotics and one misdemeanor count of divulging confidential tax information.
WSLS

A campaign tactic tied to Peter Volosin, a Democratic nominee for Roanoke City Council, is the focus of 11 complaints to the state elections board — including one from a leader of the city’s own Democratic committee. Volosin and Council members Joe Cobb and Vivian Sanchez-Jones were elected in a June 21 primary as the party’s candidates for the Nov. 8 election. Family members of both Volosin and Sanchez-Jones were involved in the distribution of illegal campaign literature, according to a complaint filed by candidate Terry McGuire, whose fourth-place finish cost him the primary election. The Rambler obtained the complaints in a public records request. State law requires that sample ballots include a disclaimer about who paid for them.
Roanoke Rambler
 

stories of national interest

The U.S. Secret Service has determined it has no new texts to provide Congress relevant to its Jan. 6 investigation, and that any other texts its agents exchanged around the time of the 2021 attack on the Capitol were purged, according to a senior official briefed on the matter. Also, the National Archives on Tuesday sought more information on “the potential unauthorized deletion” of agency text messages. The U.S. government’s chief record-keeper asked the Secret Service to report back to the Archives within 30 days about the deletion of any records, including describing what was purged and the circumstances of how the documentation was lost.
The Washington Post