Transparency News 7/31/14

Thursday, July 31, 2014  

State and Local Stories

The government’s star witness took the stand Wednesday in the federal corruption trial of former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, saying he agreed to bail the couple out of financial trouble in exchange for the first lady’s promise to help promote his diet supplement business. Jonnie Williams’ testimony is the linchpin of prosecutors’ allegations that the McDonnells sold the power and influence of the governor’s office in return for more than $160,000 in loans, posh gifts, golf outings and luxury vacations. Williams has been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. The McDonnells maintain that they did nothing illegal. Williams, former CEO of the company then known as Star Scientific, testified for an hour at the end of the trial’s third day. His testimony will resume this morning.
Virginian-Pilot

An extensive list of evidence obtained today by the Times-Dispatch includes arrangements for Jonnie Williams to pay for Cailin McDonnell's wedding catering and his $50,000 loan to Maureen McDonnell.
Times-Dispatch

Teachers, parents and elected officials gathered for an emotional and at times boisterous meeting to discuss controversial pay raises received by school administrators. The forum, held at City Hall and hosted by the Hampton PTA, focused on the more than $30,000 in equity raises received quietly by several members of the school division's leadership team in June. School Board members didn't take any questions or make comments at the meeting. But Hampton City Schools Superintendent Linda Shifflette addressed the more than 100 people gathered, saying that reduced state funding has played a large role in the amount of cuts made in recent years. Shifflette said that equity raises have been commonplace in the school division. After the meeting, School Board member Joe Kilgore said he "appreciated the opportunity" Croom and the PTA gave the community. When Kilgore was asked if it was difficult to hear some of the sharp criticism he replied, "No, not at all."
Daily Press

A proposed Board of Visitors policy at the University of Virginia would muzzle dissenting board members. The Special Committee on Governance and Engagement met Wednesday afternoon in Richmond to review the four-page draft policy. Chairman John L. Nau III, consulting member Timothy B. Robertson and higher education governance expert Richard P. Chait wrote the initial draft. One of the most significant changes proposed by Nau, Robertson and Chait would be limiting members’ ability to speak about “board business” with members of the public. That would include reporters and elected officials. “Visitors shall not, without the prior consent of the Rector or President, initiate communication with anyone, including elected or appointed public officials at the local, state, or federal level, on matters related to business of the Board of Visitors,” reads an updated version of the policy. The policy also calls on members to refrain from criticizing a board policy once it has been approved. All communications with the media first would have to be approved by the rector or someone designated by the rector. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, who heads the Higher Education Research Institute at Cornell University, said having a code of conduct is a good idea, but muzzling all dissent after a decision has been made is “a bit extreme.”
Daily Progress

Fifteen percent of employees at the Hampton VA Medical Center were told to falsify data in order to hide delays to medical treatment, according to a USA Today report. The employees were encouraged by supervisors or others at the center to alter the date veterans were seen at the facility to an earlier "desired" date, making wait times seem more favorable, the report said. The Department of Veteran Affairs has come under fire for long-delayed appointments and wait times that exceed three months. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was "outraged" to learn that centers in Richmond and Hampton were among the worst offenders, he said in a conference call Wednesday. About 6.7 percent of employees at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond said they changed appointment dates, according to the USA Today report.
Daily Press

Hopewell City Councilwoman Brenda S. Pelham’s request to move a $2.35 million lawsuit filed against her by a former candidate for sheriff whom she accused of being “part of the Klan” out of Colonial Heights has been rejected. Circuit Court Judge Steven McCallum denied Pelham’s motion to transfer the case at a hearing Monday. A four-day jury trial has been set for July 20. A hearing on a motion to dismiss the case is scheduled for Oct. 17.
Times-Dispatch

The Virginia Department of Elections erroneously mailed letters to 125,000 voters who recently moved within the state, alerting them that they may no longer be eligible to vote in Virginia. The letters should have been sent to voters who moved out of state, but because of human error, were sent to voters who still live in Virginia. While potentially confusing, the letters did not trigger the purging of any voters from the rolls.
Washington Post

The Danville Historical Society has nominated its 1798 general store ledger to be in the running for Virginia’s top 10 endangered artifacts. The designation is a program created by the Virginia Association of Museums. The statewide organization acts as a resource to any type of museum in Virginia and Washington. The top 10 endangered artifacts listing imitates Preservation’s Top 10 Historic Sites listing, and any organization can nominate its artifact in Virginia.
Register & Bee

The Appomattox County School Board was split last Thursday on whether to keep its pay the same or reduce it. To reduce the pay would be following in the footsteps of an action that members of Board of Supervisors agreed to do earlier this month. At last Thursday’s school board meeting, board members Al Jones and Wyatt Torrence voted to keep the same pay. Board members Wes Williams and Bobby Waddell voted against it. Greg Smith, board vice-chairman, was not present during the meeting. Since the vote was tied, the school board will take up the matter of whether to reduce the board’s pay or keep it the same again at a later date.
Times Virginian

National Stories

Attorneys say Fort Smith, Arkansas, city officials didn't violate the state's Freedom of Information Act by individually polling board members. Resident Jack Swink filed a lawsuit earlier this month against City Clerk Sherri Gard and four city board members. The lawsuit accuses Gard of individually polling city board members on an issue rather than conducting the proceedings in an open meeting. The issue was about a three-year audit of the city's legal contract with a law firm. The issue was later removed from the board's meeting agenda. The lawsuit says the city officials violated the state's Freedom of Information Act.
The Republic

A Utah lawyer suing the FBI over its alleged inadequate search under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for videotapes related to the Oklahoma City bombing said Tuesday that one of his witnesses has backed out of testifying after being visited by government officials last week. On the second day of a bench trial in Salt Lake City, attorney Jesse Trentadue told U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups that he had just learned John Matthews would not be testifying. He urged Waddoups to order an investigation into who allegedly contacted Matthews with suggestions that he not appear at the trial.
Salt Lake Tribune

Ex-IRS official Lois Lerner refers to some Republicans as “a—holes” and “crazies” in an exchange from 2012, according to emails released by House Republicans on Wednesday. “Maybe we are through if there are that many a—holes,” the former head of the IRS tax-exempt division wrote in an exchange with an unnamed non-IRS official, dated Nov. 9, 2012. Later she added: “We don’t need to worry about alien terrorists. It’s our own crazies that will take us down.” Although Lerner doesn’t say “Republican” or “conservative” in the particular emails, she and the unnamed person were discussing conservative talk radio hosts.
Politico

The D.C. Superior Court has ruled that city officials engaging in business on personal email accounts to circumvent government transparency must surrender those emails in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. According to The Washington City Paper, D.C. residents suspicious over Commissioner Dianne Barnes’ support for the McMillan Sand Filtration site in Ward 5 wanted a closer look at Barnes’ communications, and filed multiple FOIA requests to do so. Judge Stewart Nash rejected the argument by the D.C. Attorney General’s office that personal emails aren’t subject to FOIA requests. The office asked the court to follow federal government guidelines in deciding the case, and rule that emails ”maintained on a non-governmental e-mail account, [do] not qualify as agency records subject to production under FOIA.”
Daily Caller
 

Editorials/Columns

The sensational defense argument that Maureen McDonnell had a “crush” on Jonnie all but guarantees that public interest in the trial will center around titillating details about the McDonnells’ allegedly broken marriage. Who wants to talk about the legal nuances of what constitutes “an official act” when comments by Maureen’s attorney can only be interpreted as deliberate hints that she and Williams might have had an affair? I don’t want to spoil the fun. We could use some comic relief this summer, given the dispiriting news from the Gaza Strip, Ukraine and the Mexican border. But we also should keep in mind that regardless of the verdicts, the trial raises an important question about how we expect our elected officials to behave: Should they and their family members be allowed to accept large gifts and sweetheart loans from people who have an interest in currying favor with the powerful?
Washington Post