Transparency News, 7/6/20

 

Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder is accusing the state’s library agency of racism for its slow pace in processing and publicly presenting records from his tenure as the nation’s first elected Black governor. Wilder, 89, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Friday he doesn’t understand why the Library of Virginia has been processing papers from his gubernatorial successors before finishing work on his. “Why isn’t it racism?” Wilder asked. State Librarian Sandra Gioia Treadway acknowledged that the processing of Wilder’s records had “fallen off the radar,” a lapse that she attributed to budget cuts and turnover in key positions, including the state archivist.
Associated Press

When Norfolk schools first closed in March, the federally mandated annual meetings between educators and parents to discuss academic plans for students with disabilities moved to Zoom. Then, halfway through the shutdown, the district told parents it wouldn’t hold any meetings, virtual or not, until schools reopened. Kathy O’Hara, a spokeswoman for the district, said Norfolk stopped holding meetings because of legal advice from the city attorney’s office. She wouldn’t say whether the lawyers advised that the district could or should stop the meetings, but said some exceptions were made. O’Hara referred questions to Assistant City Attorney Derek Mungo, who didn’t respond to a request to elaborate on the decision. A request for copies of any plans detailing how Norfolk would handle special education services during the closure was still pending Thursday as the holiday weekend began.
The Virginian-Pilot

Charlottesville’s Human Rights Commission is planning small meetings with the City Council ahead of a joint work session later this summer to discuss changes to its structure. A committee of the commission recently held a virtual meeting to discuss developments ahead of the commission’s next meeting. The commission had scheduled a joint work session with the City Council on July 28, but commissioners on Thursday said that Mayor Nikuyah Walker proposed 2-2-1 meetings with councilors first. Those meetings would be held around a planned City Council retreat for later this month before a full work session. The 2-2-1 meetings are held with less than a quorum of councilors to avoid open-meeting requirements under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.
The Daily Progress

Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, the company that owns the Colonial Downs racetrack in New Kent County, pitched a backup plan for an off-track betting facility if it couldn’t build a casino in Danville.  The Richmond-based company was one of seven gaming companies that proposed building and opening a casino in Danville in response to the City Council’s request for proposals late last year.  Information on proposals from gaming companies was obtained from the city through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Danville Register & Bee. But the material provided contained only portions of the proposals.
Register & Bee

Mayor John Rowe sent a letter to Portsmouth City Council members Friday saying he never talked to Sen. Louise Lucas the day demonstrators spray-painted and vandalized the Confederate monument in Olde Towne as she indicated to police. Rowe said he reviewed videos from body cameras of a number of officers who were at the protest on June 10. The actions to which Rowe referred are ones which have been questioned by a number of people, including Tim Anderson, a lawyer from Virginia Beach who has been working to have Lucas recalled and said she should be indicted. Anderson, who also obtained body camera footage from police and released it, himself, said Lucas told police not to arrest protesters who were defacing the monument. Lucas stated in some of the footage that she did not tell officers not to make arrests but that they could not make arrests.
WVEC