A judge on Monday gave the Rappahannock County Public Library Board of Trustees 10 days to turn over to him lease documents relating to a potential move of the library to Rush River Commons in the Town of Washington. The documents are being sought in a lawsuit alleging the board violated the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by unlawfully denying requests for documents and terms related to the lease. Once Rappahannock County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Horne has the documents, he said, he will decide whether they should be made public. … In a nearly two-hour hearing on Monday, Konick argued the documents are not exempt under FOIA and should be released — at minimum, in redacted form — to him and his clients. Jeremy Capps, representing the library board, countered that the board is exempt from releasing documents tied to ongoing negotiations, arguing public disclosure could jeopardize its bargaining position.

Barrett Hardiman — one of nine members on the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners — has resigned his post, citing a “loss of confidence” in the agency’s senior leadership, according to a letter obtained by the Times-Dispatch through the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The resignation comes after RRHA Chief Executive Officer Steven Nesmith claimed Hardiman threatened him during a closed-door executive meeting last month. In his July 31 resignation letter to City Council, Hardiman wrote that he’d spent the past year “raising concerns regarding transparency, accountability, communication with commissioners, responsiveness to residents and the overall direction of the authority.” … In his own letter to City Council RRHA board Chairman Eddie L. Jackson Jr. linked Hardiman’s public comments on Nesmith to his exit from the board. “Under the board’s bylaws, the chair serves as the board’s official spokesperson to the press on board matters,” Jackson wrote in his letter, also dated July 31. “Commissioner Hardiman strongly expressed a different interpretation of his rights to communicate with the media.” “While we disagreed on that issue, it reflected a broader difference in our views regarding board governance and protocol,” Jackson continued. “Hardiman’s continued conduct has impacted the order of the board.” That conduct, according to Jackson, included a closed-door July exchange between Hardiman and Nesmith during which Hardiman made “remarks that Mr. Nesmith interpreted as threatening.” In response, Nesmith asked that the authority’s attorneys “note his concern,” Jackson wrote.

Former Greene County Supervisor Francis McGuigan has dropped his lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors, the county administrator and the woman appointed to fill his seat, but not before costing the county $20,000. The controversial and conspiracy-minded supervisor resigned from the board in January, but withdrew his resignation days later and demanded his seat back. When the county refused to reinstate him, he sued, citing a legal procedure dating back to medieval England to challenge the unlawful seizure of a public office. McGuigan dropped his suit in June, but even so, the county was left unable to recoup the legal costs it already incurred. “The County can’t collect back the money it uses to defend against any lawsuit,” County Administrator Cathy Schafrik told The Daily Progress in an email. “All money for legal representation comes from the general fund.”

The temporary replacement for Susan Khalil, who resigned from the Purcellville Town Council on Aug. 5, will be appointed rather than elected. At an Aug. 10 special council meeting, Town Attorney Robert J. Sproul said voters can’t decide on Khalil’s replacement in the November election because she resigned fewer than 90 days before Election Day. Candidates for the vacancy will be asked to fill out an application and provide a resume and letter of intent. … Council members Erin Rayner, Caleb Stought, and Kevin B. Wright attended the meeting. With council member Carol Luke and Mayor Chris Bertaut absent, the council lacked a quorum to approve beginning the appointment process. The meeting was continued to 6 p.m. on Aug. 18 to get a quorum. Bertaut and Luke didn’t return requests for comment on Aug. 10 about their absence, which drew criticism from resident and former council member Joan Lehr during public comment at the meeting. … “For the mayor and Ms. Luke not to show up for this meeting says exactly what everybody’s been saying for the past year and a half: ‘They don’t care about the town. They only care about themselves,’” said Lehr, who served from 2009 to 2016. “We need to care about our town and we need to get positions filled so we can move forward.”