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All Access
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Greene County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to limit who can speak during “matters from the public,” approving a bylaw change that gives the floor to county residents, business owners, and landowners, while allowing only two out-of-county speakers. … Several board members said the move was about order, time management, and keeping meeting time focused on Greene constituents. … Ruckersville District resident Melanie Johnson tied the bylaw vote to another issue now facing the board: questions about whether Greene County resources were used in a recent federal immigration enforcement operation in neighboring Page County. Johnson said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that a June 12 operation in Page involved the Greene County Sheriff’s Office. She asked the board to disclose whether Greene deputies, vehicles, equipment, or overtime funds were used. Her claims were presented during public comment and were not independently verified during the meeting. “You can’t claim that the consequences of Greene County’s decisions end at the county line and then limit people from across that line from speaking about those consequences,” Johnson told the board.
Local
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Local
When the newly elected and reelected members of the Warrenton Town Council took office in January 2025, they were propelled by a wave of anti-data-center sentiment. … They immediately took action by replacing the town attorney with a known data center critic and releasing a trove of long-requested emails about the data center. They also formed a committee to investigate past land-use approvals, giving it a name that reflected the stated goal of rebuilding public trust: the “Commission on Open and Transparent Government.” … But nearly two years later, the commission appears to be at a crossroads. Its work was paused last November, and a disagreement about its access to town emails contributed to the firing of former town manager Frank Cassidy. The commission also lost its attorney in January. Meanwhile, the report on its findings was never issued. Now an informal request to spend an estimated $150,000 to fund its continued work — amid some doubts about whether the effort is worth it — is spurring calls for the commission to disband.
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Local
The Loudoun County School Board after midnight Wednesday voted to censure Ashburn District representative Deana Griffiths. The censure vote followed argument over whether a closed session meeting had been legally conducted. Six members supported a motion stating that Griffith had violated two School Board policies related to the confidentiality of closed meetings and confidential information. The motion stated that the public reprimand came after concerns were first raised in June 2024 and a private letter of reprimand was issued in December 2024. The exact nature of the violations was not disclosed. … When asked for comment, LCPS Public Information Officer Dan Adams said Wednesday morning, “As this is a School Board matter, I will refer you to the language of the motion and the division has nothing additional to add.”
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Local
Citizen frustration boiled over at a brief special meeting of the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday after elected members announced a new high-salaried county administrator appointment without any formally scheduled public comment, which is not uncommon. … The county advertised the special meeting on Monday night. The announcement of Hutka as the new county administrator, effective Sept. 1, followed a multi-month, behind-closed-doors process in the wake of the abrupt March firing of former county administrator Sam McLearen. … Special meetings of the board may or may not include public comment time, though such time is never included at committee meetings, which preceded Tuesday’s announcement of the new county administrator. The board did not hold a public hearing in August, canceling the night meeting.
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Local
Norfolk City Council meetings have been marked by growing friction this summer over a rule that gives the mayor the ability to restrict public comments considered repetitive. The policy has drawn sharp criticism from local residents who argue that limiting speech during public forums shuts down their primary direct channel to elected officials. City Council members, however, defend the rule as a way to stop organized advocacy groups from dominating public comment. The council’s Rules of Procedure allow the mayor to shorten or deny a speaker’s time if their remarks are repetitive, cumulative or cover a topic that has already received sufficient debate in current or past sessions. The rules also say public remarks during new business must introduce new topics rather than rehash previous comments. City Council enforced the rarely-used rule twice this summer, during its June 9 and July 14 sessions. … Mayor Kenny Alexander added that the procedural rule was in place well before he became mayor. He stressed that formal council sessions are not the only way residents can connect with city leadership, noting that council members remain available through district office hours, email and local civic league meetings across the city.
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Local
Martinsville will return to a salaried city attorney Sept. 1 after the city council voted Tuesday unanimously to appoint James Benkahla, a veteran local-government lawyer who previously advised Augusta and Spotsylvania counties. His appointment fills an opening created when Sands Anderson, the Richmond-based law firm that had served as Martinsville’s city attorney since 2023, stopped representing the city in June. City Manager Rob Fincher said June 23 that Martinsville had begun searching for a replacement. Neither the city nor the firm publicly explained why the relationship ended. City-posted attorney-fee reports show Sands Anderson billed Martinsville $234,651.50 in 2024 and $444,335 in 2025. Another $111,782 was billed from January through June 2026, bringing the total documented in the reports to $790,768.50. That is a minimum rather than a full accounting of the firm’s tenure. Although Sands Anderson began serving the city in spring 2023, Martinsville’s online transparency page does not include a Sands Anderson fee report for that year. Bills for July or later in 2026 also were not included in the records used to calculate the total.
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Local
While public meetings are recorded and transcripts and minutes are made publicly available, it may be difficult for those unfamiliar with local government to understand some of the terminology. The list below details some of the common terms used in local county meetings as new development continues, so you can be more engaged in local government.
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State
A Lynchburg resident put “FTP” — shorthand for “F–k the police” — on his license plate with Virginia’s permission. Now the state wants the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether it can take its approval back. The Richmond-based Fourth Circuit Court ruled personalized plate messages are private speech protected by the First Amendment. The state disagreed, arguing it should get to decide what appears on state-issued plates.
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