A Manassas City School Board meeting grew tense Tuesday as a tangled saga involving School Board member Sara Brescia, her colleagues, a political candidate and his partner took over the evening’s proceedings. On Aug. 11, Brescia filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in Prince William County General District Court. In the petition, she alleged a majority of the School Board conducted an illegal electronic and telephonic vote, which resulted in a request for Superintendent Kevin Newman to investigate Brescia. According to documents shared by Brescia, a Title IX investigation was originally requested by board member Diana Brown following allegations regarding Brescia’s behavior toward Michael Gramajo, a Manassas City Public Schools employee and the partner of her election opponent, Marcus Still. Under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, a public body – such as a School Board – is prohibited from voting secretly or via written or electronic means, unless at an electronic meeting conducted in compliance with the act. According to Brescia, that is exactly what happened.

A Lynchburg City Council debate about whether to go into a closed session to discuss the performance evaluations of top city staff on Tuesday night led to accusations of maleficence by staff, a cover-up in the city manager’s office and the mayor declaring himself “a king.” At the end of the meeting, At-large Councilman Martin Misjuns introduced a motion to go into closed session to review the performance of the city manager, city attorney and clerk of council. Misjuns’ motion was seconded by Vice Mayor and Ward III Councilman Curt Diemer. Mayor Larry Taylor then introduced a substitute motion to table a review of the performances indefinitely, arguing the three city officials would not get a fair evaluation by council. … After Taylor introduced his substitute motion, Misjuns said he had decided to publicly release his performance evaluations of City Manager Wynter Benda, City Attorney Matthew Freedman and Clerk of Council Alicia Finney-Andrews. … After Misjuns’ remarks, Freedman advised that he believes the performance evaluations written by each council member are confidential personnel records. … “These are personnel records. I have to say it to protect the city from liability,” Freedman explained to council.

When Grayson Cotes walked into a meeting of the Roanoke City Council, he was planning to speak out against the practice of landlords banning housing for people who have previously been evicted. Cotes wound up being evicted himself, escorted out of the Aug. 17 meeting by law enforcement officers after he offered to give a prayer — as a member of The Satanic Temple. The next day, he filed a lawsuit in Roanoke’s federal court, claiming that the city violated his First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of religion. … The city council opens every meeting with an invocation, usually delivered by a pastor who volunteers to give the service, followed by a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. On this night, the scheduled pastor failed to show up. Vice Mayor Terry McGuire, who was presiding over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Joe Cobb, said half-jokingly he might have to give an impromptu prayer. But he also seemed open to other possibilities when Cotes, seated in the audience, raised his hand. Until, that is, Cotes identified himself as a Satanist.

One Fredericksburg city councilor described it as “church on a Sunday morning.” For more than four hours on Tuesday night, City Council served as congregation to a series of fiery three-minute sermons centered on the virtues and vices of a controversial data center project known as 1500 Gateway. During a much-anticipated public hearing, supporters and detractors alike were zealous in how they viewed the development, which sought to build a data center campus on 84 acres known as the Hylton tract. The land was previously under consideration for the Veterans Affairs clinic that ultimately ended up in Spotsylvania. “Democracy is alive and well in the City of Fredericksburg,” offered Charlie Payne, the attorney representing the developer.