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All Access
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The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners voted on Wednesday morning to formally open an investigation into CEO Erik Johnson following confirmation he was residing in an ARHA property against organization policy. Notice for the meeting had been posted to the city’s website, making it open to the public. Promptly at 8 a.m., once all Board members had arrived, Board chair and real estate lawyer Anita Androh said that they would discuss “HR and real estate matters” concerning Johnson in their “executive meeting.” “I will see everybody in the executive session,” Androh said, before all Board members, herself included, logged off of the public Zoom meeting. Only at 9:27 a.m. did Board members file back into the main Zoom meeting room following the close of their executive session, before ending the meeting altogether at 9:34 a.m. after Androh revealed the votes to come out of the executive session. According to Virginia Code § 2.2-3711, public bodies are allowed to hold closed meetings for limited purposes. Androh did not cite a specific part of this code before entering executive session.
Alexandria Times
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Local
Martinsville residents will not get access to information detailing the pending termination of City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides. Members of the Martinsville City Council decided this Tuesday evening in a split 2-2 decision, with Kathy Lawson and Rayshaun Gravely dissenting and Mayor L.C. Jones abstaining. Councilor Aaron Rawls’ motion was to release all investigatory information involving the spending and activities of the city manager and others. Both Rawls and Councilor Julian Mei agreed that as investigations into Ferrell-Benavides’ and the city’s spending continue, the best thing for residents is transparency. “I think, if I were in the public and I was witnessing all of this, I would want to know the truth,” Mei said prior to casting his vote in favor of releasing information publicly. Both Lawson and Gravely cited attorney-client privilege as the reason behind their respective votes. Martinsville is represented by the Sands Anderson law firm, based in Richmond.
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Local
Orange County Supervisors have chosen Glenda Paul as the county’s next administrator. It’s unknown when the supervisors voted to approve Paul. The action was not mentioned during Tuesday’s board meeting, despite the group going into a more than hour long closed session for the purpose of discussion or consideration of prospective candidates for the county administrator position. According to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), all votes of a public body must be taken and recorded in an open session.
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Local
Those attending Fairfax County School Board meetings in the future may need to give themselves a little extra time to get settled in. Starting this school year, Fairfax County Public Schools announced that it will expand its growing weapons screening program to school board meetings, requiring attendees to pass through OpenGate detectors before gaining entry. According to FCPS, items that may trigger the system but are still allowed include 3-ring binders, laptops, metal eyeglass cases, umbrellas and certain pencil cases.
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Nationwide
The loss of local news is linked with increased government secrecy, according to a new study conducted by the Brechner Center for the Advancement of the First Amendment at the University of Florida. The findings lend the first empirical evidence to the connection long intuited between the declining health of local news ecosystems and decreased government transparency. They add to the growing body of research that demonstrates the impact of news deserts on democracy, including increased partisanship, lower voter participation, and diminished civic engagement. “Where there are no newspapers and weakened newspaper systems, government secrecy is flourishing,” said David Cuillier, director of the Freedom of Information Project at the Brechner Center and author of the report. “Government officials see that journalists are hurting, and they’re taking advantage of that.”
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