Transparency News 9/26/17

Tuesday, September 26, 2017


Nominations are being accepted for VCOG’s Freedom of Information Awards, to be presented in the fall of 2017. Entries should be submitted by October 9, 2017, by filling out the form linked above or by mailing the same information to VCOG, P.O. Box 2576, Williamsburg VA  23187.

State and Local Stories

A judge signed the court order of his decision in favor of a lawsuit that accused Abingdon Town Council and the town attorney of violating the Freedom of Information Act. Judge Danny Bird, a retired district court judge, on Sept. 19 signed the court order written at his request by Barry Proctor, an Abingdon attorney who represented the man who filed the lawsuit. The order was filed in Washington County General District Court on Monday. Bird did not impose any civil penalties, but ordered Town Council to refrain from any further violations of the Virginia FOIA. He also ruled that the letter sent to the judge be rescinded and the town pays court costs and attorney fees. Mark Flynn, the town’s attorney, received Proctor’s draft last week and said he and his clients “disagreed with it completely,” regarding an FOIA violation. “The judge simply did not make that finding,” Flynn said. “Proctor presented [a court order] that doesn’t say what the judge said.”
Bristol Herald Courier

The Charlottesville Police Department spent almost $70,000 in response to the Aug. 12 Unite the Right rally, according to documents from the city. About 70 percent of that, or $50,346.54, went to paying deputies, jailers at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, a psychologist and overtime to Charlottesville police. The itemized expense list said $14,176.35 was spent on “logistical costs,” including $2,900 to rent bike rack barriers from the University of Virginia; $96.25 on batteries; $2,414.60 at Hampton Inn and Suites for lodging on the night before and the night of the rally; $2,359.50 on bus rentals; and $728.84 for food on the day of the rally. Another $5,280.14 was spent on “quartermaster costs,” including $957.36 for water and ice; $2,144.06 for Gatorade and snacks; and $621.11 on cold fire, a fire extinguishing agent. The department also spent $132 on “pr-24 holders” for police batons and $413.60 on “mk-9 vapor w/hose and wand,” also known as pepper spray. Charlottesville psychologist Jeffrey Fracher was paid $750 for a consultation.
The Daily Progress

Richmond School Board members, both current and prospective, are calling for more transparency in the hiring of consultants after former consultant Dallas Dance was hired without their approval and was reported to be under investigation by Maryland. Dance, the former Baltimore County school superintendent, was approached by the division and served as a consultant from July 1 through Aug. 31. He was paid $25,000 for his services, which, according to a contract obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch through a Freedom of Information Act request, meant helping interim Superintendent Tommy Kranz and other senior staff members until a new superintendent takes over.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The search firm hired to help Lynchburg City Schools find its next superintendent hosted two public meetings Monday night to learn what characteristics residents desire in the division’s next leader, but despite the meetings being open to the public, The News & Advance was denied access to the gathering at E.C. Glass High School Civic Auditorium. Speaking from E.C. Glass on Monday, Michael Rush, regional director of Ray and Associates, said he didn’t want the media to publish the community members’ comments before the school board had a chance to review them. At about 7:20 p.m. Monday, four community members were present for the meeting at E.C. Glass. When asked if it was common practice for Ray and Associates to deny media access to public meetings, Rush said, “I didn’t say what was common practice, I said what we needed to do because it’s unfair for you guys to know before the board knows what’s happening. They have no idea who may have said what, so that’s why we do that.” Reached Monday night, Lynchburg City Schools spokesperson Cindy Babb, who notified media of the meeting last week, was taken aback when she heard about The News & Advance’s dismissal.
News & Advance



National Stories
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Voicemails left on Florida Gov. Rick Scott's cellphone by employees of the Hollywood, Fla., nursing home where 11 died in the post-Hurricane Irma heat have been deleted, according to the governor's office. Scott gave out his number to nursing homes and assisted living facilities ahead of the hurricane so administrators could report concerns, according to a timeline released by Scott's office. In the days following Irma, the staff at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills called four times. But the messages they left the governor weren't kept, as first reported by CBS4's Jim DeFede. "The voicemails were not retained because the information from each voicemail was collected by the governor's staff and given to the proper agency for handling. Every call was returned," Lauren Schenone, a spokeswoman for Scott, said in a statement on Sunday. The calls would have provided critical evidence for what the nursing home told the governor's office, which has repeatedly said wasn't told residents there were in danger.
Governing

Arizona does not have to reveal who provides its execution drugs, a judge ruled Thursday in a lawsuit arguing that the information would help the public determine whether the death penalty is carried out humanely and promote confidence in the criminal justice system. The decision marked a defeat for news organizations, including The Associated Press, that sued to get the information released. U.S. District Judge Murray Snow ruled that the media outlets didn’t show they had a First Amendment right to knowing the suppliers of lethal injection drugs.
Governing

Appeals court arguments on LGBT rights Tuesday will take place without video coverage after a judge objected to C-SPAN's request to televise the rare session, a court official said. The full 13-judge bench of the New York-based 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is set to hear an hour of oral arguments Tuesday afternoon on a case raising the issue of whether existing federal law prohibits discrimination against gays and lesbians. The case, involving a deceased New York skydiving instructor who claimed he was fired from a skydiving company because he was gay, has drawn unusual attention because different parts of the federal government are taking conflicting positions. 2nd Circuit Clerk Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe confirmed that a member of the court requested that the session Tuesday not be recorded on video. "The media policy says that if a member of the panel makes the request" video recording will not be permitted, O'Hagan Wolfe told POLITICO Monday. "A request was made in this case." O'Hagan Wolfe declined to elaborate on who vetoed the video or why. "The policy speaks for itself," she said.
Politico