Transparency News 9/29/14
State and Local Stories
Auditor Jesse Andre Thomas told Portsmouth City Council members that information leaks have prevented him from producing his first audit since starting work in April 2013, according to a secret audio recording obtained by the newspaper. Thomas contended that leaks compromised his investigation, specifically mentioning information given to The Virginian-Pilot. He failed to explain who leaked what information and how it harmed his audit of entertainment venue Willett Hall, according to a recording of Monday’s closed-session council meeting. In its coverage of the auditor, The Pilot has reported that Thomas was auditing Willett Hall – information Thomas himself offered in a May interview – with no additional details about the probe. Although none of it has been published in the newspaper, the scant information obtained on the Willett Hall audit by The Pilot has come either from Thomas or Freedom of Information Act requests. The Pilot obtained a copy of the closed-session recording from a council member who provided it on condition of anonymity.
Virginian-Pilot
Settlements in the defamation lawsuit against former Norfolk Community Services Board Director Maureen Womack were confidential. But in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the city provided copies of draft settlement agreements showing that two plaintiffs were to receive $70,000 each and two others $75,000 each from an insurance company for the CSB. Although Womack was a government official, the CSB had an insurance policy with Scottsdale Insurance Co. That company chose the law firm of Mayor Paul Fraim to handle the case. Todd Fiorella, Fraim's law partner, defended Womack. Scottsdale is paying the settlements. Alan Gernhardt, an attorney with the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council, said it's common for government agencies to use private insurance carriers to appoint lawyers. In such cases, settlements would not be made public because no government agency possesses a settlement document, he said. In the Womack case, copies of draft settlement agreements were sent to the City Attorney's Office, putting them in the public realm although the city was not a party in the lawsuit.
Virginian-Pilot
The agents from the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service showed up on Muneeb Akhter’s Springfield doorstep in mid-July, he said, soon after they learned that he claimed to have created a hack so powerful it was like printing virtual money. The cybersecurity expert and self-described hacker, who started college at 16, had casually told co-workers soon after starting work as a DHS contractor that he could add money to major retailers’ gift cards without spending a dime. Now, as the 22-year-old and the agents sat around his family’s dining room table, the officials wanted to know how. Akhter thought they might arrest him as he explained the hack, but instead, he said, they extended an extraordinary offer: Work secretly as a hacker for the government.
Washington Post
The city of Richmond may not have been required to pay $163,617 in severance compensation to former Chief Administrative Officer Byron C. Marshall, but the office of Mayor Dwight C. Jones has declined to clarify whether the exit package was legally required or granted at the mayor’s discretion. Several city documents state that severance pay is required if an employee is terminated “for any reason other than malfeasance.” Marshall’s 2009 employment contract includes that language, as does a city ordinance dealing with severance for high-level employees. But Jones has characterized Marshall’s departure as a resignation. The 2004 ordinance on severance pay does not mention any severance requirement in the event of a voluntary resignation. The ordinance also states that no severance payment can exceed seven months of salary, except if the mayor or the City Council chooses to grant a higher amount.
Times-Dispatch
National Stories
A federal judge ordered the Justice Department Thursday to release a list of documents it is withholding from the public related to Operation Fast and Furious within the next month. Calling the Obama administration’s request for further delays “unconvincing,” U.S. District Court Judge John D. Bates told the Justice Department to release the list of documents—called a “Vaughn index”—that the department is withholding by Oct. 22.Free Beacon
A judge has ordered the University of Montana to turn over to author Jon Krakauer any records on how the state's higher education commissioner handled a rape case against Grizzlies quarterback Jordan Johnson. Krakauer filed his lawsuit after Commissioner Clayton Christian's office refused his request in January to turn over Christian's records related to the case. Christian's attorneys resisted, saying the university system could lose its federal funding if it releases personal information about student without that student's consent. They also claimed Krakauer could not file a public-records request in Montana because he is a Colorado resident and the student's privacy trumps the public's right to know under the Montana Constitution. Judge Kathy Seeley in her order dismissed Christian's arguments, saying the Montana Constitution allows anybody to examine public records and that federal funding would be jeopardized only if the school systematically disclosed personal student information.
Huffington Post
Oil driller Continental Resources Inc has been revising its corporate history in ways that diminish the publicly traded company’s accomplishments under CEO Harold Hamm, part of a legal strategy that might help Hamm avoid the largest divorce award in U.S. history. Downplaying his role in Continental’s success is central to Hamm’s chances of minimizing the financial blow from his divorce, lawyers say. Under Oklahoma state law, if Hamm can show that market conditions – rather than his management prowess – drove the rise in Continental’s stock value during their marriage, he won’t have to share those gains with his estranged wife, Sue Ann. Since Hamm vs. Hamm began eight weeks ago, journalists have largely been barred from the courtroom. At the request of Continental, nearly all records and exhibits in the trial have been placed under seal by Oklahoma County Judge Howard Haralson; all but three days of the trial have been completely closed to the public. In most states, including Oklahoma, divorce trials usually take place in open court unless a judge closes the proceedings to protect a child. The Hamms have no minor children.
Reuters
The Durhals of Detroit are a budding political dynasty, but the tradition is almost as old as American democracy itself. From the Adamses, the Roosevelts and the Tafts, to the Kennedys, the Bushes and the Clintons, American politics is a forest filled with intricate family trees. This year’s elections are no different. In Louisiana, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu -- daughter of former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu and sister of current Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who was re-elected earlier this year -- is running for a fourth term. In Georgia, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate is Jason Carter, grandson of President Jimmy Carter. It’s hard to pin down just how many dynasties exist in American politics. In 1989, a professor at the University of Southwestern Louisiana estimated that one-fourth of state and parish officials had another relative in office. In a 2010 analysis of Congress, Harvard University’s Brian Feinstein concluded that 12 percent of U.S. House candidates from 1994 to 2006 were members of a political dynasty.
Governing
Editorials/Columns
Virginia's Freedom of Information Act lets state and local governments hide critical information from you when officials do their jobs badly. It lets them keep secret when top public servants — such as city managers and others who wield significant influence— receive raises at taxpayers' expense. Records of disciplinary action, including firings of county managers and school superintendents, as well as meetings to discuss the performance of those officials, can be shielded from citizens. The law doesn't mandate secrecy — but guess what happens when our brave public officials have the option to hide the truth? As Virginia conducts its two-year review of the commonwealth's FOIA, special attention should be paid to how it is repeatedly abused in regard to information about public employees.Daily Press
The recent prosecution and conviction of a very honorable man, Gov. Bob McDonnell, is a tragic miscarriage of justice and a trampling of Virginia law. I am not a lawyer nor have I, other than a handshake, any acquaintance with the governor. What I am, or strive to be, is an alert Virginia citizen who, for the better part of 88 years, has been a strong advocate of integrity and ethics in government and business.
Brenton S. Halsey, Times-Dispatch
Former Gov. Bob McDonnell's conviction on corruption charges ensured that state lawmakers would spend much of their time in the next General Assembly discussing ethics-related measures. Gov. Terry McAuliffe's new commission on government reform ensures that ethics - and a litany of other governance-related issues - will be a part of political campaigns in state elections through 2017. Good.
Shawn Day, Virginian-Pilot
Virginia’s House and Senate leaders reacted with unwarranted coolness this week to Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s newly empaneled Commission to Ensure Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government. Lawmakers set asea in unfamiliar ethical waters could use some direction from McAuliffe’s bipartisan panel of smart and — this is key — disinterested dignitaries. Many, but not all, are past state legislators who know about the sacrifices, temptations and jealously guarded prerogatives of power.
Roanoke Times
Last week offered this nugget of potential good news: Gov. Terry McAuliffe appointed a bipartisan ethics commission of reasonable people, with redistricting reform as one of their assignments. We say “potential,” because the commission is merely a panel and this is Virginia, where only the General Assembly has the power to depoliticize redistricting while lacking the motivation or integrity to do so. Still, we welcome the chance to address redistricting again because ending gerrymandering is as important as ending Rolex giving.
News Leader
Too many times in Virginia's recent past, elected officials or their families have benefited personally from votes they cast or work they did while representing the public. The work - and the votes - in many cases were perfectly legal, thanks to Virginia's worthless ethics laws. In some cases, the conflicts were severe enough to violate federal laws. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell and former Del. Phil Hamilton were successfully prosecuted. In others, a mere recusal from voting would have cleared up questions. Virginia Beach City Council member John Uhrin voted twice to support a plan to renovate the Cavalier Hotel and develop the land around it, despite his wife's years of work for one of the two developers involved. The first vote came before Catherine Uhrin was hired to market the new development; the second came months after. Uhrin, who has served on the council for eight years and faces no opposition for re-election, has been a tireless supporter of projects that would entice more people to the resort area. No one can question his commitment to tourism. On this project, though, he should have abstained.
Virginian-Pilot
Not knowing if something's going to impact you can be worse than the alternative. It stirs up questions, makes you wonder “what if” and worry about how things could change. At least knowing that your land is or isn't in the path of the natural gas pipeline gives some security. You know what's coming. That's why we encourage Dominion Resources to agree to the request put out this week by Augusta County supervisors and release the list of landowners affected by the pipeline route. Currently, Dominion officials are surveying land and mapping out the final route of the pipeline. Once that's established, they will have to submit the final route for approval with the federal government. During their meeting on Wednesday, Augusta supervisors asked that 90 days before the company files with federal regulators for the project, they inform the landowners who would be impacted by the pipeline.
News Virginian
