Transparency News, 9/29/21
Wednesday
September 29, 2021
September 29, 2021
state & local news stories
Fairfax County police have stopped publishing a weekly arrest blotter after county officials found it violated a policy that restricts the dissemination of personal information that could aid immigration enforcement. Immigrant rights and civil liberties groups had been pushing for the change, arguing the weekly compilations that include arrestees’ addresses and other details could allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target immigrants for deportation and raise privacy concerns. But open-government advocates and some politicians have criticized the move, saying it decreases police transparency and keeps critical safety information from the public, including details about some violent, sex and property crimes. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition of Open Government, said efforts to restrict information because of potentially bad outcomes are problematic.
The Washington Post
For three hours Tuesday night, a crowd of Southwest Virginia residents, pipeline workers and environmental activists batted back and forth the same arguments the State Water Control Board has been hearing for the past four years as the Mountain Valley Pipeline project has ground forward, stalled, ground forward again and stalled again. The format of the meeting, which was held in-person only and not streamed, came under criticism prior to the hearing. In a Sept. 23 letter to Department of Environmental Quality Director David Paylor, more than 150 groups and individuals said they were concerned about “the lack of a virtual participation option” given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and asked that Gov. Ralph Northam and DEQ “make accommodations for remote participation.” “Even in a time of heightened health concerns, this meeting is being held in a region of the state experiencing high rates of COVID infection and in a region of overburdened ICUs,” Jessica Sims of nonprofit Appalachian Voices told the water board at its quarterly meeting Tuesday afternoon. Board member Timothy Hayes said the body was receptive to the suggestion. “I don’t think any of us are against the idea of expanding public access,” he said. “The problem is we’ve got statutory, regulatory, logistical and resource issues that keep us from doing it.”
Virginia Mercury
A Pound Town Council candidate and nine town residents have sued three council members and an interim member whose appointment is being questioned. The suit, filed electronically Tuesday in Wise County Circuit Court, asked the court to void the Sept. 14 appointment of James Pelfrey after members Glenn Cantrell and Danny Stanley decided they had a quorum to meet and do council business. Tuesday’s filing for injunctive relief names Cantrell, Stanley, member Clifton Cauthorne, Pelfrey and the town as defendants. The plaintiffs — council candidate Leabern Kennedy and residents Melissa Boggs, Scotty Cox, Brenda Crawford, Finley Jackson, Shandolyn Johnson, Janet Meade, Dianna Smith, Vernon Tompkins and Lynette Wells — are also asking the court to reverse the council’s disposition of property after Pelfrey’s appointment. The suit alleges that Town Attorney Cameron Bell had given a written opinion that three council members were required as a quorum to hold a meeting. However, only two members — Cantrell and Stanley — opened the Sept. 14 meeting, according to official council minutes. Town Freedom of Information Act officer Melissa Fleming, in a reply Tuesday to the Times News’ Sept. 21 FOIA request for Bell’s legal opinion on the quorum issue, said the request was denied on Bell’s instruction.
Times News
Things got tense at Monday night’s Winchester Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting when City Manager Dan Hoffman discussed a proposal to replace Friendship Park in Winchester’s North End with affordable senior housing, a community center and an outdoor pool. “We haven’t acquired any additional land, yet now we’re talking about selling park land,” board member Calvin Allen Jr. told Hoffman. “That troubles me.” Allen said he was particularly upset with the way the Friendship Park proposal has been handled. It was first unveiled on Aug. 7 as a late addition to a Winchester Planning Commission work session, then shared with the community at large on Aug. 31 during an open house and public hearing regarding the city’s latest update to its Comprehensive Plan. Allen argued the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which is tasked with providing City Council with direction on the oversight of Winchester’s parks, should have been the first to hear about the Friendship Park proposal when officials were ready to publicly discuss it a month and a half ago.
The Winchester Star
Dominion Energy paid Hampton Roads newspaper columnist Gordon Morse over $60,000 per year as he wrote unsigned editorials praising the utility, according to new paperwork filed by Dominion. The company also paid over $20,000 to Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, from 2017 to 2020 for an annual speech he has given to Dominion executives for three decades. Sabato’s staff say those earnings were donated to the university. The disclosures list dozens of firms, lobbyists, communication shops and consultants, including Gordon Morse. VPM detailed Dominion’s relationship with Morse, a columnist for the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, in a story last December. Kris Worrell, the papers’ editor-in-chief, confirmed Morse wrote “some” of at least seven Dominion-focused editorials published last year. The unsigned editorials praised or defended the company. Worrell said Morse was taken off editorials related to Dominion after they learned of his part-time contract as an executive speechwriter for the utility. In an interview, Morse questioned VPM’s motives for reporting on them because they were first flagged by Josh Stanfield, a progressive activist and critic of Dominion.
VPM
The Washington Post
For three hours Tuesday night, a crowd of Southwest Virginia residents, pipeline workers and environmental activists batted back and forth the same arguments the State Water Control Board has been hearing for the past four years as the Mountain Valley Pipeline project has ground forward, stalled, ground forward again and stalled again. The format of the meeting, which was held in-person only and not streamed, came under criticism prior to the hearing. In a Sept. 23 letter to Department of Environmental Quality Director David Paylor, more than 150 groups and individuals said they were concerned about “the lack of a virtual participation option” given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and asked that Gov. Ralph Northam and DEQ “make accommodations for remote participation.” “Even in a time of heightened health concerns, this meeting is being held in a region of the state experiencing high rates of COVID infection and in a region of overburdened ICUs,” Jessica Sims of nonprofit Appalachian Voices told the water board at its quarterly meeting Tuesday afternoon. Board member Timothy Hayes said the body was receptive to the suggestion. “I don’t think any of us are against the idea of expanding public access,” he said. “The problem is we’ve got statutory, regulatory, logistical and resource issues that keep us from doing it.”
Virginia Mercury
A Pound Town Council candidate and nine town residents have sued three council members and an interim member whose appointment is being questioned. The suit, filed electronically Tuesday in Wise County Circuit Court, asked the court to void the Sept. 14 appointment of James Pelfrey after members Glenn Cantrell and Danny Stanley decided they had a quorum to meet and do council business. Tuesday’s filing for injunctive relief names Cantrell, Stanley, member Clifton Cauthorne, Pelfrey and the town as defendants. The plaintiffs — council candidate Leabern Kennedy and residents Melissa Boggs, Scotty Cox, Brenda Crawford, Finley Jackson, Shandolyn Johnson, Janet Meade, Dianna Smith, Vernon Tompkins and Lynette Wells — are also asking the court to reverse the council’s disposition of property after Pelfrey’s appointment. The suit alleges that Town Attorney Cameron Bell had given a written opinion that three council members were required as a quorum to hold a meeting. However, only two members — Cantrell and Stanley — opened the Sept. 14 meeting, according to official council minutes. Town Freedom of Information Act officer Melissa Fleming, in a reply Tuesday to the Times News’ Sept. 21 FOIA request for Bell’s legal opinion on the quorum issue, said the request was denied on Bell’s instruction.
Times News
Things got tense at Monday night’s Winchester Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting when City Manager Dan Hoffman discussed a proposal to replace Friendship Park in Winchester’s North End with affordable senior housing, a community center and an outdoor pool. “We haven’t acquired any additional land, yet now we’re talking about selling park land,” board member Calvin Allen Jr. told Hoffman. “That troubles me.” Allen said he was particularly upset with the way the Friendship Park proposal has been handled. It was first unveiled on Aug. 7 as a late addition to a Winchester Planning Commission work session, then shared with the community at large on Aug. 31 during an open house and public hearing regarding the city’s latest update to its Comprehensive Plan. Allen argued the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, which is tasked with providing City Council with direction on the oversight of Winchester’s parks, should have been the first to hear about the Friendship Park proposal when officials were ready to publicly discuss it a month and a half ago.
The Winchester Star
Dominion Energy paid Hampton Roads newspaper columnist Gordon Morse over $60,000 per year as he wrote unsigned editorials praising the utility, according to new paperwork filed by Dominion. The company also paid over $20,000 to Larry Sabato, head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, from 2017 to 2020 for an annual speech he has given to Dominion executives for three decades. Sabato’s staff say those earnings were donated to the university. The disclosures list dozens of firms, lobbyists, communication shops and consultants, including Gordon Morse. VPM detailed Dominion’s relationship with Morse, a columnist for the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, in a story last December. Kris Worrell, the papers’ editor-in-chief, confirmed Morse wrote “some” of at least seven Dominion-focused editorials published last year. The unsigned editorials praised or defended the company. Worrell said Morse was taken off editorials related to Dominion after they learned of his part-time contract as an executive speechwriter for the utility. In an interview, Morse questioned VPM’s motives for reporting on them because they were first flagged by Josh Stanfield, a progressive activist and critic of Dominion.
VPM
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