Transparency News, 9/7/2022
Wednesday
September 7, 2022
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state & local news stories
Heated moments broke out in Richmond City Council Chambers on Tuesday night as the council prepared to head into a private briefing with Police Chief Gerald Smith about law enforcement procedures following the fallout from claims that police stopped a planned mass shooting at Dogwood Dell on July 4. “All of this needs to come out to the public instead of us looking like we’re covering up something," said 8th District Councilor Reva Trammell before the closed session. "It should not be behind those closed doors." Council President Dr. Cynthia Newbille said the City Attorney advised the body to hold the meeting privately because standard operating procedures related to public safety and dealing with potential threats would be addressed. But Trammell called that a "spin." Members spent about two hours in closed session, with two councilors leaving the meeting early. Smith and Pearson exited through a side door before reporters waiting outside the room had an opportunity to ask them questions.
WTVR
In another effort to get a $5 million lawsuit against them dismissed, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and the city's police chief are pointing to a federal court decision in a case involving a fired state employee who investigated the Virginia Parole Board. Jennifer Moschetti, a former senior investigator in the Office of the State Inspector General, filed a lawsuit seeking $11.3 million after she was fired last year following her whistleblower lawsuit against the state’s inspector general, Michael Westfall, claiming misconduct in the state’s parole board investigation. "While Westfall supervised Moschetti at OSIG, he did not employ her within the meaning of the statute," Hudson wrote in the opinion. "Nor does Westfall act 'directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer,' because, as mentioned above, the Commonwealth and OSIG are not employers under the meaning of the statute." Citing the "new authority and the construction of the statute" after the federal court opinion, Stoney and Smith filed a motion on Aug. 30 asking the Richmond Circuit Court to reconsider Marchant's decision to deny their demurrer.
WRIC
An app meant to help save lives has gone dark in Virginia Beach. The city's EMS stopped using the "Pulse Point" app at the beginning of the month. “It was designed and marketed to have public access to cardiac arrest cases, in the event somebody nearby also knew CPR and that they could go to that scene,” said Virginia Beach EMS Chief Bruce Nedelka. Pulse Point is used in many cities across the 757, like Norfolk and Chesapeake. Chief Nedelka said city officials stopped using the program on September 1. “It only worked in public spaces, not private homes,” Chief Nedelka said. “And you had to be within a very small distance from the scene.” Now, people on community Facebook pages are wondering why the app went dark. Some are posting that it kept them in the loop about what is happening around the city and knowing what areas to avoid. Chief Nedelka pointed to funding. He said in 2018, council members voted to pay for three years at about $13,000 a year. Pulse Point then funded a year for free, but Nedelka said this year, they couldn’t find money to pay for the service.
WVEC
