Transparency News 10/24/16

Monday, October 24, 2016

State and Local Stories


Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine is shrugging off any possibility that he could be embarrassed by the release of hacked emails. WikiLeaks, which has been posting stolen emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta, has twice taunted the Democratic vice presidential nominee that he’s in for a “surprise.” In an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday in Boston, Kaine said he’s a “regular human being” and he has nothing to be “overly embarrassed about.” He pointed out that thousands of emails from his time as Virginia governor have already been made public and that there’s nothing in them that has proved a major embarrassment.
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The U.S. District Court issued another subpoena – at least the fifth since June 2014 – in the federal corruption case against Norfolk Treasurer Anthony Burfoot. This one requires a representative from the city of Norfolk’s television station, Norfolk TV-48, to testify in a Nov. 7 court hearing and for the city to provide video copies of 14 formal and informal City Council meetings between April 2008 and June 2012. The recent subpoena, dated Sept. 7, does not explain what council actions or dialogues in those council meetings are of interest to the authorities. A review of the minutes from those 14 council meetings, obtained from the city Friday, show that most, if not all, of the meetings included matters already cited in the indictments of Burfoot and builder Ronnie Boone Sr., who pleaded guilty last month to bribing Burfoot and is likely to testify against Burfoot.
Virginian-Pilot



National Stories


A new New York law that requires banks to report and secure abandoned houses has been hailed as sweeping legislation for combating blight, but the most sweeping aspect of the law may be a section that keeps the information secret. The so-called “zombie properties” law requires the Department of Financial Services to keep a registry of vacant properties. But DFS must treat the information as confidential, exempt it from the state Freedom of Information Law and restrict access even to elected officials. “This is triple top secret territory,” said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, a nonprofit organization that advocates for government transparency. “Why is this necessary?”
Fairfield/Westchester County Business Journal

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