Transparency News 11/25/14
State and Local Stories
In the wake of former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s corruption convictions, a state senator from Stafford County has co-sponsored a bill that would put a $100 cap on some gifts for elected officials and their immediate families. Senators Richard Stuart, R–Stafford, and Chap Petersen, D–Fairfax County, on Monday announced that they were introducing the bill, which their press release calls the “first gift-ban ethics reform bill” for the 2015 General Assembly session. Under the proposed legislation, Virginia office holders could not accept single “tangible gifts” worth more than $100 or any gifts “intended to induce an official action,” according to the news release.
Free Lance-Star
The Norfolk School Board met in a closed-door session Monday to discuss Superintendent Samuel King, but most members were mum on details. The board held a similar closed meeting Friday, for which members left a Williamsburg-area conference early to return to Norfolk. The board's clerk emailed a notice about Monday's meeting in the morning. According to Norfolk School Board policy, special meetings "shall be held when called by the chairman or when requested by two or more members." After the 90-minute meeting Monday night, most members declined to comment. Board member Rodney Jordan said he was involved in calling the meeting. "I thought it was important that the board had some communication with the superintendent around where things stood in terms of his commitment to the district," he said. "He has expressed his commitment to the district, and my personal view is that we all have expressed our commitment to work in the best interest of children." About a week ago, The Pilot reported that King had plans to interview for the Bibb County, Ga., superintendent's job, according to a person familiar with the search who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Virginian-Pilot
The Washington County Service Authority recently unveiled an interactive, user-friendly website offering improved navigation and functionality. Developed to provide easy access across mobile and desktop devices, the redesigned site, www.wcsawater.com, provides a streamlined platform where customers can easily access important WCSA information and resources. Visitors can quickly pay bills online through the Pay Your Bill feature, as well as locate emergency numbers and important forms pertaining to their water and wastewater services.
Washington County News
A disagreement between two outgoing Front Royal town councilmen about a state conference spilled over Monday. During the council comments portion of the regular meeting, Councilman Thomas H. Sayre spoke about his attendance at the conference. He prefaced statements by listing expenses that fellow council members incurred such as valet parking fees. Sayre noted that Parker received a reimbursement for an early-departure fee charged by the hotel. “I went to every exhibit booth,” Sayre said. “There were 82 booths and it was something … and the part that I could get the most out of it was very educational …” In addition to reading an affidavit signed by Virginia Del. Thomas Rust indicating his 15-20 minute conversation with Sayre at the conference, the councilman’s son, Philip Sayre, told council about his father’s visit with him at Virginia Tech that weekend. Vice Mayor N. Shae Parker responded to Sayre by reading a statement. Parker noted that he tried during his tenure to curb spending — eliminating food for council work sessions at a savings of $2,500 a year and opposing the purchase of shirts for members. “Frivolous spending by government at any level should be monitored and eliminated when discovered,” Parker stated before reiterating his “point of much consternation” that led him to contest Sayre’s reimbursement request.
Northern Virginia Daily
The Isle of Wight County Board of Supervisors at its Thursday meeting authorized County Attorney Mark Popovich to draft a policy about advertising public notices in area newspapers. Part of that could include what he called a “hybrid approach.” This came at his suggestion following a Power Point presentation on the issue. “Based upon clear Board directive to reduce costs where possible, and in analyzing the legal requirements and financial impacts, the County Attorney made the decision to discontinue advertising in The Tidewater News and The Smithfield Times for the following reasons: “Reduction in overall expenditure of taxpayer dollars, and the increased flexibility afforded the County by advertising in a newspaper that, besides meeting all the legal requirements for public notices, provided a 365 day a year option, rather than just 156 days (The Tidewater News) or 52 days (The Smithfield Times).” Popovich explained that advertising just in The Daily Press fulfills legal requirements, and that his decision wasn’t based on “some perceived personal vendetta against a particular paper…or traditional favoritism of one or more publications over another. “The decision was based upon only two factors: 1) how to limit costs and 2) flexibility.”
Tidewater News
Petersburg's new assessor has been working since summer to get the city's property tax rolls in order after an external audit determined that many properties were not assessed correctly. Since summer, the city has added more than $30 million in property values to the tax rolls and the number is expected to grow. Jay Ell Alexander, city spokeswoman, said that the city should start seeing a return on the taxes owed on the properties when bills are paid on Dec. 31. By law, the city is allowed to collect taxes as far back as the previous three years. All real estate tax bills are due on the last business days of September, December, March and June of every year.
Progress Index
Election officials say that almost 800 Virginia voters cast provisional ballots on the Nov. 4 elections because they lacked valid identification under the state’s new photo ID law. “Localities are still entering provisional ballot information into the system, but so far, about half of these ballots were accepted and half rejected,” Edgardo Cortés, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, said at a meeting of the State Board of Elections in Richmond on Monday. Cortés also called for a full review of the status of voting equipment in the state, following reports of malfunctions on Election Day in almost a dozen localities statewide.
Times-Dispatch
National Stories
Ten media organizations, including The News & Observer, sued the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday to get names of faculty and staff disciplined in the wake of the athletic and academic scandal. The media organizations state in their complaint that under North Carolina public records law, the date and reason for any demotion, suspension or dismissal of a state employee must be available for public inspection. Department heads have the discretion to do so, according to law, if it is "essential to maintaining the integrity of such department or to maintaining the level or quality of services provided by such department."McClatchy
A group of hackers claimed responsibility Monday for shutting down the city of Cleveland's websites after police killed a 12-year-old boy over the weekend. On Saturday, a police officer shot Tamir Rice, 12, who was standing outside a city recreation center with a fake gun, a BB gun that resembles a semi-automatic pistol. Tamir died Sunday at a local hospital. "Today we have recently learned of the tragic death of 12-year old Tamir Rice, who got shot twice in the stomach for having a BB gun and whose fate was decided by an overzealous rookie officer," according to a 2-minute video that the hacker group Anonymous posted Monday on YouTube. "The Cleveland police department has refused to release the name of this child's murderer." Cleveland officials said they were notified Monday that their websites, including the City of Cleveland site and all of its departments including police, were under attack. Although city officials could not confirm the source of the attack, they have begun an investigation.
USA Today
Carl Malamud, the founder of PublicResource.org, who was one of Swartz’s mentors and has spent the past 20 years prodding the government to make more of its information public, argues that there’s a precedent for making court papers free. It’s Edgar, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s online database for financial results, annual reports and other information from listed companies. Edgar, which stands for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval, is free to the public. But like Pacer today, the system that became Edgar sat behind a paywall when it began 22 years ago. It remained that way until Malamud subscribed to the data feed and started giving away the information. The same logic, says Malamud—who also has pushed the government to provide public access to patent filings and to charitable organizations’ tax forms—should apply to the courts.“What the courts haven’t figured out is that their job is not to sell paper docs at 10 cents a page but to make our justice system transparent and effective,” he says.
Quartz
