Transparency News 7/29/15

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

State and Local Stories


Henrico County officials are refusing to say how many companies submitted proposals for a regional radio project that is expected to cost more than $165 million in taxpayer money. Earlier this year, Harris Corp. complained that the specifications for a new public safety radio system for the Richmond region were “heavily weighted” toward Motorola Solutions Inc., the dominant public safety radio provider that supplied the current radios used by police and firefighters. But it’s difficult to tell if the outcome predicted by Harris — that the region would be left with Motorola Solutions as its only negotiating partner — has come to pass, because officials are keeping a tight lid on the proceedings.
Times-Dispatch

South Boston Town Manager Timothy L. Wilson resigned from his post effective Monday night. South Boston Town Council unanimously voted 4-0 to accept the resignation following a closed-door meeting held after their Monday evening work session. At the open meeting Monday, Wilson gave no indication he would offer his resignation later that night and did not give a reason for his abrupt decision to resign. Attempts to contact Wilson for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful. Councilmen W. R. “Bill” Snead Jr. and Billy Clarke were absent from the meeting, and Mayor Ed Owens did not vote. Vice Mayor Coleman Speece said Tuesday he had no comment on what might have prompted the town manager’s sudden resignation Monday evening. “I can’t comment. I think the release just has to stand on its merits. I can’t add anything at this point,” the vice mayor said.
Gazette-Virginian


National Stories
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Communications within Baltimore government broke down during the riots of April 27, as officials desperate for information exchanged rumors and subordinates questioned city leaders, emails and other documents released by the city Monday reveal. The material depicts a government in chaos on the day of Freddie Gray's funeral, as leaders tried to anticipate the possibility of unrest, and then to respond to what came: clashes between rock-throwing students and police officers, looting at dozens of businesses and arson throughout the city. Even as Baltimoreans were breaching pharmacies and supermarkets, emails show, police were waiting for riot gear that was on order. In one terse email -- sent as the rioting was breaking out -- William M. Johnson, the city's transportation director, called the confusion among city leaders "unacceptable." Johnson's email was among more than 7,000 documents that city officials turned over to The Baltimore Sun in response to a Maryland Public Information Act request. The materials show how officials handled the protests and riots that followed Gray's death in police custody.
Governing

As the Pentagon prepares the biggest federal IT contract announcement since Healthcare.gov, critics are warning of an even bigger fiasco, a record system that’s obsolete before it’s even finished. They say the project to build a new electronic health record system, estimated to cost $11 billion over a decade, will bloat budgets while hurting the care of millions of service members because their doctors will be unable to smoothly and securely share their medical records across military, Veterans Administration and private health systems.
Politico

A Texas county released video on Tuesday of Sandra Bland arriving at Waller County Jail, as officials sought to dispel rumors circulating on social media that she was already dead by the time records show she was booked. The hacker group Anonymous has tried to take down county websites, and some local officials have received death threats, Waller County Judge Trey Duhon told a news conference.
Reuters

Hillary Clinton’s aides aren’t the only ones upset with newly released intelligence agency and State Department watchdog reports that concluded she had classified information on the private email server she used as secretary of state. Transparency advocates say the procedures the inspectors general recommended for handling the release of Clinton’s email have the potential to slow to a complete stop the already glacial Freedom of Information Act process. “This is a recipe for paralysis,” said Steven Aftergood, a classified information expert with the Federation of American Scientists. “Their recommendation essentially is to give more reviewers a veto over disclosure. They not only want to bring in intelligence community reviewers, but also Justice Department officials.” “By adding on layers of review, and the corresponding ability to block disclosure, the IGs' approach would ensure that the least possible amount of information gets released,” Aftergood added.
Politico

Editorials/Columns

By a quick, partial and unscientific scan of Google, we see videos released by police and other law agencies involving fatal incidents over the past 18 months in Boston; Tulsa; Gardena, Calif.; Longview, Tex.; North Charleston, S.C.; Albuquerque ; and, in the recent arrest of Sandra Bland — who later died in jail in an alleged suicide — Prairie View, Tex. If only the authorities in Fairfax County had gotten the message. In Fairfax, nearly six months after the fact, officials in the police, sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices continue to withhold from the public a video depicting an in-custody struggle at the county jail between guards and Natasha McKenna, a mentally ill inmate. Ms. McKenna, who was shot repeatedly with a Taser stun gun after she had been handcuffed, never regained consciousness; she died five days later, on Feb. 8.
Washington Post

According to a story in Saturday's Pilot, in his two-plus years as auditor, Portsmouth Auditor Jesse Andre Thomas has completed two audits - neither is of an entire department - and two lesser reviews. By comparison, the Virginia Beach auditor's office completed 17 special audit projects in the past fiscal year. More importantly, Thomas has yet to complete his promised magnum opus: an examination of the billing and customer service in the city's Public Utilities Department, which was supposed to be completed in November 2014. That deadline came and went without a complete audit. Last spring, Thomas said the report would be ready in June. It's now late July, and still no sign of it. In an interview last week with Pilot reporter Johanna Somers, Thomas refused to say when it would be finished. Will someone please remind this man that he's a public servant?Taxpayers have a right to know what he's doing. And not doing.
Kerry Dougherty, Virginian-Pilot