Transparency News, 12/12/2022

 

Monday
December 12, 2022

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state & local news stories

 

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The Virginia inspector general found that state tourism officials committed no wrongdoing by awarding a $268,000 contract to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s political ad-maker in what was initially a no-bid deal. Inspector General Michael C. Westfall launched an investigation in October after top Democrats questioned how the firm, Poolhouse, won the chance to make a state tourism video and whether the Virginia Tourism Corp. (VTC), a taxpayer-funded public authority, had paid too much for the 60-second spot featuring Youngkin (R). Poolhouse, a Richmond-based Republican media firm, made $1.5 million in campaign ads for Youngkin during last year’s gubernatorial campaign and has continued working with the governor as he explores a potential 2024 presidential bid. The VTC is exempt from state procurement rules, but the Poolhouse deal ran counter to the authority’s internal policies, which call for soliciting at least six bids for services worth more than $100,000, VTC President Rita McClenny acknowledged when the deal came to light in the fall. She said she has the authority to circumvent the policies, however. Westfall, who oversees civil probes into government waste, fraud and abuse, wrote Thursday that he found no wrongdoing because the VTC is “exempt from state procurement guidelines.” He also determined that the cost was “reasonable based on similar projects completed,” he said in a letter addressed to Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick.
The Washington Post

David Cariens said he had “high hopes” when he first joined the Virginia Beach Mass Shooting Commission. The retired CIA analyst, who lost a loved one in a 2002 mass shooting in Grundy, Virginia, said he wanted the commission to learn everything it could about the Virginia Beach shooting so it could help prevent another tragedy. But he said Wednesday that hope hasn’t come to fruition. The panel started with 21 members, but amid concerns that it is failing to conduct a thorough investigation, half of the commission has resigned in recent months. In an email obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, Rebecca Cowan, one of the members who resigned in November, shared serious concerns about the commission to Attorney General Jason Miyares and Virginia Beach Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler. “When commission members, including myself, attempted to obtain the necessary information, these efforts were met with resistance both from the City and some commission members,” Cowan wrote on Nov. 22. “In my opinion, manipulative attempts have been made to stifle information-seeking, and as I reflect on my time on the commission, I have concerns that the commission’s work is being obstructed from within, either deliberately or due to negligence.” According to Robert "Butch" Bracknell, the panel has faced challenges and could use more support from the state, such as the addition of full-time staff members to assist.
The Virginian-Pilot

Prince William County Supervisor Pete Candland (R-Gainesville) announced Saturday that he will resign from office after his role in a controversial data center project compromised his ability to vote on issues related to the industry. Candland and his wife Robyn are among more than 200 residents in the Gainesville area who agreed to sell their homes to one of two data center companies seeking to create a 2,100-acre “Digital Gateway” complex in an area that is mostly rural. Since signing that deal, Candland had recused himself from any votes related to the project, including a recent board decision to approve the framework for that complex, in accordance with an opinion issued by Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth that noted the value of his home would be affected by that decision.
The Washington Post

After receiving public pressure from the Warrenton Town Council about its decision to postpone the public hearing on the Amazon data center application, the Warrenton Planning Commission announced Tuesday it plans to resume the hearing during its regular meeting on Dec. 20. The announcement comes a week after Interim Town Manager Christopher Martino issued a press release stating the council would "consider the status" of Amazon's application for a special-use permit to build a data center in Warrenton without a recommendation from the commission. On Monday, Citizens for Fauquier County, an environmental nonprofit that has been critical of the data center proposal since it was submitted to the town in April, announced it plans to file a lawsuit against the town, claiming town officials illegally suppressed or redacted information requested by the organization through the Freedom of Information Act regarding the Amazon data center proposal.
FauquierNow

In an Ocean View neighborhood with basketball hoops in driveways and American flags hanging from front porches, a vacant piece of land sandwiched between homes quietly exchanged hands five times between 2017 and 2020. The property — a string of four parcels totaling a third of an acre — is in a marshy, overgrown thicket that recedes into a low-lying swamp, and stands in stark contrast to the manicured lawns across the street. Despite developers buying the land on two separate occasions, nothing was ever built there. The city seized the land in 2017 for delinquent real estate taxes and auctioned it off. Three years later, the city bought the property back from its owner — the alleged son of Mayor Kenny Alexander — for the stated purpose of creating a public greenspace and protecting wetlands. In doing so, the city bailed Terrion Jones, a prominent local rapper, out of a soured development project. When Jones and two partners purchased the land, they failed to discover a critical detail: It was unbuildable due to its proximity to the Chesapeake Bay. Rumors have long persisted that Jones, known in the hip-hop world as Young Money Yawn and a protégé of famous rapper Pusha T, who also was part of this deal, is Alexander’s son from a relationship prior to his marriage. In a series of phone interviews, Alexander would neither confirm nor deny Jones is his son, saying The Pilot “should ask (Jones’) mother.”Attempts to contact Jones’ mother were unsuccessful. When reached by phone, a man believed to be Jones denied it was him and hung up.
The Virginian-Pilot

Co-workers of Austin Lee Edwards, the Virginia deputy who killed the grandparents and mother of a 15-year-old Riverside girl he “catfished” online, removed a sheriff’s truck and a black trash bag from Edwards’ property the night before it was officially searched, according to a witness and a video reviewed by The Times. Two deputies from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the law enforcement agency that employed Edwards immediately before his death, arrived at the white Cape Cod-style home with blacked-out windows late on Nov. 25, the day of the killings. Riverside police, who are leading the homicide investigation, said they did not know about the Washington County sheriff’s deputies’ actions.
Los Angeles Times
 

stories of national interest

"The State may not sanction the press for broadcasting ‘lawfully obtained, truthful information’ that the State itself has disclosed to the public."

The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled Friday that the state of Maryland’s blanket ban on recording court proceedings was unconstitutional. The case was filed against the judges of the Baltimore County and Prince George’s County administrative circuit courts, who then stood in for the state of Maryland. “The State of Maryland remains free to prohibit live broadcasting from the courtroom, and to regulate the release of shielded records and video recordings under the Maryland Rules. However, the State may not sanction the press for broadcasting ‘lawfully obtained, truthful information’ that the State itself has disclosed to the public,” the district court memorandum opinion reads.
Washington Times

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Pat Toomey have joined together to propose legislation that would make it easier to get information out of the U.S. Federal Reserve's 12 regional banks. The two senators said on Friday in press releases their proposed law would, among other changes, bring the regional Fed banks under what's called the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA. The regional Fed banks, while overseen by the Board of Governors in Washington, are actually quasi-private institutions, technically owned by local private banks. The regional Fed banks contribute to monetary policy making and in the case of the New York Fed, implement it, while also regulating local banks and providing services to financial firms. They are not currently officially subject to FOIA, as the Board is.
Reuters
 

 

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