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"Prior to 2008, the library had more than 200 employees. Because of budget cuts that's now 125."
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Six weeks after Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney pledged support for the $1.4 billion proposal to build a new Richmond Coliseum and redevelop 21 acres of publicly owned downtown land, the plans have still not been publicly released. Now, a Richmond man is asking a judge to force Stoney to release the proposal the NH District Corp. submitted in response to a city-issued request for proposals back in February. Jeffrey R. Cartwright, a 4th District resident, filed an injunction in Richmond General District Court Thursday after the Stoney administration declined to provide the proposal in response to his Freedom of Information Act request. In withholding the records, the city cited a discretionary exemption to the state’s open records law that pertains to ongoing negotiations.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Republican leaders in the House of Delegates are moving to end years of secrecy surrounding the public records of previous Virginia governors. House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, filed House Bill 1702 for the 2019 session that would require the records of an outgoing governor to be made public by the Library of Virginia within one year of their delivery to the library. Currently, records of recent governors are on lockdown at the library and not available to the public, although nothing in state law prohibits their release. Prior to 2008, the library had more than 200 employees. Because of budget cuts that's now 125. The number of employees managing state records has been reduced from eight to four.
Richmond Times-Dispatch
A video from the car of a second Fairfax County, Va., police officer who arrived on the scene as U.S. Park Police were fatally shooting unarmed motorist Bijan Ghaisar last year was released Wednesday. It appears to show one Park Police officer shining a flashlight on Ghaisar after the initial volley of seven shots into Ghaisar’s Jeep Grand Cherokee. As the Jeep begins to slowly roll forward, a second Park Police officer fires the final two shots, the video shows. The video was released by Fairfax Police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Washington Post. The reports indicate that the Park Police officers then smashed Ghaisar’s driver’s-side window to open his door, and that the second Fairfax officer and a third officer just arriving on scene pulled Ghaisar from the Jeep to render aid. Roessler has declined to release the videos of that portion of the incident, saying it is exempt from release as a medical record. As with the first video, Fairfax police redacted the faces of the officers involved and their license plates. The second video was shot using a different format, according to police reports, and unlike the first video is in black-and-white.
The Washington Post
Initially set to be heard on Thursday, the attorney for former social services director Sherry Flanagan filed a motion to continue a lawsuit against Pittsylvania County. The lawsuit names the county's board of supervisors, attorney and administrator, and alleges violations of Virginia's Freedom of Information Act.
Register & Bee
After discussing results of an investigation in an hour-long closed session, the State Board of Social Services ultimately voted 5-3 to temporarily suspend county social services board member Ron Scearce until Feb. 20. While suspended, Scearce won’t be allowed to act in any capacity as a board member, including voting or attending meetings, said Assistant Attorney General Ellen Malenke. In order to take action against a local board member, Malenke said the state board is required to find “cause.” This could range from evidence of malfeasance to misconduct to chronic absenteeism.
Register & Bee
Title examiners and researchers will no longer have to wait for Suffolk Circuit Court to open or thumb through decrepit, 100-year-old books to get their jobs done. On Wednesday, the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office unveiled its new land record system after a year of working with Logan Systems Inc. Logan Systems Inc. is a land record technology provider based in Greensboro, N.C. For the last year, the company has been scanning and enhancing images of old land records for the last year to provide Suffolk with a paperless experience.
Suffolk News Herald
A representative of a Northern Virginia based environmental advocacy group stormed out of a town hall hosted by state Sen. Rosalyn Dance last Wednesday at the county’s Central Library after she wouldn’t let him participate in a public question-and-answer period with officials from Dominion Energy. Dance, a Democrat elected in 2015, represents eastern Chesterfield – including the Dominion power station at Dutch Gap – as well as parts of Richmond, Petersburg, Hopewell, Prince George and Dinwiddie. She made it clear from the outset of the meeting that she was primarily interested in hearing from her constituents. “This is my town hall and I have my rules,” Dance said. “I know there are others here who are not my constituents and that’s fine, but this is not a free-for-all.”
Chesterfield Observer
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