Transparency News 12/18/20

A Circuit Court judge this week ordered the city of Newport News to turn over the unredacted records of any prior “use of force” investigations into two police officers charged in the killing of a 43-year-old man last year. Judge Margaret Spencer said the documents could prove relevant in the prosecution of Sgt. Albin T. Pearson and Office Dwight A. Pitterson in the shooting death of Henry K. “Hank” Berry III in his home on Dec. 27, 2019.  “Disclosure of the requested materials would act as a wedge between the Newport News Police Department and its police officers, causing irreparable harm to the City, employees and the citizens of Newport News, impairing the City’s ability to uphold the public trust,” Deputy Newport News City Attorney Darlene Bradberry wrote in a court filing. But the Suffolk prosecutors on the case, Wrobleski and Almetia F. Hardman, said the city’s motion to defend the officers’ rights is “noble, but ultimately misplaced”in this case.
Daily Press

Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s board of commissioners voted to approve an application for the next phase in demolishing Creighton Court last night.  But the agenda for this meeting wasn’t posted to RRHA’s website until yesterday morning, leaving just a few hours for the public to register to speak.  An agency policy requires speakers to register by noon on the day of a meeting. Only one person was able to participate. Omari Al-Qadaffi, a housing organizer with the Legal Aid Justice Center, said RRHA is failing to meaningfully engage residents in processes that affect their futures.  Earlier this year, the agency pulled plans from their website during a public comment period. And when the agency sought federal approval to demolish Creighton Court in January, it submitted its application before public comment or a vote by the Board of Commissioners.
VPM

Pound Town Council members, Mayor Stacey Carson and staff gathered once again at town hall Tuesday. This was supposed to be council’s regular monthly meeting, along with a public hearing on Pound’s proposal to adjust town boundaries by taking in the former high school property and J.W. Adams Combined School. However, what transpired was an extended discussion about whether the meeting or the hearing had been given proper public notice — a repeat problem that has halted several attempted Pound meetings over the last several months. Tuesday’s meeting had been advertised as accessible to the public using Zoom meeting software. Carson raised concern as to whether council could legally do so — in part because a town emergency ordinance for remote meetings, adopted months ago in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, has expired.
The Coalfield Progress

The Lynchburg City School Board voted this week to affirm a ban on in-person public comments at its meetings beginning in January. In a 5-4 vote at its work session Tuesday, the Lynchburg City School Board passed a motion to temporarily suspend in-person public comments at board meetings from Jan. 4 through Jan. 31. The board’s discussion and vote followed an announcement the division made last week that no in-person public comments would be allowed at school board meetings beginning in January. The vote does not prevent the public from attending meetings in person. LCS Superintendent Crystal Edwards said Tuesday the goal of limiting in-person public comments was not an attempt to silence members of the public or conduct public business behind closed doors.
The News & Advance

There was a rumor her house had burned down. Kim Gray, a member of the Richmond, Va., city council, called the police chief directly, who told her officers would be alerted. None came, even after Gray and her neighbors called when a mob of about 200 formed outside her house. Some were armed with rifles, yelling “burn it down” and pointing lasers into her children’s bedroom. Around the country, public officials have received an increasing number of threats. Americans who are angry about police brutality, pandemic restrictions or the election outcome have taken it out on people who work for the government — not just those elected to positions of authority, but lower-level workers doing their jobs in suddenly contentious fields.
Governing
 

 

The U.S. Postal Service released Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s personal calendar to watchdog group American Oversight on Tuesday but was blasted for almost entirely redacting the document, the latest twist in a broader controversy over whether the postmaster general has taken actions that benefitted his former company and President Trump’s reelection campaign.
Forbes
 

 

When Michelle Davis-Younger is sworn in as mayor of the city of Manassas next month, David Farajollahi will be chosen to fill her seat on City Council. For all of 2021, Farajollahi will be one of only six full-fledged members of council. His votes on critical issues before the city over the next year will count the same as those of Pamela Sebesky, Mark Wolfe and Tom Osina. Why is this significant, you ask? Because Sebesky, Wolfe and Osina all were elected by Manassas voters in November after a heated public campaign. Farajollahi, meanwhile, was chosen by the current council members last week – behind closed doors. This is no way a criticism of Farajollahi. But 15 other Manassas residents applied for the position. Three other residents were finalists. And the public will never know how the council reduced the field from 16 to four or why they selected Farajollahi to join them on the dais next year. That would be appropriate if Farajollahi were applying to be city manager or fire chief or some other staff position. It is entirely inappropriate for a position that is typically elected by voters in an open, public process.
InsideNoVa