Transparency News 4/30/19

Tuesday
April 30, 2019

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state & local news stories

Days after private attorney David Konick criticized the chairman of the Rappahannock County Planning Commission for failing to adhere to provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, Rappahannock County Administrator Garrey W. Curry weighed in — and in no uncertain terms. “Mr. Konick seeks to use a fear tactic of legal action in this situation where I am fairly sure, given his acute knowledge of FOIA, he knew there were not violations of the act. I imagine that was done for the purpose of swaying public opinion, but cannot be sure of his motives,” Curry wrote in a memo to Planning chair Gary Light, whose commission is in the midst of revising the county’s comprehensive plan.
Rappahannock News

There are a few perks that come with holding top administrative roles in a local governments.  Most localities in the state employ a city manager. They do just that — manage the city and the departments within. Their biggest task of the year is arguably overseeing the creation of the fiscal year budgets. Because of that, they usually have the highest salary on payroll.  An additional benefit, known as a car allowance, exists in some city manager contracts.  The benefit outlines how much, if any, the city manager gets a year in the form of a car allowance. It could go toward gas, repair costs or monthly payments, depending on the locality.   The News Leader reviewed the city manager contracts for the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro and the county administrator contract for Augusta County. 
News Leader

stories of national interest

Florida elections officials were caught off-guard by Robert Mueller’s vague suggestion that the FBI believes Russian hackers gained access in 2016 to a county voter-registration network because federal investigators kept the information hidden from them, Florida’s senior senator told the New York Times. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio told The Times Friday that an intelligence operation uncovered the breach some time ago. But he said national security officials chose to protect intelligence methods by issuing a broad warning to Florida’s 67 elections offices instead of informing the state or the local office that had been hacked. “Everybody has been told what it is they need to do to protect themselves from the intrusion,” Rubio said. “I don’t believe the specific victims of the intrusion have been notified.” “They won’t tell us which county it was. Are you kidding me? Why would you not have said something immediately?” Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday in Miami after his secretary of state contacted the FBI for more information following the Mueller report’s release and was brushed off. “I was very disappointed that you would not pick up the phone, call my law enforcement agency, call the county that was involved in that and say, ‘Hey. We have an issue here.’” Florida Democrats in Congress also want to get more specifics about the hack, possibly in future hearings with Mueller or Attorney General William Barr.
McClatchy

editorials & columns

As a voter, your donation should mean something to a legislator. But your $20 sacrifice may be drowned by a $10,000 contribution by a company with opposing views. That’s why it is vitally important that the campaign finance process involving donations is transparent and has clear and boundaries that cannot be flouted without consequences. Donations are protected political speech and Americans should be able to financially support candidates with whom they agree. Yet, politicians need more stringent rules about the money they get and how they use it.
Daily Press

IT HAS BEEN said that a public budget serves as a statement of principles for government, be it local, state or federal. Prepared by staff and approved by elected officials, the spending plan attempts to apply money in a manner that accurately reflects public sentiment and helps chart a path for the future.   The process of consideration and deliberation that helps develop the blueprint for a given fiscal year is perhaps as valuable as the budget document itself. On the local level especially, it encourages a community to come together to discuss its priorities and to think about the type of place it aspires to be in one, five or even 10 years down the road.  It can appear that elected officials are unmoved by the pleas of the public in these hearings, or that a budget proposal changes little from the moment it is unveiled to the day of its formal adoption.   But that’s not the truth. These public hearings are important, to citizens, city staff and council members, and offer the public an opportunity to engage with City Hall that should not be dismissed or taken for granted. 
The Virginian-Pilot