Transparency News 5/16/17

Tuesday, May 16, 2017



State and Local Stories

Reporters should not have been barred from state Del. Rick Morris’ court hearing last year, a specially appointed judge ruled Monday. The Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press and Smithfield Times newspapers appealed Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Robert Brewbaker Jr.’s December decision to prevent reporters from attending the preliminary hearing, where Morris faced seven felony charges and seven misdemeanors related to domestic assault and child cruelty. It’s unclear whether reporters will have access to Morris’ trial.
Virginian-Pilot
"There's no fixing it," Lerner said of the hearing's closure. "But it wasn't procedurally correct." Lerner stopped short, however, of declaring improper Brewbaker's entire ruling. "I find that, with all due respect to Judge Brewbaker, he was wrong procedurally but not substantively," Lerner said, without elaborating.
Daily Press

The Peninsula Airport Commission fired Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport Executive Director Ken Spirito for using several thousand dollars of airport money for personal expenses. The commission voted to fire Spirito for cause after a three-hour closed-door meeting Monday. It took the action after following up on interim findings by state auditors who are reviewing the commission’s 2014 decision to use taxpayer funds to pay off a $4.5 million debt owed by People Express Airlines to TowneBank. But the grounds for Spirito’s firing did not include his recommendation on the People Express loan. None of the commissioners who decided to use public funds to cover that debt remain on the board.
Daily Press



National Stories
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The Sullivan County, Tennessee, Commission is mulling a written open records policy that has to be approved in less than two months under a new Tennessee law. The law aims to make access to public records less confusing and requires all government entities in the state to establish a written policy by July 1. The Office of Open Records Counsel was required under the law to create a model policy that can be used by all government entities, which is what the commission is considering with a few changes that apply to Sullivan County, according to County Attorney Dan Street. He presented a draft of the county’s policy on Monday.
Bristol Herald Courier

The news that President Trump disclosed highly classified information about the Islamic State during a meeting with Russian officials, jeopardizing an ally’s intelligence source, has raised interest in legal issues surrounding disclosures of classified information. Who sets the rules for declassifications or disclosures? Did Mr. Trump have legal authority to disclose the information? Did Mr. Trump’s disclosure declassify the information? What would happen if someone else did this?
New York Times

Minnesota's two licensed medical marijuana manufacturers have lost a combined $11 million in just two years of sales, according to financial documents obtained by The Associated Press, continuing losses that hint at systemic problems with the state's tightly regulated program despite a recent expansion that allowed thousands more patients to buy the medication. Minnesota Medical Solutions posted a $1.2 million loss in 2016, a year after losing more than $3 million. But LeafLine Labs' losses worsened: The company said it lost $4.7 million last year, after losing $2.2 million loss in 2015. Those figures come from annual financial statements the private companies provided the state that were obtained through an open records request.
McClatchy

Editorials/Columns


The Peninsula Airport Commission fired executive director Ken Spirito on Monday morning, in a move that shocked no one (except perhaps Mr. Spirito himself). It had to happen. It was going to happen. And it did. Now is the time to send a strong signal that the errors of the past will not be repeated and that a fresh start will be marked by a clearer vision and a dedication to ethics and transparency. The new executive director needs to be above reproach. He or she will have to make it clear from the start, to the commissioners and to the public, that business will be conducted differently. That transparency will be paramount.
Daily Press