Transparency News 8/28/18

Tuesday
August 28, 2018

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state & local news stories

The special session of the Virginia General Assembly will convene at noon on Thursday.

The Fredericksburg City Council is seeking public comments on the nearly completed plans for Riverfront Park in downtown Fredericksburg before it signs off on them. A comment form is available on the city’s website, fredericksburgva.gov.
The Free Lance-Star

The Hopewell Electoral Board’s decision to print three candidate names in capital letters on the November ballot sparked vehement opposition and even threats of legal action by several of the other candidates whose names were not capitalized. General Registrar Yolanda Stokes has pointed to the box on the candidacy application as the reason for the capitalizations. She claims the election code is silent on specifics of how the name should appear, so if they printed their names in all caps, then that is how it was entered into the filing reports her office made to the SBE. On the form candidates fill out, instructions state to “type or print legibly ... your name as it is to appear on ballot.” Applicants are instructed to see the reverse side for criteria in filling out the box, such as names, initials, optional nicknames and suffixes. However, capitalization of letters is not addressed.
The Progress-Index
 

national stories of interest

President Donald Trump was directly involved in meetings where officials decided to move forward with a controversial plan to build a new FBI headquarters in the nation's capital, according to a government report issued Monday. The report from the General Services Administration inspector general cites two White House meetings in January and June of this year in which Trump participated. The extent of Trump's involvement in the decision is unclear. The report indicates that while GSA employees confirmed the White House meetings with Trump, they received instructions not to divulge any statements Trump made at those meetings.
The News & Advance

A federal judge in Seattle issued a preliminary injunction Monday against a self-proclaimed "crypto-anarchist," blocking the Texas man from publishing downloadable internet blueprints for producing 3D-printable guns. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Lasnik's ruling extends a temporary restraining order he issued on July 31 that prevented Cody Wilson, a 30-year-old Austin, Texas, gun-rights advocate, from publishing the computer files containing the plans for printing the plastic guns on his company's website while a legal dispute over the matter was resolved.
Governing

Confidentiality agreements have come under fire during the #MeToo movement as one way abusive men have been able to hold on to their jobs, and keep harassing more women. State lawmakers are listening. They introduced bills in at least 16 states this year to restrict the use by private employers of nondisclosure agreements in sexual harassment cases, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). The provisions became law in six states: Arizona, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington. [One California bill sent to the governor] would ban settlements in sexual harassment or discrimination cases that seek to keep the circumstances secret. It would apply to the private sector, government agencies and the legislature.
CBS News
 

editorials & columns

"There was a meaningful decline in the perceived competence and trustworthiness of government in localities that lost their local newspapers."

It should come as no great surprise, but governments behave more responsibly when they know their actions are being watched by healthy local newspapers. On the other hand, when the public sector no longer operates under the watchful eye of curious reporters and editors, it tends to treat its finances less responsibly. Advocates of good and limited government have few allies more effective than the community’s newspaper. Interest rates rise when investors decide a borrower has become more risky, demanding a higher return to compensate for an elevated chance of default. The authors found that bond investors — and it’s hard to imagine a more objective, neutral, well-informed cohort — expressed less confidence about governments in localities that lost their newspapers. In other words, there was a meaningful decline in the perceived competence and trustworthiness of government in localities that lost their local newspapers — exemplified by rising interest rates on their bonds. 
Richmond Times-Dispatch