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“The overall issue to me is that this law has been on the books for four years. So how did Charlottesville miss it?”
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Charlottesville city councilors appear to have improperly phoned in to numerous meetings, including those dealing with hiring of an interim city manager. In August, the council passed a policy — apparently for the first time — allowing councilors to phone in to meetings in certain situations. Since 2014, state law has required local public bodies to have such a policy in place if they wish for members to be able to participate in meetings by phone. According to minutes obtained in a public records request, councilors participated in and voted by phone during several special meetings in July during the search for an interim city manager. On July 18, according to the minutes, Councilor Heather Hill participated by phone and voted to meet in closed session to discuss the interim manager candidates. On July 20, Hill and Councilor Wes Bellamy phoned in and voted.
The Daily Progress
Seven search firms were interested in working with the Harrisonburg School Board to find, recruit and hire a new superintendent. On Aug. 10, Pat Lintner became interim superintendent, taking over for Scott Kizner, who left the school division to take a job with Stafford County. The School Board put out a request for proposals to search firms, with responses due on Sept. 4. Seven responded, according to Deb Fitzgerald, School Board chairwoman. At a closed meeting on Tuesday, the board discussed the seven proposals and narrowed the list down to two. During another closed meeting scheduled for Sept. 25, the board plans to interview the two executive search consulting firms via video and choose one to hire.
Daily News Record
Winchester Mayor David Smith has publicly apologized to a pair of city employees who he felt were treated disrespectfully at City Council’s Aug. 28 work session. Smith was referring to a series of questions posed to Miller, Winchester’s Parks and Recreation Department director, and Freeman, the city manager, by City Council member Milt McInturff. “Mr. Mayor, you do not have to apologize for me,” McInturff responded Tuesday before being cut off by council President Bill Wiley. “When we have staff coming in and they’re doing a presentation,” Smith said after the meeting, “there is a level of civility and respect we should afford them. If we do have an issue with them, that is something we can discuss privately, but I wouldn’t do it in a public forum.” Smith said his stance is not intended to quash open debate and discussion at City Council meetings. “You can do it civilly,” he said. “There’s no need for raising voices or anything like that, calling people to task. ... I don’t talk to people like that.”
The Winchester Star
A discrimination lawsuit by a former University of Virginia employee was settled for $200,000, according to documents obtained in a public records request. The federal suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia was resolved in August, according to attorneys from both sides. Betsy Ackerson was an assistant vice provost at UVa.
The Daily Progress
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