LAW
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2013 7:42 AM
To: Jackson, Allen L. – City Attorney
Subject: Jackson – Lamar curt caseDear Mr. Jackson,
What is the current status of the court case between the city of Richmond and the Lamar advertising company regarding the removal of the billboard it operates downtown on Mayo Island?
From: “Jackson, Allen L. – City Attorney” <Allen.L.Jackson@Richmondgov.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 5, 2013 7:49 AM
Subject: RE: Jackson – Lamar curt caseCircuit Court upheld BZA denial of Lamar request for relief, Lamar petitioned for appeal to Va SCt on 5/17, City’s brief in opposition due shortly.
Allen L. Jackson
City Attorney
“It’s going to be a very first-class project,” Salomonsky says. “If we didn’t own the land free and clear, plus the abatement, we couldn’t have done the project. We would have left it an empty lot.” -Style Weekly
Application For Partial Tax Exemption: Question: Would you have rehabilitated your property if this program was not in place? Answer: Yes.
Council members say the mayor’s office appears to be violating city law, by moving spokespeople from their departments to the press secretary’s office. Some say this could hinder the public’s ability to get details from Richmond government. Link
“I believe in sunshine, and I think we will shine in the sun,” Tarasovic added, referring to transparency.
…
A few days before Tarasovic was named chief, the department’s structure was changed so that police spokesman Gene Lepley’s public affairs unit reports both to the chief and to Tammy D. Hawley, the mayor’s press secretary. Previously, Lepley had reported only to the chief.
Hawley said Tuesday that the change also was made across other departments within the administration as part of an effort to “centralize communications citywide.” Link
From: C WAYNE TAYLOR
To: Lou Ali <lou.ali@richmondgov.com>
Sent: Monday, January 7, 2013 9:18 AM
Subject: Council – President of City CouncilJanuary 7, 2013VIA EMAIL TO:
Ms. Lou Brown Ali, Chief of Staff, lou.ali@richmondgov.comThe Honorable City Council
City of Richmond
900 E. Broad St., Suite 200
Richmond, VA 23219 USARe: President of City Council
Dear Honorable Members of Council,
A member of the new city council said that council needs to follow “not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of it.” Implicit in the councilor’s statement is the need to know the law. Read the rest of this entry »
Mr. Anderson has not responded yet: Read the rest of this entry »
Richmond’s elected leaders sent a familiar message to their state representatives Friday during their annual breakfast meeting to discuss legislative priorities: more money, fewer mandates. Link
This case could have long-term ramifications for the civil rights of Virginians. Possible issues might include prior restraint of speech as it applies to social media, the ethics of police agencies suing bloggers for writing articles, as well as the practice of using civil lawsuits, with their lower evidentiary requirement of preponderance of evidence, instead of relying upon the constitutionally approved methods of obtaining warrants in order to conduct invasive investigations. Link
A new open government casebook has been published. The Law of Access to Government (Carolina Academic Press 2012) is written by Richard J. Peltz-Steele, law school professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Read the rest of this entry »
“All we wanted was about a half hour of people’s time to show them they were wrong,” Paul Goldman, attorney for both candidates, said.