In his successful bid to win Virginia’s Democratic nomination for Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s (D) seat Tuesday, state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam (Loudoun) appeared in campaign ads goofing around with his two young daughters, wearing his gear as a volunteer firefighter and EMT, and taking a romantic stroll with his wife through a leafy suburban neighborhood.
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FOIA Friday: AG’s university protest guidance, former Petersburg superintendent’s pricey trips • Virginia Mercury
One of the less noticed features of the Virginia Way is the long-running tendency of the commonwealth’s leaders to conduct their decision-making behind closed doors. While the Virginia Freedom of Information Act presumes all government business is by default public and requires officials to justify why exceptions should be made, too many Virginia leaders in practice take the opposite stance, acting as if records are by default private and the public must prove they should be handled otherwise.
In this feature, we aim to highlight the frequency with which officials around Virginia are resisting public access to records on issues large and small — and note instances when the release of information under FOIA gave the public insight into how government bodies are operating.
AG’s email informed UMW leaders’ reaction to student protests
After 12 people, including 9 students, were arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg last month, new details are emerging about university leaders’ response to the event, which was shaped by guidance from the office of Attorney General Jason Miyares.
An April 26 email from Deputy Attorney General for Health, Education, and Social Services Rob Bell to Virginia Secretary of Education Aimee Rogstad Guidera, which the Mercury obtained from the university on Thursday through a FOIA request, defines the attorney general’s official stance on campus protests, the same day protesters created an encampment on UMW’s grounds.
“It is the legal position of the Office of the Attorney General that setting up a tent or establishing an encampment on university or college property is disruptive of the school’s activities and may violate other administrative policies,” the missive read. Colleges and universities had the authority to “refuse to allow such activity” and to “take down any tents that have been set up.” The AG’s office would “vigorously defend” the institutions if they met with challenges to these powers, the email concluded.
UMW President Troy Paino referenced the legal guidance when, on April 30, he met with a group of students seeking answers about the university’s decision to clear the encampment and arrest the protesters the preceding weekend, according to the Fredericksburg Free Press.
A student asked Paino “whether the Youngkin administration ordered the arrests of the 12 protesters who refused to leave an encampment,” which Paino denied, saying it was the he and the university’s board of visitors made that call themselves without “outside influence.”
“However, at one point during the meeting, Paino showed the students a document outlining the administration’s stance against the student encampments unfolding across the country,” the Free Press reported.
Another student attendee at the meeting with Paino said the school’s president revealed the students arrested in the protest wouldn’t be expelled or face academic suspension, and their only consequence would probably be a warning for not following the school’s order to leave the encampment.
“He came across as sincere and that he knows that the university could’ve responded better,” the student said.
Former Petersburg schools superintendent’s spending scrutinized
Petersburg’s former schools superintendent Dr. Tamara Sterling, who resigned suddenly in March without explanation, racked up $22,000 traveling to multiple conferences across the country over a 15-month period, public records of her travel expenses show.
Though it’s common for school division leaders to attend professional conferences to build skills and gain insights from their peers in other states, WTVR investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit, who obtained the expense reports through a public records request, found that Sterling spent “more than double what the Henrico County superintendent spent, 14 times what the Hopewell superintendent spent, and 43 times what the Chesterfield superintendent spent on travel” over the same time period, February 2023 to February 2024.
Sterling booked more than one hotel room for herself when attending three of the five conferences Hipolit reviewed. The conference trips to California, Nevada, Florida, Texas and Louisiana included several instances of extra hotel stays by Sterling, who in one case stayed seven days for a conference that lasted just two days.
Parents of students in Petersburg’s economically challenged schools were critical of Sterling’s spending from the division’s coffers, as was the area’s General Assembly representative, Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg.
“There just really is no rationale that can be used to explain the excess that’s appearing in the records that you found,” Aird told WTVR’s Hipolit in an on-camera interview.
Hipolit reported that Aird is collaborating with the Virginia Department of Education “to ensure greater enforcement and oversight of Petersburg schools so something like this does not happen again.”
Chesterfield police won’t release body cam footage from shooting that left mentally ill man dead
The Chesterfield County Police Department has refused to release body camera footage from a July 2023 incident wherein officers shot and killed a mentally ill man who was holding a hatchet, despite multiple requests for the footage from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Charles Byers had been placed under a 72-hour detention for mental health treatment at Chippenham Hospital’s Tucker Pavilion two days before officers encountered him, as they responded to reports that Byers was attempting to break into homes in a neighborhood near Wycliff Court. Exactly how the situation escalated to deadly gunfire remains in dispute; officers said Byers wouldn’t drop the hatchet when they told him to, and that they tased him without effect before Byers began advancing on them. At that point, officers said, they shot him.
Byers’ family, represented by attorney Paul Curley, contradicted that account, saying body camera footage showed Byers holding the hatchet “down by his knee” during the incident, backing away from officers after they tased him, and being shot in the back while fleeing from police.
“I was expecting to see some justifiable reason for shooting him,” Curley said. “They basically just gunned him down.”
The Times-Dispatch requested to review the body camera footage on April 3, after officials announced the officers involved in the fatal shooting would not be criminally charged. That request was denied, as was the paper’s subsequent FOIA request, which police withheld “pursuant to the closed investigations exemption under Virginia’s FOIA,” the paper reported. Police spokesperson Liz Caroon on April 8 invited the paper’s reporters to come to police headquarters to view the footage, but scheduling conflicts prevented them from attending. When the paper asked if another viewing could be arranged, Caroon declined.
Curley said Chesterfield police requested and received a protective order preventing the body camera footage from being released or shared.
“If there is nothing to hide, then they shouldn’t have any problem with the video coming out,” Curley said. “But they have gone to extraordinary lengths to hide it … They’re definitely covering up some stuff on purpose.”
Have you experienced local or state officials denying or delaying your FOIA request? Tell us about it: [email protected]
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RICHMOND, Va. — Andrew Cortez cares deeply about the Chesapeake Bay.
“The Chesapeake Bay is our natural heritage,” Cortez said. “A healthy bay helps everyone.”
The retired law enforcement officer was an investigator for 36 years, working to keep the Chesapeake in check with different agencies as a special agent with U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
He now has concerns about the group meant to do just that: the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, which oversees Virginia Marine Police.
“One of the things that really struck me is the amount of money they’re spending on what I would consider to be toys, unnecessary squandering of public money,” Cortez said.
WTVR
He’s talking about the recent purchase of a 2024 Pathfinder, a boat commonly used for fishing, costing $183,529.16.
Documents he received through a Freedom of Information Act Request, which he shared with CBS 6, show the purchase was made on March 5. The paperwork said it would be needed by April 4, 2024.
“They’ve got these rocket launchers; they’re sort of a holder for rods. For fishing rods,” Cortez said. “And it’s got the full fisherman package on it. It’s not something that would be used for law enforcement or for fisheries research.”
VRMC told CBS 6 that the vessel was purchased through the competitive bidding process in compliance with all state laws and policies.
“This vessel will be deployed in the Middle Area Law Enforcement Region for the Virginia Marine Police as a daily patrol vessel to enforce Virginia fishing and safe boating laws, as well as search and rescue operations. It has not been deployed in the field for law enforcement use yet because we are in the process of up-fitting it with law enforcement specific equipment (i.e. blue lights, siren, overt police markings),” Zachary Widgeon, VMRC’s Director of Communications sent CBS 6 in an email statement.
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Widgeon said the fishing rod holders will be removed, along with recreational fishing features that do not have a function for law enforcement patrol.
“Any attached fishing rod holders or live wells are standard on these models when they are delivered to the dealership before sale and there is no avenue for buyers to purchase these hulls without this equipment pre-installed. Fiberglass hull vessels are not custom built for each buyer and are adapted and upfitted from a pre-formed model to adapt them to law enforcement-specific needs and uses,” Widgeon continued in the email.
The response goes on to say: “This 2024 Pathfinder met the Statement of Need at a price that was reasonable in line with industry standards, superfluous features that do not affect its usage as a law enforcement patrol vessel are not relevant or considered in the purchasing process.”
“This is wasteful for an agency with a budget about the size of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts,” Cortez said.
That’s not the only thing Cortez is concerned about.
There’s also been a drop in VMRC-related arrests and subsequent convictions.
Between 2017 and 2018, there were 1,202 arrests and 988 convictions, according to Virginia Marine Police Arrests/Convictions data.
Between 2021 and 2022, there were 667 arrests and 533 convictions.
Based on the numbers, Cortez thinks that’s far too few.
“Their conviction rate is 73 percent, which is dismal,” Cortez said. “In wildlife law enforcement, marine law enforcement, it should be in the high 90s, because you’re catching people in the act.”
WTVR
Widgeon said in an email that conviction and arrest numbers have fluctuated in the time frame comparing 2017-2018 and 2021-2022.
“The disparity in total numbers between the 2017-2018 and 2021-2022 period comes from three categories: saltwater reactional license violations, Fisherman Identification Program (FIP) violations, and miscellaneous law enforcement (i.e. non-conservation violations, traffic, etc.),” the email reads.
Widgeon said the shift away from focusing on non-conservation violations, traffic offenses, recreational license violations, and FIP violations is based on an intentional shift in the way that the Virginia Marine Police leadership focused the patrol and enforcement efforts of officers.
“The Virginia Marine Police are the only law enforcement agency whose main charge is protecting Virginian’s marine resources and tidal waters, and so we should focus our efforts on that charge,” Widgeon said.
Widgeon said VMRC is giving officers more discretion in how they enforce the law.
“I have friends still in the agency,” Cortez said. “They tell me that about six officers write half the tickets. That’s kind of lopsided.”
Cortez isn’t the only one challenging the VMRC’s practices.
In April, the Virginia Police Benevolent Association sent a letter to the attorney general’s office, claiming Marine Police Officers were illegally recorded while in the workplace.
It also claimed several “police package” Dodge Durangos that were said to be used for “agency police usage” were going to non-sworn officers, costing thousands of dollars.
WTVR
Rich Goszka, a spokesperson for the association, shared paperwork with CBS 6 showing the purchase of Dodge Durangos going to Specialist/Agency Transporation Officer Jeremy Toth and Assistant Commissioner John Cosgrove.
Goszka worked with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries for years.
“They’re supposed to provide law enforcement services by the Marine Police, rather than being used for civilian use, which takes away from services from the taxpayers,” Goszka said. “We’re going to expose whatever corruption is out there. Because that’s just the right thing to do.”
“This external complaint is currently being investigated by the Office of the State Inspector General. We cannot comment on this as it involves an administrative investigation, but we would like to state that the purchasing of vehicles at VMRC is done in complete compliance with the Department of General Services guidelines and that we are always receptive and cooperative with any outside inquiries into how VMRC operates in our administrative functions. VMRC operates in complete transparency as a state agency. We would direct you to the Office of the State Inspector General if you would like further information regarding this external complaint,” Widgeon said in an email.
The Attorney General’s Office told CBS 6 it is not commenting on the letter at this time.
WTVR
Cortez expressed concerns to CBS 6 about a decreased number of hours spent inspecting and enforceming menhaden fishing regulations.
Menhaden is considered a vital resource to the Chesapeake Bay’s ecosystem.
According to VMRC, the following hours spent on menhaden enforcement and inspections conducted are as follows:
- 2015: 44.5 hours, 194 inspections
- 2016: 60.5 hours, 53 inspections
- 2017: 33.5 hours, 165 inspections
- 2018: 49.5 hours, 174 inspections
- 2019: 45.5 hours, 307 inspections
- 2020: 82.0 hours, 221 inspections
- 2021: 106 hours, 356 inspections
- 2022: 52.5 hours, 575 inspections
- 2023: 30.0 hours, 151 inspections
“It is worth noting that since 2015, with over 2,000 inspections having been conducted on the menhaden fishery in Virginia, no state fisheries violations have been found,” Widgeon wrote.
Last year, Chesapeake Legal Alliance (CLA), on behalf of the Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization, filed a suit challenging the VMRC, saying the group allowed overfishing of menhaden.
Last November, a motion made in Richmond City Circuit Court required VMRC to comply with Virginia fisheries law “to rely on the best available science to set responsible menhaden harvests and avoid acting solely to protect the economic interests of a single commercial entity,” according to CLA.
According to a study on osprey and its ties to menhaden, by Dr. Bryan D. Watts, Director of the Center for Conservation Biology at William and Mary, “menhaden harvest policy has become a political mind field with special interests on all sides.”
A study by Phil Zalesak, the President of South Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization, says “the latest scientific data indicates that there are insufficient Atlantic menhaden in Virginia waters during the Atlantic menhaden reduction fishing season to sustain life for fish and birds dependent on Atlantic menhaden for their survival.”
“Although the statement that ‘Atlantic menhaden are no overfished and overfishing is not occurring’ may apply to the Atlantic Coast,’ it does not apply to the Chesapeake Bay,” Zalesak wrote.
Widgeon told CBS 6’s Zalesak’s study is not a peer-reviewed study.
“The most recent Atlantic menhaden stock ecological assessment and update showed that the stock was not overfished and not undergoing overfishing,” Widgeon wrote, citing data from 2020 and 2022. “THE ASMFC has discussed a Chesapeake-Bay specific stock assessment to recommend a scientifically supported Chesapeake Bay Cap but has prioritized further refining the ecological reference points model in the next benchmark stock assessment, as this represents the best available science for the coastwide Atlantic menhaden stock. With the lack of Chesapeake Bay-specific assessment and no concreate evidence that localized depletion is occurring in the Bay, ASMFC and the VMRC continue to maintain Chesapeake Bay Cap as a precautionary conservation measure to protect Chesapeake Bay nursery grounds,” Widgeon wrote.
Originally reported by the Virginia Mercury, Virginia lawmakers recently delayed deciding on conducting a study on if menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay are declining or not.
Cortez also shared concerns about several board members having special interests and not recusing themselves in cases where their businesses may benefit from commission decisions.
Associate Commissioner A.J. Erskine joined Cowart Seafood Corporation and Bevans Oyster Company in 2005 to develop oyster aquaculture programs, according to VMRC. Associate Commissioner Lynn Kellum is the President of Ampro Shipyard & Diesel.
“While the Code of Virginia does not spell out circumstances that a board member must recuse themselves in, we have full confidence that Associate Commissioners will and have recused themselves from participating in regulatory processes when they have a reasonable conflict of interest in-line with all ethical considerations. Associate Commissioners actively consult attorneys versed in conflict of interest and take all steps prudent to avoiding to avoiding a conflict of interest in their duties. We expect and are confident that Associate Commissioners operate in full transparency during commission meetings,” Widgeon wrote to CBS 6.
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Meanwhile, a D.C.-based organization dedicated to building Indian American political power in the United States was sending out its own pro-Subramanyam mailers to 90,000 likely voters in the 10th Congressional District, 22 percent of whom are South Asian, with hopes of seeing Virginia elect its first South Asian member of Congress.
The combination — an all-American dad and husband with massive behind-the-scenes support from one of the country’s fastest growing communities — helped Subramanyam beat his 11 opponents in a Democratic primary where most of the candidates were aligned on key issues such as gun control and women’s reproductive rights.
“It’s incredible for our community,” said Chintan Patel, executive director of Indian American Impact, the advocacy group that sent out the mailers. Its political action committee — Impact Fund — spent $600,000 to help Subramanyam become the Democratic nominee. Much of the $1 million raised by Subramanyam’s campaign also came from South Asian donors.
“We’ve seen over the last few years a real awakening within the South Asian American diaspora of the political power we can wield in our government,” Patel said, noting that since his organization was founded in 2016, the number of South Asians elected to office in the country has climbed from about 50 to more than 300, including Vice President Harris. “It’s part of this real trend we’ve been seeing.”
In November, Subramanyam will face tech company executive Mike Clancy, who easily won the Republican primary Tuesday and vowed to wage an aggressive campaign against the Democrat. But, given the district’s steadily changing demographics — including 65,000 residents of South Asian descent — the seat is considered to be safely Democratic, said Erin Covey, who analyzes House races for the Cook Political Report.
“It’s not a district where either party expects to invest lots of outside resources in because it’s just simply not seen as part of the House battleground,” Covey said. “You’d have to see significant environmental shifts for that to change.”
The region’s diversity was reflected in the diversity of the candidates themselves. Three others with South Asian heritage were in the race: Atif Qarni, who is Pakistani American and the state’s former secretary of education; ex-CIA officer Adrian Pokharel, who is Nepalese American; and Krystle Kaul, the owner of a defense technology company, whose family is Kashmiri Sikh.
Among the other candidates, Travis Nembhard and Marion Devoe Sr. are African American, Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado (Prince William) is Cape Verdean, and Del. Dan Helmer (Fairfax) and former House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (Fairfax) are Jewish American.
Subramanyam, 37, grew up in Texas after his parents emigrated from India. He previously worked in the Obama administration as a technology policy adviser and won his first election in Virginia — to the House of Delegates — in 2019.
For voters who picked him Tuesday, Subramanyam’s appeal lay in his understated demeanor and in a key endorsement from Wexton, who did not seek reelection due to health reasons.
Catherine Fernstrom, 42, said she saw in Subramanyam someone who better understands local concerns in the area and offers a good counter to the “extreme ideologies” in the Republican Party. “I want [Congress] to mitigate the damage that our extreme, court-appointed officials have done,” she said.
Tom Zaug, 75, echoed the all-American message he saw in Subramanyam’s ads. “He worked as a legislator, as a senator, and he was an EMT and firefighter — he was more of a man of the people in my book,” Zaug said.
Patel said that, if he’s elected in November, Subramanyam will join five other South Asians in Congress.
The expectation from Patel’s group and its financial backers is that any South Asian they help get into office will champion issues affecting their community and broader policy initiatives they care about such as abortion rights, dealing with climate change, improving access to health care and advocating for immigrants, he said.
“We’re hoping that as more and more of our community finds a voice, we can add a strong voice for these inclusive American values,” Patel said.
In an interview Wednesday, Subramanyam mentioned several of the same issues that would be his priorities if he is elected in the fall. But, he said, another major hope is to try to eliminate the ugly political rhetoric in Congress that he believes has led to government dysfunction.
“I’d like to fix the dysfunction,” he said. “I’d like to be part of the solution and a new generation of legislators who just put their community first and care less about how many Twitter likes they have.”
That was the message he delivered to voters at their doorstep as his campaign focused on winning voter-rich Loudoun County — where the 10th District is anchored — while winning enough support in the other counties to remain formidable, Subramanyam said.
The ads — one of which shows Subramanyam allowing his daughter to apply makeup to his face while he dons a tiny pink hat — and the support he received from South Asians are just reflections of who he is, he said.
“One of the reasons, I think, I’ve been successful in elections in this area is because I’m a lot of what the new demographics in this area embody,” Subramanyam said. “I’ve got a family, which takes up a lot of my time. I also have bills to pay, and we’re affected by rising costs.”
He’ll likely convey that again during his contest with Clancy.
For now, he said, he was going to spend some quality time with his family. On the agenda that day: blueberry picking in rural Middleburg, Va., then a night out with his wife, where they would try line dancing.
“It will be my first time,” Subramanyam said. “So, yeah, I’m nervous.”
Best Virginia, West Virginia University alumni basketball team, announced on Wednesday that former Mountaineer Wesley Harris will join their roster for the 2024 TBT.
🚨 NEW SIGNING 🚨
Wesley Harris joins Best Virginia for @thetournament July 19-23 in Pittsburgh! Tix: https://t.co/vFXQtI5rLi.
“Wesley has been known for his defense, but has developed into an all around player,” @chaseharler4 said. “His toughness and offensive ability will be… pic.twitter.com/APJrs6s0iC
— Final Fourcast Podcast + Best Virginia™️ (@finalfourcast) June 19, 2024
Harris transferred from Lawson State CC to West Virginia in 2017. He spent two years in Morgantown appearing in 59 games (54 starts) and averaged 6.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.6 steals per game while shooting 37% from the field and 32% from three-point range. The combination of his size and length allowed him to guard 1-4, providing tough matchups for opposing teams.
In February of 2019, Harris was dismissed from the team along with Esa Ahmad for violating athletics department policies. He finished up his collegiate career at Tennessee State where he 11.6 points and 6.2 boards per game. Since turning pro, Harris has played for Etha Engomi Nicosia (Cyprus), CS Valcea 1924 (Romania), and Spišskí Rytieri (Slovakia).
Harris becomes the fourth player to be publicly announced joining Taz Sherman, Esa Ahmad, and Jon Holton.
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