Saturday, February 28, 2009
Editorial: Short takes
Quick views on some of the week's news.
From the RoundTable blog
Read the latest entries
Bedford school board's bizarre vote
The Bedford County School Board went into executive session Thursday night to discuss the hiring of a new superintendent. Fair enough. The state Freedom of Information Act allows -- but does not require -- private meetings to discuss personnel matters. After deliberating for more than an hour, the board returned to public session and voted to hire a candidate -- without naming the candidate.
This is bizarre and completely unacceptable. While the law allows discussion of personnel matters in private, any board action resulting from such discussion must be made in public. As Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government said, "It seems to defeat the purpose of voting on something in open session under FOIA requirements if you are not going to fully disclose what you are voting on."
Some job seekers might not want their current employers to know they're looking. And that's fine, up to a point. For an important position like superintendent of schools, the public's right to know who's under consideration outweighs a serious candidate's right to privacy.
The public should have received a list of finalists for the position and had an opportunity to weigh their credentials. Without doubt, the public should know the final candidate's name before a vote is taken.
Bedford County residents didn't find out the name of their superintendent until Friday, when it was revealed that Doug Schuch, director of accountability for Stafford County Public Schools, got the job. Though one board member said the name was kept secret so Schuch would have time to notify his employer, the vice chairman of the Stafford County School Board said he had used her as a reference.
It sounds like the only people left in the dark about Schuch's hiring were the people who will be paying his salary.
Green homeowners hung out to dry
One of the biggest energy hogs in most homes is the electric dryer. But some homeowners associations ban the use of any clotheslines, however discrete.
A bill to prohibit such outright bans in Virginia was defeated in the House of Delegates. One delegate predicted that if the bill passed, Northern Virginia homeowners would complain, "This looks like a West Virginia subdivision."
West Virginia doesn't do much right when it comes to the environment, but a preference for the fresh scent of line-dried clothes is nothing to ridicule. It's not like the legislation would have encouraged people to leave cars propped up on cinderblocks on their front lawns.
No state reptile for Virginia
Among the more pressing matters concerning the General Assembly this session was the naming of a state reptile. Alas, that vital business was left undone. The House of Delegates rejected a bill to name the eastern box turtle as the state reptile.
Del. Frank Hargrove, R-Hanover, wondered why anyone would even consider making a state emblem out of a creature that retreats into its shell when frightened. Seems fitting enough to us, considering the political courage generally demonstrated by many in the General Assembly.
Oh, well, shouldn't a state song take precedence over a state reptile anyway?
Virginia supports troops' families -- if the feds pay
The General Assembly passed a bill extending unemployment benefits to the spouses of military personnel who quit their jobs because their spouses are transferred.
"If you really think about it, it's not a voluntary move for the spouse if their husband or wife is ordered to relocate," said Del. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton.
"It's great for our military families and would show that we support what they do for us," said Ty Jones, a staff lawyer for the Virginia Poverty Law Project, an advocacy group in Richmond.
The General Assembly supports that only up to a point, though. The bill as passed would provide the benefits only if the federal government paid them, which it has not agreed to do.
