Category: Corruption and Scandals
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RVA 5X5: Enrichmond and the City’s Radio Silence
by Jon Baliles I won’t do a “Top Stories of 2022” list for this newsletter, but if I did, one of them would surely be the collapse of the Enrichmond Foundation and the radio silence on all fronts concerning its finances, the groups that depended on it, their assets, and the two historic Black cemeteries…
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Great Investigative Reporting of a Heartbreaking Story
by James C. Sherlock For a story that will simultaneously make you angry and break your heart, read “Fathering While Black,” by Asra Nomani and Debra Tisler. It is the story of a guardian ad litem (GAL), Karen Keys-Gamarra, who is reported here to have systematically abused her position to pursue a Black father and…
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Dysfunction Junction
It’s a close call, but I’d say that Portsmouth now has edged out Charlottesville as the most dysfunctional city in Virginia. The latest news: former Portsmouth City Manager Angel Jones is threatening to file a lawsuit against the city. Not only does she allege wrongful termination, Jones cites “major crimes involving public corruption” among city…
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Embarrassing Non-Action
by John Baliles The EnRichmond saga continues and it’s not a good read. In fact, it’s pretty awful. To recap, the EnRichmond Foundation was founded in the early 1990s and had grown to support more than 80 small, local, all-volunteer groups that worked to help Richmond in various ways, many of which focused on keeping…
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Complete and Total Incompetence & Negligence
by Jon Baliles There can be no more fitting title for this post than this jaw-dropping, migraine-inducing story from Tyler Lane at CBS6 about the repeated warning signs about fire safety that were not only missed — but flat out ignored — by Richmond Public Schools (RPS) officials in 2020 and 2021, which culminated in…
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Virtual Education in K-12 Public Schools – A False and Corrupt Narrative in Virginia
by James C. Sherlock Public employee interests with personal stakes in the outcome are lying by omission in public discussions of virtual schooling in Virginia. Their message was published in Suzanne Munson’s column in the Richmond Times Dispatch on Jun 25th. The VDOE has made a commendable start with online learning through its Virtual Virginia…
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Irish-Americans in Northern Virginia Caught in COVID Fraud
by James C. Sherlock I am of Irish heritage. Grandparents and great grandparents on both sides immigrated to America in the 19th century. Imagine my shame when I read a recent news release from the Department of Justice. My people have taken entrepreneurialism a step too far.
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Racist Rant Results in Resignation
by Kerry Dougherty When a shockingly racist 2021 Facebook post from Hampton Electoral Board Chair David Dietrich surfaced late last week the reaction from his fellow Republicans — from Gov. Glenn Youngkin to the Hampton GOP chief — was swift and unequivocal. Resign, they said, or we will remove you from the board. “As governor,…
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The AG Should Investigate Portsmouth Political Corruption
by Ken Reid Philosopher David Hume once said: “The corruption of the best things gives rise to the worst.” That may be the fate of the Portsmouth, population of 93,000, in the absence of outside oversight. In the wave of protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020, Portsmouth activists…
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Warren Harris: From Economic Development Director To Embezzler
by Kerry Dougherty Does anyone believe that if they stole almost $80,000 from the city of Virginia Beach, they’d be able to walk? Not spend a day in jail? Get a slap on the wrist? Of course not. But the rules are different for crooked city officials. Yesterday, the former head of Virginia Beach Department…
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Bacon Bits: Public Servants in Action
Robert Bobb to the rescue. Robert C. Bobb, a former Richmond city manager turned public-sector turnaround artist, pulled the City of Petersburg back from the brink of bankruptcy. Now he will endeavor to manage the City of Charlottesville, which has been hobbled by racial tensions and interpersonal conflicts. After debilitating turnover in the administration — seven…
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Northam Solves Mystery of the Man in Blackface
by Kerry Dougherty Let’s just call it a missed opportunity. Yesterday, with just three days remaining in his term as governor, Ralph Northam unveiled the official portrait of himself. Surely some practical joker behind the scenes was tempted to replace the commissioned painting with that well-known portrait of Northam in blackface standing beside a friend…
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What Is Going on in Portsmouth?
by Kerry Dougherty Are there cities that are more dysfunctional than Portsmouth, Virginia? Yes, of course there are. There’s always San Francisco where you can get an app for your phone called “SnapCrap” to allow you to report piles of human feces to city sanitation workers. There’s Chicago. The Windy City was recently designated the…
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Masters of Hype and Puffery
This is the fifth in a series of articles about Terry McAuliffe and GreenTech. by James A. Bacon and Carol J. Bova On July 6, 2012, GreenTech Automotive launched the rollout of the “all-American” MyCar electric vehicle at a ceremony attended by former President Bill Clinton, the governor of Mississippi, the assistant secretary of Homeland…
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Shearing the Sheep
This is the fourth in a series of posts about Terry McAuliffe and GreenTech Automotive. by James A. Bacon and Carol J. Bova The Chinese citizens who lost $500,000 each from investing in GreenTech Automotive were not happy with their setback. While they had ponied up their money as part of a scheme to get…