>>15382797

PART 1

Miyares fires 30 in AG's office, including lawyer investigating dangerous conditions at Richmond apartments

https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/miyares-fires-30-in-ags-office-including-lawyer-investigating-dangerous-conditions-at-richmond-apartments/article_280125a7-9dda-58db-a0e0-667758fafd0f.html

Patrick Wilson 19 hrs ago

Attorney General-elect Jason Miyares notified about 30 staff members in the office — 17 of them attorneys — that they won’t have jobs in his administration, including the lawyer who was investigating dangerous conditions at a South Richmond apartment complex in Richmond’s largest Latino neighborhood.

Miyares, a Republican, will be sworn in on Saturday to replace Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring, whom Miyares defeated in the November election.

Miyares spokesperson Victoria LaCivita said the 30 staff members were told that Miyares would be moving in a different direction.

“During the campaign, it was made clear that now Attorney General-elect Miyares and Attorney General Herring have very different visions for the office,” she said by email for this story. “We are restructuring the office, as every incoming AG has done in the past.”

She declined to provide the breakdown of which divisions the attorneys work in, saying it was multiple divisions across the office.

Employees in the office serve at the pleasure of the attorney general. While it’s routine for lawyers to be replaced when one political party loses control, the number of lawyers fired surprised the outgoing Herring administration.

“These are dedicated and professional public servants who do important work, like investigate wrongful convictions, protect Virginians’ civil rights, help to ensure free and fair elections, and prevent human trafficking and opioid abuse,” said Herring spokesperson Charlotte Gomer via email. “Their absence will be a significant loss to the mission of the Office of Attorney General.”

Among those let go is Helen Hardiman, an assistant attorney general who focuses on investigating and litigating housing discrimination in the Office of Civil Rights.

Hardiman said she received an email from D.J. Jordan, Miyares’ chief of staff, telling her that her tenure ends at noon Saturday. When state housing boards find discrimination, they refer cases to her to file and maintain lawsuits.

“My biggest heartburn right now is I have 20 court cases,” Hardiman said. That includes a trial scheduled in March.

She just began investigating dangerous conditions in Richmond’s largest Latino neighborhood, at The Communities at Southwood apartments. The investigation stemmed from an investigation by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, whose reporters spent months documenting homes rife with mold, rat and roach infestations and other maintenance issues the landlord is legally responsible for repairing. Tenants told The Times-Dispatch that management ignored requests or failed to address problems brought to their attention.

Hardiman has worked in the attorney general’s office since September 2019 and said she was not expecting to be let go by the new administration.

>>15382925

PART 2

Miyares fires 30 in AG's office, including lawyer investigating dangerous conditions at Richmond apartments

https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/miyares-fires-30-in-ags-office-including-lawyer-investigating-dangerous-conditions-at-richmond-apartments/article_280125a7-9dda-58db-a0e0-667758fafd0f.html

Patrick Wilson 19 hrs ago

“I expected some personnel changes, which likely come with any change of administration,” she said. “I am not a political appointee. I don’t have a political job.”

She spent Friday scrambling to make sure someone in the office could cover her cases.

“I don’t want those people who have been discriminated against to be left hanging,” she said. “I also felt like a cursory email with 24-hour notice was unprofessional. And I’m disappointed that the new administration seems to be signaling that they care less about civil rights issues like fair housing than the current administration.”

Asked if the investigation of The Communities at Southwood would continue, Miyares spokesperson LaCivita replied:

“Just because personnel changes have been made does not mean their work will not be picked up. As the Attorney General-elect has said, when he gets into his office he and his team will look at every lawsuit, investigation and opinion with a fresh perspective.”

Deborah Bell, a community outreach coordinator in the attorney general’s 10-person Roanoke office, said she learned by email from a Miyares transition official around 10 a.m. Friday that she had been terminated.

“The way it was handled was cold, it was brutal and it was cruel,” said Bell, an eight-year employee and the wife of a former Republican state senator, Brandon Bell.

In addition to her salary, Deborah Bell said she would lose her health care because of the firing — that because she wasn’t an at-will employee, she is ineligible for separation benefits from the state. Bell said she recently tested positive for COVID-19.

Herring in late December announced he was promoting Mona Hafeez Siddiqui as chief of the Office of Civil Rights. She was among the lawyers let go Friday.

Also let go was Stephen Izaguirre, an outreach coordinator with the attorney general’s Northern Virginia office since 2019 who focused on helping older people learn about scams and resources to help them.

When he started, he had little information about the job and had to build a network, and he would have been happy to share that information with the new team, he said.

“I think they kind of failed to really take the time to at least interview us or talk to us,” he said. “It’s not a political position, it’s the work for the people.”

What stung even more: Izaguirre is a former deputy sheriff in Texas and a Republican who voted for Miyares.