Chris Christie Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

The need for transparency with teeth: A lesson from Chris Christie

By Deborah Fisher|2014-04-09T16:54:16-05:00February 6, 2014|Categories: transparency|Tags: Chris Christie, emails, government transparency initiatives|0 Comments

We in Tennessee can learn something from the New Jersey bridge scandal that put Gov. Chris Christie who championed "transparency" now staring down accusations of violating the state's public records laws and otherwise working effectively to keep secret some legitimate information citizens deserve to know. The transparency movement is a good one. And there are great examples of local governments posting all levels of information for citizens, some of it quite useful such as agenda packets for upcoming meetings and financial information that allows citizens to better understand how their local government operates. It should continue and, in Tennessee, some guidance is provided in a recent report by the Tennessee Advisory [...]

Personal email accounts can hide government business

Breaking Bad character Walter White uses a second cell phone to hide his meth business. The Associated Press published an insightful story by Jack Gillum on Saturday that shines light on the practice of government officials using personal email accounts to sidestep public records laws. In this case, a top aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie used her Yahoo email account to send messages about closing bridge lanes to an official with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The closure resulted in huge traffic backups and is being viewed as politically motivated payback to [...]