Greene County Industrial Development Board Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

15 Jan, 2015

TCOG files motion to intervene in Greene County open meetings case

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:34:54-05:00January 15, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Greene County Industrial Development Board, Richard Hollow, TCOG news, US Nitrogen|0 Comments

The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has filed a motion to intervene in an open meetings lawsuit in Greene County. One of the claims in the case is that the Industrial Development Board of Greeneville and Greene County violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act by holding a meeting in which some members of the audience could not hear deliberations. The meeting occurred in July 2014. Members of the audience told the board it could not hear the deliberations, and when one audience member spoke out about it, he was removed from the meeting, charged with disrupting a public meeting, and put in jail. (The charges were later dropped.) The industrial [...]

15 Dec, 2014

Johnson City Press’ Robert Houk: Sunshine Law requires officials to be seen and heard

By Deborah Fisher|2014-12-15T16:54:45-06:00December 15, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: audibility of public meeting, Eddie Overholt, Greene County, Greene County Industrial Development Board, Johnson City Press, open meetings violation, Robert Houk|1 Comment

The Johnson City Press Opinion Page Editor Robert Houk penned a strong column on the need for governing bodies to make sure citizens can hear their deliberations during a public meeting. He was writing in reference to a lawsuit in Greene County where citizens are suing the Industrial Development Board on allegations that it violated the Open Meetings Act when it held a meeting where parts of the deliberations were inaudible. When a citizen, Eddie Overholt, asked the board to speak up so people in the audience could hear, the county mayor who chaired the board ordered him out, and he was led away with his hands behind his back, arrested [...]

22 Nov, 2014

Greene County IDB argues citizens don’t have a right to hear deliberations at public meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:36:53-05:00November 22, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Alan Broyles, audibility of public meeting, Eddie Overholt, Greene County, Greene County Industrial Development Board, litigation, open meetings violation, US Nitrogen|0 Comments

The County Industrial Development Board of Greeneville and Greene County is arguing in a lawsuit that the Open Meetings Act does not require that citizens be able to hear deliberations of a governing body at public meetings, only that they be given the opportunity to be present. The arguments are found in filings to try to dismiss a complaint made by 47 people, many who live or own property along the Nolichucky River, who say that the Industrial Development Board violated the law when it held a July 18 meeting, but “purposefully or negligently prevented (citizens in attendance) from hearing deliberations…” The citizens note that board members “conducted deliberations while sitting [...]