Hamilton County commissioner Greg Beck Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

Hamilton County commissioners send secret letter for more power to set their own pay

By Deborah Fisher|2015-02-16T14:19:16-06:00February 15, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Chattanooga, Hamilton County Commission, Hamilton County commissioner Greg Beck, Times Free Press|0 Comments

Eight of the nine Hamilton County commissioners appeared to have gone to great lengths to avoid talking in public about a bill that they asked their local state lawmaker delegation to draft so they could set their own pay. Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Louie Brogdon reports that the bills, Senate Bill 707 and House Bill 717, would remove language in state law that sets Hamilton County commissioners pay and ties potential raises to the county mayor's salary. By decoupling the commissioners' pay from the county mayor's pay, county commissioners could give themselves a larger increase without increasing other county salaries. Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck drafted the letter [...]

Hamilton County commissioner says “Sunshine law stinks”

During a public meeting yesterday, Hamilton County commissioners took aim at the requirement in the state's Open Meetings Act, sometimes referred to as the sunshine law, that formation of public policy must be done in public. One even went so far as to say, "The sunshine law stinks." The comments came on the heels of a story by the Times Free Press about commissioners using telephones to call each other during the meeting to talk privately. After their comments on Wednesday, the commissioners explained their negative view of the sunshine law to reporter Louie Brogdon. Brogdon also called TCOG for comment, allowing us to explain the importance of open and public [...]