open meetings violation

27 Jun, 2019

Resident says Lebanon City councilwoman created Open Meetings Act violation through emails

By |2019-06-27T13:49:04-05:00June 27, 2019|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: , , , , |2 Comments

A Lebanon resident, who was barred from entering a city council meeting, is claiming the Lebanon City Council has violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act multiple times in recent months and is requesting the city get training on the law and reconsider its actions on a recent rezoning decision. Lorrie Hicks, through her attorney Paul McAdoo, has sent a letter to the Mayor Bernie Ash of the Lebanon City Council, explaining the alleged violations.  She told TCOG she has not yet heard back from the city, although the mayor was quoted in the local newspaper as saying he had turned over her letter to the city attorney. “I don’t know [...]

27 Jun, 2019

Chancellor refuses to find Nashville school board’s closed-door meeting with attorney allowed under law

By |2019-06-27T13:19:30-05:00June 27, 2019|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin on Wednesday allowed a claim of an Open Meetings violation against the Metro Nashville School Board to go forward, including depositions of school board members and other attendees of the closed meeting. Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin: "... the public interest is best served by enforcing the Open Meetings Act, the purpose of which is to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in the public. " Martin, in her order in Knowledge Academies v. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board of Education, granted a temporary injunction to the charter school operator who claimed that the school board's closed-door meeting [...]

5 Apr, 2016

Residents file open meetings lawsuit against Memphis City Council over parking vote

By |2016-04-05T19:43:19-05:00April 5, 2016|Categories: open meetings lawsuits|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal reports today that two residents have filed an open meetings lawsuit against the Memphis City Council, alleging that a vote on a resolution that allowed Memphis Zoo overflow parking in Overton Park was orchestrated in advance through deliberations outside the public eye. See Commerical Appeal story:  Lawsuit alleges Memphis City Council violated Open Meetings Act regarding March 1 greensward vote Bryce Ashby, attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Commercial Appeal: “It’s important to understand that this lawsuit, while involving Overton Park, is about a bigger issue. This is about transparency in government and the right of the public to have notice of the actions that are to be taken by [...]

1 May, 2015

Times Free Press: Erlanger trustees to re-vote on bonus resolutions tonight

By |2015-05-01T10:19:18-05:00May 1, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press (reprinted with permission). By Kate Belz When Erlanger hospital's trustees take up the issue of executive bonuses at their board meeting tonight, the main reaction they want to avoid is surprise. They know all too well the effects of surprise. For nearly six months, the $1.7 million in bonuses Erlanger's board agreed to pay out in December has been the target of loud criticism from state and local officials. It triggered a high-profile rulingfrom Tennessee's attorney general, who found that the board violated open meetings law by discussing the incentives behind closed doors before the meeting. The bonuses even spurred a bill this legislative [...]

1 Feb, 2015

Erlanger Health System board plans new meeting on bonuses

By |2015-02-01T17:36:01-06:00February 1, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: , , , |0 Comments

The Times Free Press reports that the Erlanger Health System governing board in Chattanooga plans to hold a new meeting to reconsider $1.7 million in executive bonuses it approved last year. With little notice, the board voted to award the bonuses after discussing them in private session. The surprise decision rankled state lawmakers in Hamilton County because they came after support for funds for the hospital, and after cost-cutting that affected the hospital staff's rank-and-file. The Open Meetings Act, which applies to public hospital governing boards, requires deliberations to be in public. The Attorney General issued an opinion last week affirming that the board's deliberations about compensation would not fall [...]

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