Tom Smith Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

10 Oct, 2017

State museum board rescinds controversial “code of conduct” policy

By Deborah Fisher|2017-10-10T09:44:54-05:00October 10, 2017|Categories: Legislature|Tags: free press, free speech, state museum board, State Sen. Mike Bell, Tennessee State Museum, Tom Smith|0 Comments

The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission has rescinded a controversial code of conduct policy that had required board members to notify the commission before they talked to the media and threatened ouster of board members who didn't follow the rules. State Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville The code of conduct policy came under fierce criticism by lawmakers at a Joint Government Operations Committee meeting in August. Several were appalled at the restrictive speech policy and one said it appeared to be an attempt to silence museum board member and former Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe. The code of conduct policy prohibited board members from saying anything that would "disparage" the [...]

11 Jul, 2017

State museum commission restricts speech, communication with the press

By Deborah Fisher|2017-07-11T16:16:35-05:00July 11, 2017|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: First Amendment, speech restrictions, state museum board, Tennessee State Museum, Tom Smith, Victor Ashe|1 Comment

The Douglas Henry State Museum Commission adopted a new code of conduct on Monday that requires all commission members except for the chair and vice-chair to provide advance notification to the entire commission of any comments that they make to the public before making them. The policy would cover any communication with the press, or any public comments or written comments. The commission also decided it would apply to social media. "Should a Commissioner, excluding the Chair and Vice-Chair, publish any written statement, including blogs, or give any public statement regarding the Commission, Museum, Executive Director, or Museum personnel the Commissioner shall provide the Commission with an advance copy of [...]

22 Feb, 2016

Ashe, officials clash over closing state museum board meeting, News Sentinel reports

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-22T08:26:33-06:00February 22, 2016|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Open Meetings Act, state museum board, Tom Smith, Victor Ashe|0 Comments

Tom Humphrey with the Knoxville News Sentinel reports that Victor Ashe, a former lawmaker and former Knoxville mayor, has clashed with the state museum board on which he sits over a plan to close a meeting to discuss selection of a new museum director. An excerpt from the story: The board governing the Tennessee State Museum, officially known as the Douglas Henry State Museum Commission, has scheduled an eight-hour "workshop" for March 28 to discuss the selection of a new museum executive director to succeed Lois Riggins-Ezzell at some point. In an exchange of email with Tom Smith of Nashville, who chairs a museum board committee on "succession planning" that [...]