Advisory Committee on Open Government to discuss public comment, bylaws at meeting Thursday

The Advisory Committee on Open Government is expected to approve its public comment policy and bylaws on Thursday and suggest potential topics to discuss at future meetings. The meeting is the second of the committee’s this year and will be at 9 a.m. (CT) Thursday at the Comptroller’s Office at the Cordell Hull building.

The agenda largely includes organizational items as the committee just began meeting again in August after a hiatus that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee selected co-chairs at its Aug. 25 meeting — Brian Lapps, general counsel for the Tennessee Board of Regents, and Elisha Hodge, who has previously served as the Open Records Counsel for the Office of Open Records Counsel and is representing the Tennessee Municipal League on the committee.

The agenda includes a vote to confirm election of co-chairs and the election of a secretary. Jennifer Wilkerson, representing the County Officials Association of Tennessee, had been selected as secretary at the August meeting.

Proposed public comment policy

The committee also plans to review and possibly approve a public comment policy. A proposed public comment policy would allow individuals to provide public comment at any meeting of the committee that includes an actionable item. The comments must relate to an item on the meeting agenda or to issues germane to the responsibilities of the committee as determined by the co-chairs.

The proposed policy also says that a scheduled speaker must be physically present to address the committee unless one or more committee members is participating by electronic means, in which case the speaker may appear through electronic means. The policy also allows a speaker to provide written comment to the committee, which the committee says should be provided at least two business days prior to the meeting and may also be distributed at the meeting.

The meeting on Thursday can be attended electronically, with the link available on this page.

Committee will consider topics for future meetings

The 14 members of the committee are also expected to receive open meetings training from Open Records Counsel Toni Chadwick and to hear from Deputy Attorney General Rachel Appelt on the scope of the committee’s duties.

New business includes possible discussion on the location of future ACOG meetings, which have traditionally been held in the Comptroller’s Office. New business also includes a review and first reading of potential bylaws.

The agenda also includes an item for suggestion of topics for future meetings.

Here are the minutes from ACOG’s first meeting this year, which was held on Aug. 25 in the Volunteer Conference Center on the 2nd floor of the Cordell Hull Building.

(Note: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government has a representative on the committee, Victor Ashe.)