Deborah Fisher, Author at Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

7 Mar, 2019

Government business is not a trade secret

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-08T06:50:00-06:00March 7, 2019|Categories: Legislature|Tags: economic development, trade secrets|2 Comments

Government officials have found an effective way to keep secrets, especially when they don’t want taxpayers and voters to know about sweetheart deals with favored businesses. It works something like this. First, the government officials sign a non-disclosure agreement with the business that says that anything in an upcoming government contract with the business could be considered proprietary, a trade secret or otherwise confidential information of the business, and not disclosable under Tennessee Public Records law. Next, they agree that they will not disclose anything to members of the public about the deal’s details, even at a public meeting in which a governing body must vote on it. Often, they [...]

6 Mar, 2019

Commercial Appeal: Bill would require Tennessee governments to disclose payments to companies

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-06T09:12:57-06:00March 6, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: economic development, Google, State Rep. Martin Daniel, trade secrets, University of Tennessee|0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal recently did a story about a bill in the Legislature, supported by TCOG, that would solve the issue of business entities claiming that government documents about payments made to them are confidential because the payment they received constitutes a trade secret. It flies in the face of the Tennessee Public Records Act that states "all documents ... made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental entity" are public records. But the business are getting away with it. See below for an example with Google and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Board, and the University of [...]

18 Feb, 2019

Washington Post story details Google techniques to keep economic development deals secret

By Deborah Fisher|2019-02-18T15:49:46-06:00February 18, 2019|Categories: economic development|Tags: Clarksville, economic development, Google, Montgomery County|1 Comment

A Washington Post story last week has detailed how Google, often acting through a newly formed company with a different name, secured non-disclosure agreements with government entities around the country as it negotiated and landed economic development deals valued in the millions of dollars. The city of Clarksville and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Board are among the government entities that signed non-disclosure agreements with Google, which eventually agreed to locate a data center in the county with a target investment of $600 million and 34 direct hires. From the Washington Post story, Google reaped millions in tax breaks as it secretly expanded its real estate footprint across the U.S.: Google — which [...]

14 Feb, 2019

Gov. Bill Lee invites public comment on bills

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T13:02:13-06:00February 14, 2019|Categories: Legislature|Tags: Bill Lee|2 Comments

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has established a page online for Tennesseans to give him feedback on bills approved by the General Assembly and presented to him to sign. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee "As part of my commitment to an open and transparent government, we have created this bill review page to invite public comments on bills passed by the General Assembly and presented to me for consideration. By bringing more Tennesseans into the process more directly, I believe we will increase accountability in how our laws are made. I invite you to come back to this page often, as we will be updating it regularly as bills pass [...]

10 Feb, 2019

Proposed bills seek to clarify, change law related to government settlement agreements

By Deborah Fisher|2019-02-10T13:59:55-06:00February 10, 2019|Categories: Legislature|Tags: settlement agreements, State Rep. Bill Beck, State Rep. Doc Kumar, State Rep. Jeremy Faison, State Sen. Dolores Gresham, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire|0 Comments

A collection of bills introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly are aimed at clarifying or changing parts of the law surrounding government settlement agreements. Government entities are prohibited from entering into confidential settlement agreements. The Court of Appeals has said that “a governmental entity cannot enter into confidentiality agreements with regard to public records. The idea of entering into confidentiality agreements with respect to public records is repugnant to and would thwart the purpose of the (Tennessee Public Records) Act." (Contemporary Media v. City of Memphis, 1999.) Lawmakers have filed at least three separate sets of bills: State Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville. Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, and Rep. [...]

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