Open Meetings Archives - Page 10 of 28 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

3 Jul, 2020

Resident files open meetings, public records lawsuit against Lebanon City Council

By Deborah Fisher|2020-07-03T10:08:53-05:00July 3, 2020|Categories: open meetings lawsuits, public records lawsuits Tennessee|Tags: attorney-client privilege, Lebanon City Council, Lorrie Hicks, meeting minutes|0 Comments

Lebanon City Council members are facing a lawsuit over violations of the Open Meetings Act and public records law because of a meeting closed to the public, and failing to provide meeting minutes. (Photo of Lebanon City Hall, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons) The Lebanon City Council, despite undergoing training in the open meetings and public records law last year to settle a legal claim, must now face a judge over new allegations. "We had given them the opportunity before and obviously they still don't follow the law even after the training," said Lorrie Hicks, who filed a lawsuit last week alleging new violations of the open meetings and [...]

29 Jun, 2020

Gov. Lee extends order allowing remote governing body meetings through Aug. 29 — what’s a citizen to do?

By Deborah Fisher|2020-07-03T10:01:02-05:00June 29, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: COVID-19, electronic meetings, Gov. Bill Lee|0 Comments

Gov. Bill Lee has decided to extend his order suspending parts of the Open Meetings Act to allow governing bodies to continue to meet electronically through Aug. 29. In order No. 51, Lee said extending the order is warranted because COVID-19 "remains a threat and it's imperative to ensure gatherings are conducted in a safe way ... without creating large gatherings in a confined space and endangering persons, particularly those at increased risk of suffering severe illness from COVID-19 while determinations of how best to return to safe, in-person governmental meetings remain ongoing." So what's a citizen to do? We've learned a lot over the past three months as governing [...]

27 Jun, 2020

Judge: Nashville board violated Open Meetings Act by failing to provide adequate notice of soccer stadium vote

By Deborah Fisher|2020-06-29T10:55:50-05:00June 27, 2020|Categories: adequate public notice, Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: adequate notice, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, Duane Dominy, Metro Nashville, Nashville sports authority, open meetings violations|0 Comments

Artist rendering of planned soccer stadium in Nashville. A Nashville judge said the Nashville sports authority board violated the Open Meetings Act when it did not provide adequate notice of the meeting in which it approved a $192 million construction management project for the stadium. A Davidson County chancellor ruled that Nashville government violated the Open Meetings Act in 2018 by failing to provide adequate notice of a Metro Sports Authority board meeting in which a $192 million construction contract was signed for a soccer stadium. Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle in her June 25 order ruled the action taken in approving the contract with Mortenson/Messer Construction Company is void and [...]

15 Jun, 2020

TCOG survey documents state’s experience with electronic meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2020-06-15T08:47:06-05:00June 15, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: audibility of public meeting, COVID-19, electronic meetings, open meetings|0 Comments

News reporters, citizens and some government officials provided assessments on governing body meetings held electronically as part of TCOG's informal statewide survey. This screenshot is of a meeting of the Hamilton County Board of Education. An informal survey by Tennessee Coalition for Open Government on governing body meetings held in April and May has for the first time documented the state’s widespread experience with electronic meetings under the Open Meetings Act. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the governor on March 20 temporarily suspended part of the Open Meetings Act to allow governing bodies to meet and conduct business by electronic means rather than being required to gather a quorum [...]

6 May, 2020

Gov. Lee extends order allowing governing bodies to meet electronically through June 30

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:09:12-05:00May 6, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: COVID-19, electronic meetings, executive order, Gov. Bill Lee, open meetings|0 Comments

Gov. Bill Lee extended provisions in Executive Order No. 16 allowing members of governing bodies to meet electronically through June 30. The order previously was scheduled to expire on May 18. The new order makes no changes in the earlier provisions other than extending the date. Under Executive Order No. 16, a governing body subject to the Open Meetings Act in Tennessee may "meet and conduct its essential business by electronic means, rather than being required to gather a quorum of members physically present at the same location, if the governing body determines that meeting electronically is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Tennesseans in light of [...]