Open Meetings Archives - Page 18 of 28 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

11 Feb, 2016

Bill shortens public notice for zoning changes in Nashville

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-11T08:22:48-06:00February 11, 2016|Categories: adequate public notice|Tags: Davidson County, Nashville, public hearings, public notice, State Rep. Darren Jernigan, State Sen. Ferrell Haile|0 Comments

A bill that would shorten the amount of time of public notice for public hearings on zoning changes in Metropolitan Nashville passed unanimously in a key Senate committee and a House subcommittee this week. The bill, S.B. 1809 / H.B. 1848, would change the law that requires Davidson County to provide 30 days public notice prior to a public hearing on an amendment to a county zoning ordinance. It reduces that time to 15 days. Davidson County is the only county in the state required by law to give a 30-day notice, a point made by Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, the bill’s Senate sponsor. “I would classify this as a cleanup [...]

10 Nov, 2015

Why did Tennessee rank 37th in public access to information?

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:11:26-06:00November 10, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings, Public Records|Tags: attorneys' fees, Center for Public Integrity, legislature|0 Comments

Tennessee ranked 37th among states in public access to information in the Center for Public Integrity’s 2015 State Integrity report released on Monday. I was among those who contributed information for the report for Tennessee, so was particularly curious about how other states measured against the public access criteria used in this study to calculate the scores. Access to government information was one of the 13 categories measured by the report, which assessed systems in place to deter corruption in state government. Some of the other categories were political financing, electoral oversight, ethics enforcement agencies, judicial accountability, lobbying disclosure and state budget processes. Tennessee ranked 15th overall when considering all categories. [...]

21 Aug, 2015

What you can do when you think the Open Meetings Act was violated

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-21T18:26:26-05:00August 21, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: open meetings violations, TCOG news|0 Comments

Because TCOG gets so many questions and complaints from citizens who wonder what they can do when their officials in a local government violate the state's Open Meetings Act, we've set up a new Open Meetings Complaint page on TCOG's website under the "Resources" tab to explain some options. We will continue to update this page as time goes on, and add to it as we hear from you. TCOG's aim is to try to provide helpful information on how best to create a culture in local government that complies with both the letter and the spirit of the Sunshine law. You can reach the page here: Open Meetings Complaint page. [...]

26 Jul, 2015

Williamson County commissioners hold private meetings to interview school board replacement

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:49:58-05:00July 26, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings, school boards|Tags: Franklin Home Page, Gregg Lawrence, Johnston v. Metro. Gov't of Nashville, Kathy Danner, Knoxville News Sentinel v. Knox County Commission, private meetings, Robert Cook, Tennessee Open Meetings Act, The Tennessean, Williamson County, Williamson County Commission Commission, Williamson County School Board|1 Comment

Two Williamson County commissioners are holding private meetings with candidates to decide who should fill an open position on the Williamson County School Board, but the county commission attorney says their meetings do not violate the Open Meetings Act, according to two stories by media outlets. The Tennessean: Williamson Schools candidate raises transparency concerns Franklin Home Page: Opinions vary on transparency of school board candidate vetting Williamson County Commissioner Kathy Danner Williamson County Commissioner Gregg Lawrence The two commissioners, Kathy Danner and Gregg Lawrence, are responsible for jointly deciding who should fill the remainder of the term of a board member who is leaving. The practice in the past has [...]

22 Jun, 2015

Sneaky Six in Chattanooga carry on troubling tradition of Hamilton County Commission

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T10:11:20-05:00June 22, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Chattanooga, Hamilton County Commission, Jay Greeson, Open Meetings Act|0 Comments

Is it open, transparent government when six Hamilton County commissioners, after weeks of public meetings where they and the public heard detailed budget requests, vote to give themselves $100,000 each out of the county's rainy-day fund with no public discussion or explanation? No. Times Free Press columnist Jay Greeson called them the Sneaky Six in a Sunday column, and it's a moniker that deserves to stick. The Hamilton County Commission has skated the edges of the Open Meetings Act and its principles before. These are the same county commissioners who keep phones at their dais and make private calls to each other during the meeting -- covering their mouths so their microphones [...]