Open Meetings Archives - Page 24 of 30 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

17 Sep, 2014

Lawsuit alleges Open Meetings violation in Greene County

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:39:23-05:00September 17, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Greene County, industrial development board, open meetings violation, Save the Nolichucky|0 Comments

A second lawsuit alleging an open meetings violation in Greene County in relation to an industrial plant under construction there has been filed by citizens associated with the group, Save the Nolichucky. The lawsuit against the Industrial Development Board of Greeneville and U.S. Nitrogen, LLC, claims both acted improperly and illegally in the approval processes needed for building the plant, which plans to make ammonium nitrate used in industrial explosives. The lawsuit specifically alleges that the industrial development board violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act at a July 18 meeting when "numerous citizens in attendance were purposefully or negligently prevented from hearing the deliberations of the IDB." The citizens seek [...]

15 Sep, 2014

Chattanooga citizen files second open government lawsuit over economic development

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:50:52-05:00September 15, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Chattanooga, economic development records, Grant Konvalinka & Harrison, Helen Burns Sharp, IDB, open meetings violation|0 Comments

Chattanooga citizen Helen Burns Sharp has filed a second lawsuit against Chattanooga's industrial development board, alleging more violations of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act and the Tennessee Public Records Act, among other state laws. (See Chattanooga Times Free Press story here.) Helen Burns Sharp Sharp won a lawsuit earlier this summer when a judge ruled that the Industrial Development Board (IDB) of Chattanooga violated the Sunshine Law when it approved tax-increment financing for a golf course community based on deliberations that took place outside of a public meeting. (See Chancellor Frank Brown's ruling). Sharp has tried to draw attention to the IDB's actions, saying they are making key [...]

5 Sep, 2014

Daily Herald reporter flags Open Meetings violation and is told she is out of order

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:51:37-05:00September 5, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Columbia, open meetings violation, The Daily Herald, Vanessa Curry|0 Comments

Vanessa Curry, a reporter with The Daily Herald in Columbia, was covering a Maury County Commission meeting last night when the chairman decided the best way to overcome a tied vote on who should be a new Administration Committee chairman was to take a recess and have the commissioners confer among themselves. When he made the suggestion, Curry recognized it as as a violation of the state's Sunshine Law about to happen. Governing bodies are bound by the Tennessee Open Meetings Act to deliberate on public issues in a public meeting with the public present, the only exception being when they are allowed to go into a closed session to [...]

22 Aug, 2014

Charges against Eddie Overholt dropped

By Deborah Fisher|2014-08-22T06:58:13-05:00August 22, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Eddie Overholt, Greene County, open meetings violation|0 Comments

Charges were dropped against the citizen who was arrested after asking members of an industrial development board in Greene County to speak up in a public meeting so citizens could hear, news outlets in East Tennessee have reported. Eddie Overholt was among several citizens at the July 18 meeting who were interested in the board's efforts to help an industrial plant who wanted to draw and discharge water into the Nolichucky River. Although the room had microphones, the board members did not use them. After Overholt's arrest, 59 complaints about a potential violation of the Open Meetings Act were filed with the state's Office of Open Records Counsel, Elisha Hodge. [...]

18 Aug, 2014

Tennessee Open Meetings Act more than a checklist

By Deborah Fisher|2014-09-10T09:06:40-05:00August 18, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Eddie Overholt, Elisha Hodge, Greene County, OORC, Tennessee Open Meetings Act|1 Comment

It’s not every day that a citizen gets cuffed, arrested and ejected from a public meeting in Tennessee. But that’s what happened, famously, to Eddie Overholt in Greene County last month where he faces charges of disrupting a public meeting and resisting arrest. I say famously because Overholt’s arrest, and the events leading up to it, were captured on video that has gone viral through Facebook and has appeared on national and international news sites, including Russia Today. Deborah FisherTCOG Executive Director His crime? He asked members of the Industrial Development Board of Greeneville and Greene County to speak louder so citizens could hear. The furor has lessons [...]