News - Page 30 of 125 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

30 Mar, 2020

TN County Services Association and TN Municipal League urge maintaining transparency during COVID-19

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:21:55-05:00March 30, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: COVID-19, electronic meetings, Tennessee County Services Association, Tennessee Municipal League|0 Comments

Two of the largest government associations in Tennessee last week issued guidance and suggestions to its members, urging them to maintain government openness and transparency during the COVID-19 crisis. The Tennessee County Services Association and Tennessee Municipal League in its letter explained the Governor's Executive Order. No. 16 allowing for electronic meetings. David Connor, executive director of Tennessee County Services Association. Chad Jenkins, deputy director, Tennessee Municipal League The letter from the government associations encouraged cities and counties "to make every effort to allow the public some way to access the meeting through a live audio or video stream" but if not able to do this, to make sure a [...]

30 Mar, 2020

Other states outpace Tennessee in COVID-19 data provided to citizens

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:23:02-05:00March 30, 2020|Categories: Public Records|Tags: COVID-19|0 Comments

Several other states are releasing more information to its citizens than Tennessee about the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus. For example, several states are releasing on their websites deaths by COVID-19 by county, and others are announcing the city or county location of deaths in press briefings. In contrast, the Tennessee Department of Health has declined to release the number of COVID-19 deaths by county. The state's website with data on COVID-19 in Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee is also giving 3 p.m. (CDT) daily press briefings, which are streamed live here and remain available on the website. "We are providing numbers of deaths at the state level only due to the [...]

24 Mar, 2020

Governing bodies across Tennessee begin Facebook Live, Zoom, live broadcasts

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:23:35-05:00March 24, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: COVID-19, electronic meetings|1 Comment

Hickman County Mayor Mark Bentley welcomed all viewers on Facebook Live and promised to have the video taped and available on the website the next day, which it was. Governing bodies across Tennessee are entering into a week of meetings and business regarding the COVID-19 emergency with a new challenge. They are allowed by the Governor's Executive Order 16 to meet electronically, so long as they provide electronic access to the public. TCOG is getting reports of various approaches. The Knoxville City Council, for example, plans to meet today using Zoom, where all members of the Council can connect from home with their computer audio and video. They haven't yet [...]

22 Mar, 2020

Now is the time for governing bodies to quickly implement technology to provide the public better meeting access

By Deborah Fisher|2020-05-09T13:24:11-05:00March 22, 2020|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: adequate public notice, COVID-19, electronic meetings|0 Comments

An example of a New Jersey City Council holding a meeting via a Zoom video conference, streaming it live on its Facebook page, and allowing the public to submit testimony via email. (https://hudsonreporter.com/2020/03/21/hoboken-city-council-meets-virtually-to-conduct-city-business/) Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order on Friday that gave much-needed relief and guidance on how governing bodies may conduct meetings electronically in light of a need to contain the spread of coronavirus. The order contained key provisions TCOG sought, including that governing bodies be allowed to conduct "essential business," make reasonable efforts to provide live electronic access to the public and provide the public with better notice of the meeting agenda and how the [...]

20 Mar, 2020

Gov. Bill Lee issues executive order for Open Meetings during COVID-19 emergency

By Deborah Fisher|2020-03-20T17:44:27-05:00March 20, 2020|Categories: Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|2 Comments

Governor Bill Lee has issued Executive Order No. 16 to ensure government operations continue to function openly and transparently during the COVID-19 emergency while taking measures to protect the health and safety of citizens and government officials. Read the order here. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee issued Executive Order No. 16 to allow governing bodies, by following certain conditions, to meet electronically and provide electronic access to the public during the COVID-19 emergency. We at Tennessee Coalition for Open Government are very pleased with this outcome. The order allows essential government business to continue. We need to give governing bodies across the state tools to do this. The order includes several [...]