Chattanooga Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

24 Feb, 2016

Chattanooga lawmaker scolds Hamilton County commissioners for secret attempt to change law

By Deborah Fisher|2016-02-24T18:48:33-06:00February 24, 2016|Categories: Legislature|Tags: Chattanooga, Hamilton County Commission, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire|0 Comments

State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, pulled his bill, S.B. 1911, from consideration in a Senate committee Tuesday, saying the Hamilton County Commission had asked him and others in the Hamilton County delegation to sponsor it without discussing it in a public meeting. State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, speaking to a Senate committee. To see the VIDEO, click on the picture. The bill was filed as a caption bill, meaning the language was a placeholder for the real intent of the sponsor. Gardenhire told the Senate State and Local Government Committee Tuesday that the bill now had an amendment (which has not yet been made public on the General Assembly's [...]

13 Aug, 2015

Nooga.com: Police body cameras test privacy, transparency

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-13T11:02:12-05:00August 13, 2015|Categories: crime records|Tags: ACLU, Chattanooga, David Morton, nooga.com, police body cameras|0 Comments

Nooga.com's reporter David Morton called me recently about the Chattanooga police chief's concerns about body cameras in Tennessee. His department plans to use them but he's concerned that the video would be public under the Tennessee Public Records Act. The issue is headed for some exposure. A summer study committee of the Legislature will be hearing comments on issues surrounding police body cameras the week of Oct. 19 after two bills were introduced last year that would require body cameras in local police departments and make all video from them confidential. There are some legitimate privacy concerns about the footage, but I urged that we be careful about changing the law [...]

7 Aug, 2015

New accounting standard to require governments to disclose cost of tax breaks

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:24:13-06:00August 7, 2015|Categories: economic development|Tags: Chattanooga, economic development, economic development records, Helen Burns Sharp, Memphis, PILOTS, Shelby County|0 Comments

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board approved a new rule on Monday that requires governments to include in financial statements the value of tax abatements given to companies to spur economic development starting next year. "The results of external research ... suggest that tax abatements are an issue of concern among citizen groups, county board members, and municipal bond analysts, and that each group desires to receive information about the level of abatement activity and the results of the abatement programs," according to GASB. "However, the researchers found relatively few states (six) with statutes requiring any level of external reporting after tax abatements are granted. These findings indicate that there is an important information need that [...]

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 [...]

7 Mar, 2015

Increasing fees for public records is not the answer for government transparency

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:53:33-05:00March 7, 2015|Categories: fees|Tags: Chattanooga, fees for public records, Judge Dee David Gay, legislature, OORC, Rutherford County, Sumner County, Sumner County School Board, Tennessee School Boards Association|0 Comments

The fastest way to shut down access to government records is to charge fees people can’t afford to pay. Another way is to simply ignore or delay responding to citizens or media who make requests under the Tennessee Public Records Act. Yet another, which takes more effort, is to actively confuse or frustrate a citizen or journalist with byzantine policies and practices to make them go away. All can be powerfully effective. And, unfortunately, all take place in Tennessee. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government received nearly 200 calls to its hotline last year from journalists and citizens who faced obstacles in getting public documents from their local government or [...]