John Konvalinka Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

27 Oct, 2014

Chattanooga contests paying $74,427 in legal fees after losing Sunshine Law case

By Deborah Fisher|2018-11-16T15:10:48-06:00October 27, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: attorneys' fees, Chattanooga, Helen Burns Sharp, industrial development board, John Konvalinka, open meetings violation|0 Comments

The city of Chattanooga is contesting legal fees awarded to a citizen who sued and won over a violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, Chattanoogan.com reported Sunday. Helen Burns Sharp, who sued the city's Industrial Development Board over a Sunshine Law violation and won. She also got her legal fees awarded. Helen Burns Sharp brought the lawsuit after the city's Industrial Development Board awarded a tax-increment financing deal worth $9 million to a private developer building a golf course community one on of the moutains surrounding the city. A judge agreed with her that the IDB made the decision in secret in violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, [...]

22 Sep, 2014

Citizen wins attorneys fees in Chattanooga Open Meetings case

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:39:03-05:00September 22, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: attorneys' fees, Chattanooga, Grant Konvalinka & Harrison, Helen Burns Sharp, industrial development board, John Konvalinka, open meetings violation, Pamela Fleenor|1 Comment

Chancellor Pamela Fleenor on Friday issued an order awarding attorney fees, expenses and other costs to citizen Helen Burns Sharp who sued the city of Chattanooga's industrial development board over a Sunshine Law violation. Hamilton County Chancellor Pamela Fleenor The order in the Chattanooga Open Meetings case means the industrial development board could pay a large chunk of Sharp's legal bills, which have grown to roughly $89,000 with a second lawsuit filed earlier this month. Sharp won her initial case in July when Hamilton County Chancellor Frank Brown ruled that the industrial development board violated the Open Meetings Act by deciding to finalize tax-increment financing to a developer [...]

17 Jul, 2014

Read judge’s order in Open Meetings case against Chattanooga Industrial Development Board

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:50:08-05:00July 17, 2014|Categories: economic development, Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Chancellor Frank Brown, Chattanooga, economic development records, Helen Burns Sharp, John Konvalinka, open meetings violation|1 Comment

Helen Burns Sharp, whose career included working as a community planner for state and municipal government, spent $50,000 of her retirement savings to bring a lawsuit against the Chattanooga Industrial Development Board in 2013. She alleged that the board approved tax-increment financing for a Black Creek Mountain golf course community. In the deal, the developers got $9 million from industrial board-issued bonds to build road and sewer up a mountain to the community. And property taxes from all the expensive homes built there would be used to pay them off. She didn't think that was right -- that TIF funds are not supposed to be used for such projects -- and [...]

17 Jul, 2014

Chattanooga judge voids $9 million deal on Open Meetings violation

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:40:48-05:00July 17, 2014|Categories: economic development, Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Chancellor Frank Brown, Chattanooga, economic development records, Helen Burns Sharp, John Konvalinka, litigation, open meetings violation, Times Free Press|0 Comments

A citizen spent $50,000 of her own money to bring a lawsuit against Chattanooga's industrial development board, and won. Hamilton County Chancellor Frank Brown says the board violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act when it approved a $9 million deal for developers of a golf course community. The judge's ruling voids the deal. This is the second lawsuit that we've shared on TCOG's blog in recent days on citizen lawsuits involving economic development, alleging violations of the Sunshine Law and operating in secrecy. Citizens in Greene County allege Open Meetings violations in bringing to town a company that wants to make liquid ammonium nitrate used in industrial explosives. Read the Times Free [...]