open meetings violation Archives - Page 3 of 6 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

6 Nov, 2014

Group asks court to stop construction on US Nitrogen pipeline based on Open Meetings violation

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:37:25-05:00November 6, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Austin Powder Co., Greene County, industrial development board, Johnson City Press, open meetings violation, US Nitrogen|0 Comments

The Johnson City Press reports that a group of residents have asked for an injunction to halt construction of a water pipeline, saying a key approval to build it took place in violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. The pipeline would allow water to be drawn from the Nolichucky River and transported to a chemical plant in Greene County that is slated to make liquid ammonium nitrate, a component in industrial explosives. The water then would be treated and discharged back into the river. The plant has been controversial and various residents have filed separate lawsuits trying to stop it. The lawsuits have a common theme, saying key government processes [...]

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, [...]

23 Sep, 2014

Times Free Press: Chattanooga to conduct open meetings training

By Deborah Fisher|2015-08-18T07:38:36-05:00September 23, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings, open meetings lawsuits|Tags: Chattanooga, open meetings violation, Times Free Press|0 Comments

The city of Chattanooga is planning ethics training that would include open meetings and open records after a Friday ruling by a judge that could cost its industrial development board potentially thousands of dollars in legal fees for violating the Sunshine Law, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported today. The Times Free Press story about a win by Helen Burns Sharp outlined a string of open meetings and public records complaints against the city of Chattanooga's various governing entities, including another lawsuit where it had to pay $71,000 in attorney's fees earlier this year. The city's attorney, Wade Hinton, told the news organization that the city is working to adhere [...]

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 [...]

19 Sep, 2014

OORC: Carter County committee appointments may have violated Sunshine Law

By Deborah Fisher|2014-09-19T09:57:46-05:00September 19, 2014|Categories: Office of Open Records Counsel, Open Meetings|Tags: Carter County, Elisha Hodge, Elizabethton Star, Office of Open Records Counsel, open meetings violation|0 Comments

Elisha Hodge with the Office of Open Records Counsel alerted the Carter County Commission chairman this week that it appears the governing body violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act in its appointments to committees. She also noted the public vote afterward did not appear to cure any violation because it did not include "new and substantial reconsideration" of the issues. The Elizabethton Star outlines in a detailed story Thursday how the commission first directed the three commissioners from each district to confer privately to decide who would be on which committee, and to forward their decision to the county clerk. Then at a Sept. 15 meeting, when a dispute was [...]