outsourcing Archives - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

20 Mar, 2017

Even elected officials have trouble prying loose government information

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-27T16:21:38-05:00March 20, 2017|Categories: economic development, Legislature|Tags: outsourcing, proactive disclosure|0 Comments

Tucked in a Nashville Scene article about Nashville councilman John Cooper is an anecdote that is not altogether unusual -- an elected official hitting a roadblock in getting what he thinks should be basic public government information. At-large Nashville Councilman John Cooper Cooper is the chairman of Metro Council's Budget and Finance Committee and the article by Steven Hale describes him as "a vocal opponent of the type of incentive deals that have been a staple of Metro's economic development strategy for years." Cooper tells The Scene that "I'm kind of in a thing with Rolling Mill Hill, trying to get just basic information about the transaction." Having a [...]

15 Feb, 2017

Interested in open government? Bills to watch in 2017 in Tennessee

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-17T15:00:31-05:00February 15, 2017|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: charter schools, economic development records, financial disclosures, government contracts, legislation, legislature, lottery records, outsourcing, police body cameras, requests by email, vendors, voting records|0 Comments

Lawmakers have filed dozens of bill this year that could affect a citizen’s ability to get information about their local and state government. While it’s still early, here is a list of bills to watch. Economic development records HB 947 / SB 1179 - State Rep. Sam Whitson, R-Franklin / State Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald - Makes confidential county and municipal records related to economic development. Part of this bill would make confidential any county or city economic development contracts, agreements and related records until after a contract is entered into. The other part of the bill allows a county or municipality to keep any documents confidential after a contract [...]

26 Oct, 2015

Knoxville News Sentinel: State holds back emails on outsourcing project

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-27T16:21:26-05:00October 26, 2015|Categories: deliberative process privilege|Tags: Bill Haslam, deliberative process privilege, email, Greg Adams, Judge Richard Dinkins, outsourcing|0 Comments

Governor Bill Haslam's office released 72 pages of emails of his chief operating officer in charge of the state's building-management outsourcing project, but held back some, saying they fell under a "deliberative process" exemption to the Tennessee Public Records Act. The Knoxville News Sentinel and The Commercial Appeal requested correspondence dating back to September 2014 of Greg Adams relating to the controversial outsourcing plan. Haslam's office has been considering the plan since November, but news of it did not become public until Aug. 17 when a "request for information" from potential vendors was posted on the state procurement office website. The released correspondence offered new insight into the governor's office response to the [...]

16 Oct, 2015

AP: Haslam defends recommendation for advisers to avoid email

By Deborah Fisher|2021-12-28T11:18:20-06:00October 16, 2015|Categories: deliberative process privilege, email|Tags: Bill Haslam, deliberative process privilege, email, outsourcing|0 Comments

Another story on government email from Erik Schelzig with the Associated Press: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Gov. Bill Haslam is defending a practice among his outsourcing advisers to avoid email correspondence to prevent information getting out to the public. The Republican governor told reporters after an economic development conference this week that it's a standard practice of "sharing some wisdom" with new employees who have come to government from the private sector that all of their correspondence is subject to Tennessee's open records laws. "Any government that comes into office, the very first day they say, careful what you put in that email, because unless you want to see it [...]

15 Oct, 2015

AP: Tennessee officials told to avoid emailing about outsourcing

By Deborah Fisher|2017-03-27T16:18:43-05:00October 15, 2015|Categories: email|Tags: email, outsourcing, privatization, Terry Cowles|0 Comments

From the Associated Press, by way of the Chattanooga Times Free Press - a story about government email: NASHVILLE, Tenn. --- Officials mulling over the privatization of operations at state buildings, college campuses, prisons and armories are being discouraged from putting their thoughts into emails. Terry Cowles, who is in charge of Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's office of Strategies for Efficiency in Real Estate Management, or SEREM, told reporters Tuesday that the group "put that control in place" to prevent the release of what he called premature or incorrect information. "We want to provide you all and the public with as much information as we can, but we have to [...]