Times Free Press Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

1 Feb, 2015

Erlanger Health System board plans new meeting on bonuses

By Deborah Fisher|2015-02-01T17:36:01-06:00February 1, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Erlanger Health Systems, open meetings violation, public hospital boards, Times Free Press|0 Comments

The Times Free Press reports that the Erlanger Health System governing board in Chattanooga plans to hold a new meeting to reconsider $1.7 million in executive bonuses it approved last year. With little notice, the board voted to award the bonuses after discussing them in private session. The surprise decision rankled state lawmakers in Hamilton County because they came after support for funds for the hospital, and after cost-cutting that affected the hospital staff's rank-and-file. The Open Meetings Act, which applies to public hospital governing boards, requires deliberations to be in public. The Attorney General issued an opinion last week affirming that the board's deliberations about compensation would not fall [...]

30 Jan, 2015

Times Free Press: AG’s opinion gives Erlanger another bonus dilemma

By Deborah Fisher|2017-01-06T15:25:51-06:00January 30, 2015|Categories: Attorney General Opinions, Open Meetings|Tags: AG opinion, Chattanooga, Erlanger Health Systems, Herbert Slatery, public hospital boards, State Rep. Mike Carter, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, Times Free Press|0 Comments

Following is a reprint of today's Chattanooga Times Free Press story about the AG's opinion on requirements for public hospital boards under the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. The Times Free Press graciously gave TCOG permission to reprint the article: http://youtu.be/3aToD-eNx1k By Kate Belz The status of $1.7 million in bonuses paid out to Erlanger Health System's management has again been called into question, as a new opinion issued by the state's attorney general has local lawmakers calling for the money to be paid back. Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III's opinion, issued Wednesday, states that Tennessee law does not permit hospitals such as Erlanger to meet in a closed session [...]

15 Jan, 2015

Hamilton County commissioner says “Sunshine law stinks”

By Deborah Fisher|2015-02-16T14:13:38-06:00January 15, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Chattanooga, Hamilton County Commission, Hamilton County commissioner Greg Beck, Open Meetings Act, Times Free Press|1 Comment

During a public meeting yesterday, Hamilton County commissioners took aim at the requirement in the state's Open Meetings Act, sometimes referred to as the sunshine law, that formation of public policy must be done in public. One even went so far as to say, "The sunshine law stinks." The comments came on the heels of a story by the Times Free Press about commissioners using telephones to call each other during the meeting to talk privately. After their comments on Wednesday, the commissioners explained their negative view of the sunshine law to reporter Louie Brogdon. Brogdon also called TCOG for comment, allowing us to explain the importance of open and public [...]

8 Jan, 2015

Chattanooga lawmakers to seek AG opinion on hospital’s possible Open Meetings law violation

By Deborah Fisher|2019-09-11T18:53:08-05:00January 8, 2015|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: AG opinion, Chattanooga, Erlanger Health Systems, hospital board, open meetings violation, State Rep. JoAnne Favors, State Rep. Mike Carter, State Sen. Bo Watson, State Sen. Todd Gardenhire, Times Free Press|0 Comments

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported in a story that Chattanooga state lawmakers plan to seek an opinion from the Tennessee Attorney General on whether a local publicly funded hospital violated the Tennessee Open Meetings Act when it met privately and discussed bonuses for management staff. And the answer on the hospital's possible Open Meetings law violation could determine whether they file legislation to remove a special exemption for public hospital boards to meet in closed meetings in certain situations. (See bottom of blog post for an excerpt of the current law on this.) The Times Free Press story, reported by Kate Belz, is reprinted here, with permission from the [...]

30 Dec, 2014

Hamilton County commissioners use phones to have secret conversations during public meetings

By Deborah Fisher|2014-12-30T09:26:07-06:00December 30, 2014|Categories: Open Meetings|Tags: Chattanooga, Hamilton County Commission, open meetings violation, Times Free Press|1 Comment

Photo by John Rawlston, Times Free Press The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported over the holidays an interesting story about Hamilton County commissioners, some of whom call each other using the phones on the dais to have secret conversations during public meetings. News reporter Louie Brogdon, who covers the county commission, reported that the phone calls between county commissioners occur about once or twice a meeting. Brogdon called Tennessee Coalition for Open Government for comment, and frankly I was surprised at what he described. I hear many complaints about members of governing bodies having secret conversations about matters before the body, but most often this is not during [...]