trade secrets Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

7 Mar, 2019

Government business is not a trade secret

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-08T06:50:00-06:00March 7, 2019|Categories: Legislature|Tags: economic development, trade secrets|2 Comments

Government officials have found an effective way to keep secrets, especially when they don’t want taxpayers and voters to know about sweetheart deals with favored businesses. It works something like this. First, the government officials sign a non-disclosure agreement with the business that says that anything in an upcoming government contract with the business could be considered proprietary, a trade secret or otherwise confidential information of the business, and not disclosable under Tennessee Public Records law. Next, they agree that they will not disclose anything to members of the public about the deal’s details, even at a public meeting in which a governing body must vote on it. Often, they [...]

6 Mar, 2019

Commercial Appeal: Bill would require Tennessee governments to disclose payments to companies

By Deborah Fisher|2019-03-06T09:12:57-06:00March 6, 2019|Categories: exemptions, Legislature|Tags: economic development, Google, State Rep. Martin Daniel, trade secrets, University of Tennessee|0 Comments

The Commercial Appeal recently did a story about a bill in the Legislature, supported by TCOG, that would solve the issue of business entities claiming that government documents about payments made to them are confidential because the payment they received constitutes a trade secret. It flies in the face of the Tennessee Public Records Act that states "all documents ... made or received pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business by any governmental entity" are public records. But the business are getting away with it. See below for an example with Google and the Montgomery County Industrial Development Board, and the University of [...]

30 Sep, 2018

Google’s secrecy agreement with the Montgomery County IDB should be undone

By Deborah Fisher|2020-11-19T12:35:59-06:00September 30, 2018|Categories: economic development, exemptions, Legislature|Tags: economic development, Google, Jack McElroy, Montgomery County Industrial Development Board, Open Records Ad Hoc Committee, PILOTS, trade secrets|0 Comments

The Google groundbreaking via WRKN February 2018. On Dec. 22 2015, the Industrial Development Board of Montgomery County entered into a “Payment in Lieu of Tax Agreement” with Google “to induce” it to build and operate an information technology center near Clarksville. It provided that: Google, through its company Foxman LLC, would take over property (which the government had purchased with taxpayer funds) through a lease agreement; The industrial development board would issue as much as $2 billion in industrial revenue bonds to help Google finance additional facilities and equipment on the property, and; Google would be relieved from paying any taxes on the land for 20 years, [...]

1 May, 2018

TCOG’s 2018 Legislative Report
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TCOG’s 2018 Legislative Report

crime records, exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government

TCOG’s 2018 Legislative Report

By Deborah Fisher|2020-02-20T17:23:53-06:00May 1, 2018|Categories: crime records, exemptions, Legislature, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government|Tags: addresses, Advisory Committee on Open Government, artifact sites, autopsy reports, Ballad Health, Bill Haslam, civil rights crimes, college president selection, legislature, proprietary records, public records policies, radioactive waste, State Rep. Bill Sanderson, State Rep. Eddie Smith, State Rep. Harry Brooks, State Rep. Johnnie Turner, State Sen. Jeff Yarbro, State Sen. Joey Hensley, State Sen. Mike Bell, State Sen. Rusty Crowe, TBI, trade secrets, University of Tennessee|1 Comment

Following is TCOG's 2018 legislative report on changes related to public records and open meetings. The 110th General Assembly of Tennessee adjourned April 25. 1 - Selection of state college presidents (HB 2000 / SB 2586) A requirement in the law to reveal the names and applications of candidates for president at state colleges, including University of Tennessee, was changed to allow search committees to make public “up to three” finalists instead of requiring disclosure of “no less than three.” The effect is that college search committees now have the option of recommending to a governing board as few as one person as finalist for president. Only the finalist or [...]