Tennessee transparency headlines from 2008
From Sunshine Review
This article is a list of transparency related news from Tennessee in 2008. For the most recent news, please see Tennessee transparency headlines.
Now is not the time to keep the public in the dark
December 9, 2008: "Now, more than ever, government needs to be transparent when it spends our money.
Which is why it was so disturbing to see two public officials speak ill of Tennessee's open records laws. One tried to circumvent them.
A consultant who failed to bring the Metro school board a top-notch list of candidates for the director's job first blamed that on the state's open records laws. The really good people, the logic went, will not apply because they are afraid the news media will out them as job hunting." Read the full column here.
Former Chattanooga councilman guilty of obstructing justice
Our state has long history of secrecy
November 17, 2008: ""Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets hurt someone."
There's truth to the rhyme we learned as children when it comes to the secrets kept by government in Tennessee.
As a consequence of inadequate government transparency regulations, the Volunteer State has one of the most secretive state governments in the nation.
This lack of openness makes corruption, misuse of tax dollars and abuse of power by elected officials commonplace in Tennessee." Read the full column here.
Editorial: Complacence breeds secrecy
October 27, 2008: "According to a poll released last week by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, a significant majority of Tennesseans think too much state and local government business is being done on the sly.
So, why then, do local government officials repeatedly break the open meetings law and deny access to records that should be open to the public?
Why do state legislators consider bills every year that would carve out exceptions to the open records law, weaken the open meetings law, or both?
It's real simple. Because we, as citizens, let them." Read the full article here.
Tennesseans distrust government on meetings, records
October 24, 2008: "Tennessee residents think their government is keeping secrets, and they deserve to know more about what's happening in the houses of government, according to a recent poll.
Sixty-two percent of Volunteer State residents surveyed in a Chattanooga Times Free Press poll said they think government conducts too much of its business in secret.
The poll results are alarming because they show a steady increase in distrust in the way government operates, said Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government." Read the full article here.
Handle records requests promptly, responsibly
October 22, 2008: "As the state wades through the maze of getting public records into the hands of citizens who request them, each person involved should ask themselves what is in the best interest of all Tennesseans. If that basic principle is followed, the state will have a solid open-records system at all levels of government. There must be a strong push to keep records open and available, but it doesn't take long to recognize that the system could be abused from different directions. The state should be vigilant of the process and be willing to show flexibility when needed." Read the full editorial here.
State looks at ways to handle multiple record requests
October 11, 2008: "Tennessee officials are trying to develop a policy to deal with people who make frequent and multiple requests for open records and decide what is a reasonable time to have invested before the government office charges for labor.
The Office of Open Records Counsel met with its advisory committee Friday to discuss the matter. The policy is one requirement of the counsel, following legislation passed last session that updates the state's open records law." Read the full article here.
Ensure public's access
October 4, 2008: "A new fee schedule for open records searches could have a chilling effect on Tennessee residents looking for public information.
The Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel issued the fee schedule that allows public records custodians to charge people an hourly rate for staff time spent locating, retrieving, editing or reproducing the records if the officials deem it will take more than an hour for the office to honor the request." Read the full article here.
'I want to keep things flowing,' Bredesen says of records access
October 2, 2008: "Gov. Phil Bredesen said he wants to reserve judgment on new guidelines for when labor costs can be charged for records searches.
The Democratic governor said Thursday that he supports putting limits on free public records requests for excessive amounts of information. But he said he wasn't familiar with a decision this week by the Office of Open Records Counsel to allow records custodians to charge for any searches that take longer than one hour." Read the full article here.
New TN rules call for charges on records search
October 2, 2008: "Government officials in Tennessee will be able to charge people asking for public records when it takes more than an hour of staff time to fulfill the request.
The Tennessee Office of Open Records Counsel issued a fee schedule Wednesday that clears the way for records custodians to begin charging hourly rates for staff time spent locating, retrieving, editing or reproducing the records." Read the full article here.
Attorney: Client privilege trumps open records
October 1, 2008: "Any county attorney communication advising public officials about an issue they'll vote on is an open record — even if a court order keeps such Bible Park USA documents under seal, a Tennessee Press Association attorney said.
"Once a record becomes a public record, it does not lose that public status because a copy of it gets put somewhere else," said Rick Hollow, a Knoxville attorney who's represented the TPA since 1970. "If a copy of it is in the county commission office, it's a public record."" Read the full article here.
Roane officials worry about court records
September 22, 2008: "Record keeping in Roane County Circuit Court has become a worry for other local officials who contend that criminal cases are being underreported, records aren't being filed in a timely manner, and more than $9 million in court costs and fines hasn't been collected." Read the full article here.
Open records officials heed comments from hearing
September 16, 2008: "The director of the state Office of Open Records Counsel says changes have been made to a fee schedule for copying public records.
An open records subcommittee met Tuesday to review revisions made to the schedule based on suggestions from local government officials and residents at a hearing earlier this month." Read the full article here.
Labor charges complicate open records debate
September 7, 2008: "Tennessee local government officials and residents commenting on a fee schedule for copying public records told open records officials on Friday that it's necessary but should be as cost efficient and simple as possible.
The Office of Open Records Counsel is required to develop the schedule following legislation passed last session that updates the state's Open Records Act." Read the full article here.
Keep changes reasonable. Officials to discuss cost for open records
September 3, 2008: "Under Tennessee law, the new state Office of Open Records Counsel will be establishing a "schedule of reasonable charges which a records custodian may use as a guideline to charge a citizen requesting copies of public records."
The trick, of course, is deciding what a "reasonable" charge is." Read the full column here.
Three cases show necessity for open records
August 24, 2008: "This is why journalists preach the importance of open government and open records laws again and again.
When the Tennessee Highway Patrol acknowledged that one of its troopers ran unauthorized background checks on 182 people, Gov. Phil Bredesen last week dismissed the violation of privacy as a leisure activity of a nosy trooper.
Without suggesting that an in-house investigation might be superficial, isn't it fair to say that an outside probe would eliminate any public perception of a whitewash? Isn't that especially important since Shirley's punishment for his past transgression for fixing a politician's traffic ticket is being questioned by some?" Read the full editorial here.
Advisory committee discusses fee scale
August 15, 2008: "The creation of a fee schedule for extensive records requests is a top issue being discussed by an advisory committee on open records.
The panel, which met Friday, is a result of legislation passed last session that updates the state's open records law." Read the full article here.
Campaign funds hard to track
August 11, 2008: "If you want to see which corporate CEOs gave money to your city council or how many teachers contributed to school board members' campaigns, bring some caffeine, eye drops and a pen.
County election commissions across Tennessee accept campaign finance reports only on paper, not electronically, making it difficult to look for patterns and track trends at the intersections of money, power and influence." Read the full article here.
Judge Reconsiders Public Access in Hoffman Murder Case
August 11, 2008: "WCTV and the Tallahassee Democrat are challenging a court order that cuts off public records access in the murder of police informant Rachel Hoffman.
An interesting twist in a criminal courtroom Monday morning... prosecutors and defense attorneys all on the same side ... trying to keep evidence in the Rachel Hoffman murder case out of the public eye." Read the full article here.
Central office staff for Sullivan school system operating without contracts
August 2, 2008: "Public records indicate no effective employment contracts exist for central office management staff of Sullivan County schools. However Jack Barnes, who was hired as director of the county’s school system earlier this year, said that as soon as things settle down from the start of school this week, he and his staff plan to develop performance-based employment contracts." Read the full article here.
Judge: CCA files open to the public
July 29, 2008: "A Chancery Court judge ruled today that Nashville-based Corrections Corporation of America has to follow the state’s public records laws and open their files for public viewing.
CCA, which operates the Metro Davidson County Detention Facility and six other detention facilities across the state, said they were a private company that did not have to comply with public records requests." Read the full article here.
Letters to officials subject to open records act
July 11, 2008: "The state's open records director has written Knox County Commissioner Victoria DeFreese to advise her that her "constituent communications" are subject to the Open Records Act under state law.
"I still feel that people should be very upset about that response," DeFreese said of the Butterworth letter dated June 24. "It's an infringement on their right to freely express themselves to their representative. It's wrong that what they freely express could become public record. I think it would have a chilling effect on our representative form of government."" Read the full article here.
State official: DeFreese's 'constituent communication' is public record
July 10, 2008: "The state's open records counsel, Ann Butterworth, told Knox County Commissioner Victoria DeFreese today that her "constituent communications" are subject to the Open Records Act under state law." Readt he full article here.
County wants another opinion before dropping records-retrieval fee
July 9, 2008: "County officials are sticking by a disputed fee to retrieve public records as they await advice from state officials - despite already being advised by one state department the charge is improper." Read the full article here.
Sevier county no longer requires fee's for review of public records
July 6, 2008: "In a statement released on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 from Anne Butterworth at the State of Tennessee, a decision was handed down that Sevier County will no longer impose an access fee for inspection of public documents. There will however be a few instances where an access fee may be charged in order to inspect certain public documents. Sevier County is currently re-evaluating the per page charge for copies." Read the full story here.
Town ‘open records’ policy questioned
July 3, 2008: "Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen received an opinion from the Tennessee Office of Open Records regarding a complaint filed by Farragut resident Lamar Orr.
At recent Board meetings, Orr told Board members that Town staff had not provided him and other Belleaire subdivision residents access to public records in an appropriate amount of time." Read the full story here.
Recycling advocate demands landfill records
June 25, 2008: "Chattanooga recycling advocate Frank DePinto has delivered a strong message to city officials, requesting landfill information that Mayor Ron Littlefield’s spokesman said already was provided.
“Don’t throw me a bunch of irrelevant statistics,” Mr. DePinto stated in a Sunday e-mail to Marie Chenery, special assistant to Dan Johnson, Mr. Littlefield’s chief of staff." Read the full story here.
Governor signs update to Tenn. open records law
June 19, 2008: "Gov. Phil Bredesen has signed an update of the state's open records rules into law.
The new law writes the responsibilities of the state's open records ombudsman into law and creates a 7-day deadline for records custodians to respond to requests - or to explain why they need more time." Read the full story here.
Chancellor rules all superintendent applications are public records
June 16, 2008: "Chancellor Walter Evans this morning ruled that records of all applicants for the recent vacancy for superintendent of the Memphis City Schools are public records and should be provided to The Commercial Appeal.
The chancellor’s ruling came after the newspaper filed suit against the school board which provided access only to records of the five semifinalists selected by Ray and Associates, the Iowa-based company hired by the board to conduct the search." Read the full story here.
