open meetings

Jeff Woods, in a post exploring the revelation of possible open meetings violations by the school board, calls the school rezoning plan set to be voted on today a “public-policy disaster.”

Good News on the opening of governmental records front....

Controversial provision stripped from open records bill

Smart City Memphis comments on Rep. Ulysses Jones’ governmental agoraphobia:

State Rep. Ulysses Jones must have been frightened by sunshine while he was in his crib.

The Governor has announced that he will veto any changes to the judicial selection process that does not include open meetings:

Officials would have 4 days to respond
By MICHAEL CASS • Staff Writer • March 16, 2008

A proposal advancing in the state legislature would make some key changes to the Tennessee Public Records Law, including a deadline of four business days for government officials to respond to records requests.

There is no deadline now.

Ben Cunningham reminds us that it is our own money which is often used against our interests:

The “taxpayer money” I am referring to are the dues paid, by the taxpayers, to the County Mayors Association, The County Commissioners Association and others, that are used to hire lobbyists to lobby against the interests of taxpayers.

Start: Mar 6 2008 - 19:00
Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

The East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists is having a workshop for citizens and journalists on "Open Records – Open Meetings: How to get records & get into meetings," 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, in the Shiloh Room of the University Center. See the following press release for more details.

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The Donkey’s Mouth challenges the assertion made by Tennessee Republican Party Chair Robin Smith in a Tennessean opinion piece that the GOP does not have “superdelegates.”

From a new blog (or new to me at least) out of Kingsport which is talking about Tennessee’s Open Meetings Act:

You have a right to know what the government is doing at the Federal, State, County, or City level. You have a right to attend meetings and can have access to most records.