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February 21, 2006
Orange Sunshine
The [Tennessee Coalition for Open Government] found 115 alleged violations between January 2003 and October 2005, including an average of one a week for the first 10 months of last year.
Violations of what, you ask? Why, the outdated open government law of 1974, says this Columbia Daily Herald article. Before you become too agitated, let me remind you that the "one a week" average from last year includes only local governments, so these weren't General Assembly meetings. However, it is disturbing that over a third of the complaints were filed by members of the governing body that held the secret meeting. In other words, “'[s]ome members were meeting and others weren’t being told about the meetings.'”
Let us hope that the current bipartisan effort toward transparent government results in a good law that will provide citizens their rightful information without placing undue burdens on those attempting to manage the mundane.
In a perfect world, open government would be voluntary and automatic; but apparently in Tennessee, we need good laws to support the principle.
(HT: Political State Report)
Government | By joe lance | 02:22 PM