A lawsuit in Greene County over the audibility of open meetings has caused government watchdogs to question the Hamilton County Commission’s use of telephones at weekly meetings, according to the Chattanooga TFP.
Residents of Greene County are suing its industrial development board because, they say, the members deliberately used hushed voices at a controversial public meeting in July so the audience could not hear their deliberations. (Note: Previous post HERE.) One resident, Eddie Overholt, was ejected from the meeting and arrested after he asked board members to speak up.
Here in Hamilton County, commissioners typically speak in clear voices and hold their meetings in plain view for the public — except when they call each other with phones at the dais.
It happens once or twice a meeting. A commissioner will have the floor, discussing a budget item or a need in his or her district. Meanwhile another commissioner will pick up the phone. A second later another will answer. Once the conversation is over, both hang up and rejoin the debate. No one in the room can know what they discussed — whether it’s Monday Night Football or how much money to spend on schools.
Deborah Fisher, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said that, to her knowledge, this practice is unique to Hamilton County. And it likely needs to change.
“Unless they are just talking about last night’s basketball game, it sounds to me like they are deliberating about an issue at hand, and that would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act if people can’t hear,” she said.