I heard through the grapevine that two Anderson County Commissioners have violated the Sunshine Law. I am putting my ears out to find out exactly what this is about. They were supposed to be Oak Ridge Commissioners. Guess they haven't read the Sentinal or else they think it doesn't apply to them. More to follow as the information is obtained.
How bout a little bit more info? I see you doing a lot of innuendo, and implying, but theres never much in the way of solid info coming from you.
It seems that the Sunshine Law includes many different governing bodies as well as committees and the school board. I found this at Tennessean.com from March '07:
Tennessee's Sunshine Law
By JENNIFER PEEBLES and FRANK GIBSON
Staff Writers
Many states today have "Sunshine" laws, intended to make sure that average citizens can get into public meetings and witness what their government is doing.
Tennessee's Sunshine law applies to members of governing bodies only -- not to the executive branch (the governor's office) or to the judicial branch (the courts). There's even controversy over whether it applies to the legislature itself.
The law says that any meeting is open when it consists of two or more members of a governing body empowered to deliberate toward a decision or a group making recommendations to a governing body.
What that means in English: Your City Council meeting is an open meeting, and in fact, any formal meeting of two or more councilmen meets the Sunshine law -- unless the officials can cite a legal exception to the Sunshine law. We'll talk about those more in a minute.
It also means that if your city council, board of aldermen or county commission appoints a citizens' committee to come up with a plan for redesigning the city park, that committee's meetings are also subject to the Sunshine law. The park recommendation committee is a panel that makes recommendations to a governing body.
There are a few other parts of the law that make it apply to the boards of directors of certain nonprofit corporations that do specific jobs in place of a government agency.
However, the law does include a clause that says that two or more members of such bodies can have "chance meetings" that are not covered by the Sunshine law. So if Alderman John runs into Alderman Jim at the grocery store and they start talking about an upcoming sales-tax referendum, they haven't done anything illegal -- even though some would say the public would probably be better served if they reserved such discussion for a public meeting.
If there is no complaint in the form of a lawsuit like the one in Knox Co. nothing will be done when two commissioners confer. There is no punishment unless there is due process. I say hire a lawyer, become one of however many and bring this alleged violation to the sunlight.
It's my understanding that the "chance meetings" clause does not cover deliberation. If Alderman Jim and Alderman John meet at the grocery store, they should not discuss the sales tax referendum IF that referendum will be put before the Board of Alderman for approval. If, however, that vote has already occurred and they're discussing how the referendum campaign is going, it's not a problem -- they're talking about something where the public deliberation and vote by their board has already occurred.
Particularly in smaller communities, chance meetings are inevitable. Private deliberation and behind-the-scenes dealmaking should not be.
What I have heard about the situation is that selective e-mails have been sent out to certain commissioners trying to gain support for a project at the Jolley Building. I have been told the e-mails are in the hands of the Law Director and he has advised them that it is a violation of the Sunshine Law. This is all the information I have been able to find out at this time. I will keep digging.