Some public officials just don’t get it. They fail to understand and to appreciate the vital purpose, indeed the necessity, of Tennessee’s Open Meetings and Records Act. It’s a straightforward statute that guarantees Tennesseans commonsensical and free access to all public records that are not specifically protected by law. The law further bans public officials from deciding, deliberating or discussing public business in private. The rules are clear. Still, three East Ridge officials appear to have willingly violated it.
Mayor Brent Lambert, Vice Mayor Larry Sewell and Councilman Denny Manning have privately discussed who should fill a vacant seat on the East Ridge City Council. There’s little doubt that such illegal communication – talks and e-mail – on the topic occurred.
Two of the officials confirm it. Lambert says he talked to both Manning and Sewell about the council seat. E-mails obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press through a public records request produced correspondence between Sewell and Lambert on the same subject. Such communication is a violation of state law.
There’s been much public speculation and debate about the vacancy on the council. Indeed, there’s been a political free-for-all about who should fill the vacancy. That’s nothing new. Politics is a contact sport in the suburban community. Its residents take an active role in politics, turn out in droves for council meetings and expect transparency and respect from elected officials. They don’t always get it.
The council has deadlocked each time it has discussed filling the vacancy. It has refused, so far, to create a public interview process that would provide at least some transparency and allow the public a voice in the proceedings. Some council members obviously prefer to keep the public in the dark – never mind that it is contrary to well-established law and that it denies the public’s right to know.
Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, says such private talks “give reason for taxpayers and voters in East Ridge to distrust the council on future decisions.” That’s a fair and forthright assessment of the current situation in East Ridge.
Officials there aren’t the only ones with a cavalier attitude about open meetings and records regulations. It is, unfortunately, a common occurrence. Members of the Hamilton County Commission, among others, have done the same thing. Still, widespread practice of an illegal act doesn’t make it legal.
East Ridge officials likely have politically motivated reasons for carrying on private talks about the vacant seat. That’s too bad. East Ridge voters deserve an open and above-board process for the selection of a new council member. If current council members don’t understand and acknowledge that, voters should remember their clandestine activities and eject the scofflaws from office in the next election.