Two men met resistance when they attempted to make Red Bank government a little more open Tuesday night.
Sonny Crawley and Royce Burrage, two regulars at Red Bank City Commission gatherings, challenged officials on why meeting recordings aren’t posted on the city website or distributed to news outlets.
“You are paid with taxpayer money,” Crawley said during a public comment period. “I think citizens deserve to know how some of these commissioners behave down here.”
In the six weeks since City Manager Chris Dorsey fired ex-police chief Larry Sneed, Red Bank has faced allegations of political conspiracy and has been served with three $1.5 million lawsuits, all involving the city’s law enforcement division.
Red Bank’s budget is $5.1 million.
Crawley said Chattanooga, Hamilton County and several local municipalities have audio recordings and written transcripts of their meetings online, noting that many residents have other responsibilities in the evening.
“Are you inferring that we’re hiding something?” asked Mayor Joe Glasscock, who later apologized for the question.
Burrage walked to the microphone and said he could find transcripts of “just about any legislature” and wondered why that was not the case for Red Bank. He said it wouldn’t cost the city anything to e-mail recordings to news outlets.
Dorsey said audio recordings were not the city’s “official record” for government meetings, but later promised to talk with commissioners about the issue.
“It’s a legitimate issue,” Glasscock said. “We should put them up there for anyone bored enough to listen to it.”