It’s rare that public officials side with journalists and citizens on the issue of transparency and open meetings.
We mean really side with us — not just talk the talk, but also walk the walk.
But in the case of Erlanger hospital’s board of trustees meeting in a closed session to discuss executive bonuses and salaries, Hamilton County’s legislative delegation not only stepped up, they took the lead. And with their juice, we the people won.
State Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, some weeks ago asked Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III to issue a formal opinion on the legality of the closed meeting, which Erlanger executives and trustees had maintained did not violate the state’s open meetings law because “no deliberations took place” about Erlanger Health System’s incentive plan.
Slatery’s opinion, however, not only begs to differ, it flatly slaps the Erlanger board, which in a no-discussion vote following the Dec. 4 “no-deliberations” closed meeting granted $1.7 million in bonuses to executives and management for performance in a year that had been fraught with red ink: