Eight years ago, then-new Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed an executive order mandating openness, transparency and accountability in government.
On Thursday, Gov. Bill Lee signed a new executive order superseding and rescinding Haslam’s directive. We must assume it seeks additional openness, transparency and accountability because such things are rarely requested to retreat.
The executive order states things the new governor said he would push during his campaign – “the right of [Tennessee] citizens to be informed, to have access to government and to governmental records, and to have the proper checks and balances in place to assure government’s accountability to its citizens”; “the commitment of this Administration to the values of open and accountable government”; and “the unwavering policy of the Executive Branch to facilitate the right of Tennesseans to know and have access to information with which they may hold state government accountable.”
This is good news to citizens and media alike who over various gubernatorial administrations have been frustrated in their ability to access records, to access them in a timely fashion and to access them without being made to believe they are a burden on the agency being solicited.
“[T]his Administration recognizes that the character of those holding governmental positions,” the executive order states, “is the cornerstone on which the effectiveness of those policies is based.”
The executive order additionally requires that Cabinet and executive branch members be trained on the “statutory and other legal requirements related to open meetings, open records, [and] applicable ethics and disclosure requirements” within 120 days of the executive order and [that training] recur “with reasonable frequency” to maintain the policy.
Lee further says he directs “the commissioner of each Executive Branch department and other members of my Cabinet to take steps in their respective areas of responsibility that are necessary not only to comply with applicable legal requirements related to openness, transparency and accountability, but also to foster a prevailing mindset of inclusiveness in governmental processes and a recurrent pattern of explaining the bases for Executive Branch decisions at appropriate times.”
We believe the governor is saying all those who deal with government should expect not only that it will be open, transparent and accountable but that the public should feel included in the turning of the wheels of government and in the understanding of the decisions that are made on their behalf.
We look forward to hearing public and media alike remark on how refreshing such a policy is upon implementation and what a difference it makes.