In what can only be called a blatant attempt to violate state law, Republicans who recently gained control of the Rutherford County Election Commission tried to meet in private and called the police to physically remove reporters.
The scene got so tense that Post Publisher Mike Pirtle and DNJ Editor Jimmy Hart arrived and attempted to physically hand Republican Chairman Tom Walker a copy of the state’s Sunshine Law. Walker refused the copy and said he does not care what the law is.
Well, OK then!
After the meeting was adjourned, Walker asked everyone, except commission members, to leave the Election Commission’s office on the Square. The Daily News Journal’s Doug Davis and Post Staff Writer Michelle Willard remained and confronted Walker on his request.
Walker was informed it is against state law to close a public meeting. He was then offered a copy of the Sunshine Law (T.C.A. 8-44-101), which he declined, claiming he does not care what the law is and is just trying to protect the applicants by closing the meeting.
State law says, “the formation of public policy and decisions is public business and shall not be conducted in secret.”
“We’ve got some crazy laws in this country,” Republican Commissioner Doris Jones said.
Walker was indignant in defense of his point, saying he didn’t think it was a violation of state laws to conduct public meetings in private. He said his concern was not protecting the rights of voters, but the privacy of the job applicants.
Walker then asked Davis and Willard to leave again. When they refused, he appeared to call the Murfreesboro Police Department (who never showed).
Post Publisher Mike Pirtle and DNJ Editor Jimmy Hart arrived on the scene with Pirtle informing Walker of the law and asking him to call county attorney Jim Cope for an opinion.
Walker pulled out his cell phone and made a call, while walking to the back of the building.
“If we can’t get this resolved tonight, then the meeting is adjourned,” he said.
NIT
News
First of all, applicants for a government position must understand that they are thrusting themselves into the public eye and giving up some of their privacy (i.e., what’s on their resumes) as a potential public figure. It’s also completely unrealistic for the chairman to think that, had he successfully closed the meeting, the information that he was so determined to keep “private” was not going to get out within about 15 minutes.
That said, why, when the chairman expressed concern that some of the applicants didn’t want their current bosses to know they’d applied, did the reporters not say, “Well, hey, why don’t y’all go ahead and discuss the applicants and we won’t print their names yet?” Journalism is a delicate dance sometimes, and yes this chairman and commission blatantly violated state law (I’d be interested to know what other laws they don’t care about, think they have to follow or are crazy, like, oh, say, allowing women or minorities to vote), but this didn’t have to escalate into calling the cops. Negotiate, people; don’t escalate.
This is abhorrent. Every single member of this commission who allowed this to happen should step aside. If they think they are above the law, who knows what election laws they will violate to ensure their candidates get elected?
the simplest way to ensure this sort of thing doesn’t hapen would be to make any public officials who violate the state’s Sunshine Law to be personally liable for any and all legal costs associated with the violation.
[...] grief! Grantham has this at Nashville is Talking. In what can only be called a blatant attempt to violate state law, Republicans who recently gained [...]
[...] appointed Rutherford County Election Commission Chair Tom Walker violated state law on Monday when he demanded reporters leave a public meeting of the county election commission. Not only did [...]
[...] There was some drama up in the Rutherford County Election Commission after some of them called the cops to remove reporters who were there because, well, they could be. According to the state’s Sunshine Law, members of the commission aren’t allowed to meet in private if they’re making public policy decisions. [Nashville Is Talking] [...]