Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam has said that he opposes efforts to-as both he and most of the State's print media seem to want to put it-"weaken" the Tennessee Open Meetings Act. It is true that the chief proposal, which comes out of Williamson County and is being sponsored in the Tennessee House in the next session by former House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada (R-Franklin). The legislation was apparently brought to Casada by the Williamson County Commission. The proposed change would allow closed-door discussions among commissioners and other local officials so long as a quorum is not present. The problem with this approach is that it could too easily be used to circumvent public input simply by setting up two separate non-quorum meetings, quietly coming to agreement behind closed doors, and taking a vote at the public meeting without recourse to free, open, or public debate. Such a maneuver-however well-intentioned-is a serious danger to free government wherever it exists and should be discouraged at all costs.
However, some reform is needed to allow for commissioners to iron out differences that could lead to a breakdown of the public trust if those differences were aired in public. For example, if someone were a county commissioner and they have a disagreement with another commissioner, one that is impeding the work of the body and might cause misunderstandings between them, they need to be able to talk to each other privately in order to come to some kind of understanding-or at least to agree to disagree. Two commissioners talking amongst themselves is not the same as the body having a discussion. Some allowance needs to be made for two officials to be able to call on each other and talk without fear of violating the Sunshine Law. It is possible to have this and still keep the business of government free and open, which is why it is important that some kind of compromise be reached.
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