Gallatin News Examiner gets a double whammy
Followed next day by an apology

City holds secret meeting after denying records on same subject

By Zach Mills and Deborah Highland

The Gallatin News-Examiner
Feburary 10, 2005

            WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. -- The Board of Mayor and Aldermen here met in secret with city administrator Tim Williams last night.

            All of the city¹s four aldermen attended the secret meeting along with Mayor Stan McAfee and Williams. City attorney David Amonette was not present for the meeting and did not return two phone calls to his home last night seeking comment.

            News Examiner Staff Writer Zach Mills was asked to leave when he showed up at the meeting that took place at City Hall.

            Mills advised McAfee and the aldermen about the state’s Sunshine Law which prohibits city officials meeting without prior public notice or behind closed doors.

            “We’re not going to take any vote tonight,” McAfee said. “If you cooperate with us, we¹ll make sure that you get all the information that you need for a story,” he said.

            McAfee told Mills that the officials were meeting about a personnel matter and they again asked him to leave.

            “There is no exception in the law for meetings on personnel matters,” said Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.

            “Most public bodies which conduct work sessions announce those plans in an open meeting or they give notice that they are going to meet,” Gibson said.

            No such notice was given verbally in the city¹s last public meeting Jan. 20 and notice of last night¹s meeting was not published in The News Examiner.

            This closed-door meeting comes on the heels of an open records request that the paper was forced to file yesterday seeking the names and current job status situation on the candidates who have applied to replace Williams.

            Williams announced late last year his intent to resign. But he has never officially given notice of his resignation to the city.

            City leaders have narrowed down their search for a replacement for Williams to five people.

            This week Mills has encountered a number of obstacles from both elected officials and city employees in trying to obtain information about those job candidates - information that Tennessee courts have ruled is a matter of public record.

            The News Examiner exhausted all efforts to obtain that information beforefiling the Open Records request with both Williams and Amonette yesterday afternoon.

            “The person that’s employed is going to be paid for with tax money from the citizens of White House and the citizens of White House have a very significant need to know in who they are hiring and what that person’s qualifications are. And to let citizens have that information after a decision is made and the person is hired is closing the barn door after the horse is out,” Gibson said.

            Gibson further stated that any action taken in such a meeting can be voided if someone takes it to court and a judge rules the Sunshine Law was not followed.

            “The Sunshine Law says that anytime two members of a governing body get together to discuss official matters of any kind that the public and press have a right to be there,” Gibson said.

            In an public notice published Friday, Jan. 7 in The News Examiner the city of White House listed the dates for all of their regularly scheduled meetings for the year. Last night’s meeting was not a regularly scheduled meeting and was not listed.

            “All special called sessions of the board will be posted on the Municipal
Center bulletin board at least three days in advance and will generally be published in the Gallatin News Examiner. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen will transact at its public meetings all matters that it may lawfully consider,” said the Jan. 7 public notice from City Recorder Anne S. Love.

            Notice of the meeting was not posted on the Municipal Center bulletin board last night.

            Mills left last night¹s meeting after the aldermen became visibly agitated by his presence but waited just outside of the door to ask city officials why they met in secret.

            After the meeting Alderman John Decker told Mills that the board was meeting
behind closed doors to discuss keeping Williams on the job.

            But Williams indicated that he did not want to stay, Decker said.

            Decker than asked Mills if he would like to follow him (Decker) back to his house to obtain the information in the open records request filed yesterday afternoon. At the direction of Mills’ editor, Deborah Highland, Mills declined the offer.

            The other aldermen who participated in the secret meeting were Darrell Leftwich, Mike Arnold and Farris Bibb.