TCOG’s Gibson criticizes censorship of report on fire at military flare plant

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Frank Gibson is among those who have spoken out against the heavy censorship by the state of a report on last year’s fire at the Kilgore Flares plant in West Tennessee. The fire injured six people, some of them severely.

About half of the 19-page report on the fire was blacked out by the state before it was released, the Jackson Sun reported. The state said it was censored due to national security concerns. The plant makes decoy flares intended to be fired by U.S. Air Force and Navy combat aircraft to deflect incoming missiles from enemy attackers.

From the Sun story:

But Frank Gibson, of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said he thinks the report should be released in its entirety.

“Richard Nixon thought the (secrecy of the) Pentagon papers were of national importance also,” he said, “But they ended up being printed.

“Since this is a major incident,” he said, “and they have been found guilty and been fined, what would be the legal basis for withholding that information?”

Keep up with all of TCOG’s important work by “liking” our page on Facebook and following us on Twitter, where we’re @TNOpenGovt. Contact Frank Gibson at tncog@comcast.net.

TCOG director Frank Gibson quoted in USA Today by editor Paulson

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Frank Gibson was quoted in a Sunshine Week column by Ken Paulson, editor of USA Today:

“It’s part human nature and part power” when officials fail to disclose information to the public, says Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government. “Public officials are fearful that if they’ve made a mistake, they’ll get into trouble if it gets exposed, so they try to hang onto everything.”

1K+ people contacted state open records ombudsman last year, report shows

From the Knoxville News Sentinel‘s Tom Humphrey:

NASHVILLE – More than 1,200 people contacted the Office of Open Records Counsel during the past year, and most of them were government officials, according to a recent report.

The annual report shows 1,213 inquiries, all but about 100 dealing with access to public records and the remainder with interpretation of the state’s open meetings law. A majority of the inquiries, 628, came from government officials, while average citizens contacted the office 492 times.

Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and a member of an advisory council that works with the office, said the figures are significant because they show the office is working as envisioned when created in 2008.

Keep up with all the latest news about TCOG’s important work. Become a fan of our page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at @TNOpenGovt.

TCOG’s Gibson quoted on efforts by Tennessee courts to shield sex crime victims’ names

From the AP:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee appeals court is increasing efforts to shield the identities of adult victims of sex crimes.

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has had a policy in place for years to use initials in place of names in opinions published online. These opinions can go into graphic detail about the sexual abuse of women and children.

Chambers want to close records pertaining to business recruitment

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Frank Gibson was quoted in a story by the Commercial Appeal (later picked up by the  AP) on the issue:

But Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition For Open Government, warned that changes to the Public Records Act open up a can of worms. Exemptions that are intended to be specific are often interpreted quite broadly by the officials in charge of those records. That means the officials won’t release information that is supposed to be public.

“It gets abused by people who don’t understand what the exemption was designed to protect in the first place,” Gibson said.

 

TCOG warns of threats looming in upcoming legislative session

Records pertaining to 911 calls and personal e-mails sent by public employees on government accounts may be among those legislators attempt to close off next year, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Frank Gibson says in a column published in newspapers statewide today:

The 2011 legislative session is stacking up to be a very bad year for open government in Tennessee, with threats coming from several fronts.

Keep up with all the latest news from TCOG. Like our page on Facebook at facebook.com/tnopengovt and follow us on Twitter at @TNOpenGovt.

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TCOG speaks out as fight over TNInvestco records heads to state Supreme Court

The state’s highest court has been asked to force the release of records pertaining to the $200 million in tax credits for the TNInvestco program, The Tennessean says.

Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Frank Gibson was quoted in the story:

Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said the case does raise important questions about access to public records.

“The information that they have collected would be considered, under any other scenario, public bidding information,” he said. “The public has a right to know what went into the decision of who $200 million in state money would go to.”

Sullivan Co. mayor releases applicants’ names, pays paper’s legal bills; paper drops open records lawsuit

The Kingsport Times-News has dropped its lawsuit against Sullivan County Mayor Steve Godsey after Godsey released the names of the applicants for head of the county’s EMS service and paid the newspaper’s legal fees, the newspaper reports.

TCOG speaks out on substitute judge records

TCOG Executive Director Frank Gibson was quoted in The Tennessean‘s report on substitute judges in Davidson County — specifically, about General Sessions Court Judge Gloria Dumas’ use of her personal lawyer in handling a request for records pertaining to substitutes:

Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, said such practices raise concerns.

“It’s not just a red flag. It’s outrageous,” Gibson said.

“The court … still has the legal obligation under the law to make those records available,” Gibson said. “It’s being filed for a public reason. What does Judge Dumas’ attorney have to do with the government office that has those records? Zilch. He has no authority whatsoever.”

 

DA says he won’t release autopsy report on slain Monroe Co. election commissioner

From the AP, via MyFoxHouston:

On Friday, District Attorney General Steve Bebb sent a press release saying he had obtained a copy of the full autopsy that afternoon. But he declined to release it right away.

“Due to the nature of the investigation there are facts that cannot and should not be released at this time,” he wrote. “It would be unfortunate if an investigation into the death of a citizen was compromised by the untimely release of information.”

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