Government gets a little more open

After a hard-fought battle in the Tennessee General Assembly, open government finally got a boost. One new rule requires public records custodians to respond to open records requests within five days, or explain why they need more time. Making progress toward more open government in Tennessee is fraught with danger. Every time the issue is brought before the legislature, there is the chance it could result in less open government. That almost happened this year when some lawmakers wanted to make it legal for up to three members of an elected body to meet in private to discuss public business. Fortunately, that measure didn’t survive. Another would have required notifying elected officials whenever a public records request involving them was made. It died, too. The new open government provisions sent to Gov. Phil Bredesen for his signature represent progress. Besides the five-day turnaround time requirement, the office of the public ombudsman is instructed to create a reasonable fee schedule for public records requests that take more than five hours to fulfill. Adding the fee structure to complicated records requests also makes sense. It will prevent public record custodians from arbitrarily levying unreasonable fees as a way of discouraging record seekers. Thanks must go to the Tennessee Coalition on Open Government and its executive director Frank Gibson. His careful shepherding of the legislative battle helped tip the scales in favor of the public, not elected officials. Open government is crucial to public trust in government. Too many lawmakers see it as a burden and a bother. But cutting the public out of their own government is unacceptable, and always will be.