Legislature opens records in searches for school posts
The Senate unanimously endorsed the idea Monday night at the prompting of Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain. It had already cleared the House.
The measure would apply to executive searches ranging from those done by local school boards and city commissions to state universities, said Frank Gibson, executive director of the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government.
The issue has heated up in recent years following public failures by the University of Tennessee to find an acceptable president.
UT’s most recent search was at the center of state politics after former UT President John W. Shumaker resigned in 2003 amid an audit revealed lavish spending.
Shumaker and predecessor J. Wade Gilley didn’t meet expectations, and both were chosen in a process that was largely closed to the public.
While current UT President John Petersen’s search was lauded for its openness, state schools are not required to lead open searches and others have closed some of the process.
Gibson said citizens and reporters also have had trouble at the local level, where searches are often turned over to private search firms.
No longer will records held by those firms be exempt from public records laws, he said.
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On the Net:
See Senate Bill 868 at http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/
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NASHVILLE (AP) — State Rep. Kathryn Bowers became a senator Monday after being sworn in to fill the post vacated earlier this year when Sen. Roscoe Dixon resigned.
Bowers, a Democrat from Memphis, had served as the party’s Whip in the House. She joins a Senate where the parties share power, with Democrat John Wilder presiding over a 17-16 Republican majority.
“I’m ready to hit the road and start running,” she told her new colleagues.
Sidney Chism had served as an interim senator for District 33 since Dixon stepped down Jan. 13 to devote full attention to his new job as assistant chief administrative officer to Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton.
Bowers was elected in a special election last week.
A replacement for Bowers in the House has not yet been selected.