Open Letter To Loudon County Commissioners And Citizens:

Commissioners, please do not discourage citizens from seeking information. Our role as citizens is to participate in open, honest government based on democratic principles. Citizens have constitutional rights and freedoms.

At the last workshop meeting and with NO public discussion, Mayor Doyle Arp presented his latest seven-page public records resolution. This policy differs very little from his first policy.

This is not the first time that a mayor and commission have tried to strip citizens of their rights. Back in the 1990’s commission tried to impose fees for actual personnel costs related to time spent retrieving, accessing and supervising public records based upon each involved employees effective hourly rate of pay including benefits. This was stopped dead in its tracks and your involvement made this possible. The policy was also determined to be illegal.  

Last fall, Commissioner Bob Franke requested Mayor Arp follow the Open Records Law and that Arp appoint a public records commission, as required by state law. To date, Mayor Arp has refused to do so.

The Open Records Act states,  “All state, county and municipal records… shall at all times, during business hours, be open for personal inspection by any citizen of Tennessee, and those in charge of such records shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless otherwise provided by state law.”

The mayor has complained about citizens requesting to see official records. What does he fear? The records belong to the people, not the office holder. “Unless public records are well organized, compliance with public records requests is difficult, undermining public confidence in government and hindering a county office’s relationship with the citizens it serves.” SOURCE: County Technical Assistance Services- University of Tennessee (CTAS, UT)