Mike Moser "I Say" Published Jan. 7, 2005

It's a matter of credibility and trust

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies and competitive values," John Kennedy once said.

"For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

So of what is the Tennessee General Assembly afraid?

The stench of hypocrisy in the stand our state lawmakers have taken in the latest round of abuse of trust and power reeks from Capitol Hill all the way down Sen. Tommy Burks Hwy. to the doors of every citizen of Cumberland County.

Last week a Nashville judge ruled that Tennessee's Public Records Law does not apply to the legislature. The ruling specifically allows allegations of sexual misconduct by lawmakers and their staff to remain confidential.

Some have assailed Davidson County Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman for her ruling but I don't share those feelings. I lay blame for this boondoggle directly at the feet of our state lawmakers. They are the ones who created the environment that exempts legislators from laws the rest of us have to follow.

What makes a state legislature any better than a county commissioner or city alderman when it comes to the law?

Is it any wonder that the Tennessee General Assembly is phobic when it comes to ethics legislation, conflict of interest laws and creation of an ethics commission?

I guess we should not have been surprised at this interpretation of state law governing the people's business. Two years ago a state Court of Appeals ruled that the legislature is exempt from the Sunshine Law that requires every other governing body in the state to meet in public.

Whenever a governing body is given the authority to pick and choose what to make public, the loser is the voter, the taxpayer, the everyday citizen.

Connie Frederick, director of the Legislature's Office of Administration, told The Tennessean she was "tickled" with the latest ruling, saying it was supportive of legislative independence in dealing with its own affairs.

The suit was filed after Terry Adams of Nashville was denied copies of any files pertaining to sexual harassment or sexual discrimination charges against state Rep. Curtis Crider, R-Milan, along with any disciplinary actions taken.

Frederick refused to comply with the request back in October, citing a legislative internal policy on charges of sexual harassment adopted Jan. 7, 2004, by House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh and Lt. Gov. John Wilder. That policy calls for such charges to be kept confidential.

I suppose if this is the case, these two relics of the General Assembly have the authority to declare whatever they want off limits to the public. And that is a dangerous governmental policy.

Since the Tennessee Constitution gives the legislature the exclusive authority to set its own rules, why not set the right rules and open all meetings and all records to the public?

The entire idea of keeping secret the people's business is absolutely contrary to the very foundation that this country was built upon.

The legislature convenes within a week but I would be surprised and shocked to find on the agenda strengthening open records and the Sunshine Law.

"The government is merely a servant ­ merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong ... " Mark Twain once said. Yet, those who have been in Nashville too long think of us as slaves who don't know what is good for us.

President James Madison summed it up this way, "A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both."

This ruling is a tragedy. Actions of the legislature are a farce. And again I wonder, what are our lawmakers afraid of?

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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His column is published periodically on Fridays.