Tension continues to take center stage at the monthly Madison County Commissioner’s meeting, which was held at the West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center, Tuesday.
County commissioner Luther Mercer – District 1 – continued an ongoing verbal exchange with Gary Deaton (District 4), who serves as Chairman of the Madison County Commission.
After Joey Hale (District 3) made a comment, Mercer addressed Hale.
“Are you driving this (commission)?” Mercer asked.
Deaton responded, “He (Hale) is an elected official just like you.”
Mercer told Deaton, “That’s right.”
After Deaton and Mercer repeated themselves, Mercer, who is black, told Deaton, “He’s not the chairman, you are down there. You overlook us other black folks. We got problems, you call on white folks to speak, you white racist a-s bas_ard.”
Deaton called Mercer, who could not be reached for comment and did not return telephone calls, unprofessional.
“He is very unprofessional,” Deaton said, “It’s not the first time he’s done that, but this has to cease.
“It shows he has no respect for anyone serving on the commission – including myself.
“He wants to bully his way through everything (and) he insinuates everything as though it is a racial issue, and it’s not.”
The problem stems with a complaint filed after Mercer was one of the commissioners who met at the T.R. White Sportsplex, Sept. 8, 2022, to discuss committee assignments and the election of the Chairman of the Commission.
Previously, Mercer accused the Republican members of the Commission of a private meeting without a public notice.
“That was a regular Republican Caucus meeting, we have every month,” Deaton said, “We had a public notice. What they are accusing us of doing, they were doing themselves – without a public notice.”
Deaton said he knew of at least three commissioners – Mercer, Tony Black (District 2) and Olivia Abernathy (District 2) – in attendance at the meeting at the T.R. White Sportsplex.
Abernathy verified she was in attendance at meeting, which also included District 5 Commissioner Claudell Brown.
“I was not present for the entire meeting, but from what I was present for, the election of the Commission Chairman was brought up,” Abernathy said, “No public was notice given (and) I was trying to remedy that (Tuesday) – not trying to hide that I didn’t know if (public notice) was given.”
Maria Bush, Open Records Counsel, sent a letter on behalf of Jason Mumpower, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury, addressed to Deaton and the Commissioners of the Madison County Board after the Comptroller was informed of the meeting.
Letter from the Comptroller’s Office –
Dear Chairman Deaton and Commissioners of the Madison County Board:
This letter is to inform you that our office received a complaint alleging that the Madison County Board of Commissioners (“Board”) may be acting in violation of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act (“TOMA”). Specifically, there are allegations that certain commissioners serving on the Board are engaging in deliberations outside of public meetings.
When this office receives a complaint regarding a possible open meetings violation, our routine practice is to contact the governing body to make the members aware that a complaint was received and to advise as to the requirements of Tennessee’s open meetings laws.
As such, I write to inform you of the concerns presented and to review the requirements of the law.
TOMA provides that the formation of public policy is public business and shall not be conducted in secret. Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-44-101.
To effectuate this purpose, TOMA requires that all meetings of a governing body, such as the Madison County Board of Commissioners, must be open to the public except in very limited circumstances. Tenn. Code Ann. § 8-44-102.
The·Tennessee Court of Appeals has made it clear that two or more members of a governing body cannot discuss or deliberate public business, which a majority of the governing body would need to vote upon, outside of an open public meeting. Neese v. Paris Special School District, 813 S. W.2d 432, 436 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1990); Johnston v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville, 320 S.W.3d 299, 312 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2009).
Accordingly, the Board’s deliberations should occur only at a properly noticed open public meeting. Additionally, two or more members of the Board should not discuss or deliberate matters outside a properly noticed open public meeting.
Any action taken by a governing body at a meeting in violation of TOMA is void. A governing body may properly ratify such action by subjecting the action to new and substantial consideration during an open public meeting.
However, courts have still found violations and imposed sanctions even where a governing body properly ratifies actions taken outside an open public meeting. Our office would recommend consulting with the county attorney regarding the foregoing allegations, as TOMA does allow citizens to file a lawsuit when they believe an open meetings violation has occurred.
If a lawsuit is filed, a court will determine whether a violation occurred based upon the injunctions against the members of the governing body, and the governing body would be subject to the court’s supervision for a year from the date of the entry of judgment.
We understand members of governing bodies may often misunderstand the requirements of Tennessee’s open meetings laws, and we hope this letter may clarify any possible issues and lead to compliance with the law. If you have questions or concerns regarding this matter or the open meetings laws, you may reach me at 615-401-7891 or [email protected].
Sincerely,
Maria Bush
Open Records Counsel
