Published: March 15, 2007 02:17 pm         

Bredesen to press on with open records ombudsman

NASHVILLE — Gov. Phil Bredesen said Wednesday he intends to press ahead with the creation of an open records ombudsman despite some resistance in the Legislature.

Bredesen, who first suggested the idea more than a year ago, has earmarked $100,000 to pay for an ombudsman who would help people and elected officials figure out what documents are open to the public.

"It gives access to ordinary citizens who don't have the ability to go out and get a lawyer if they don't like the answer they get from someone," Bredesen said.

But there has been some grumbling among lawmakers about whether there's a need for the position and about whether it should be created this year.

"I'm going to have to think on it," said House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington.

Under legislation passed in May, an 18-member study committee was asked to offer preliminary suggestions about overhauling the state's open government laws by December.

But the committee in November decided it did not have enough time to recommend anything, and it's now slated to make its reports a year later than originally intended.

Open government advocates had hoped updated open meetings laws would have a better chance of passing in the wake of the Tennessee Waltz corruption scandal in 2005 and last year's special legislative session to pass ethics reforms.

Bredesen vowed to press on with his ombudsman proposal despite the panel's inaction.

The ombudsman would be placed within Comptroller John Morgan's office. Morgan, who is elected by a joint convention of the General Assembly, said he has heard some concerns that the ombudsman proposal is getting ahead of the study committee.

But "if the Legislature were to decide as an interim step to go ahead and create this position, this is certainly something we'd like to accommodate," Morgan said.

Morgan said he envisions the ombudsman as an arbiter between local governments and citizens.

"If a citizen is having difficulty penetrating local government in terms of getting what they need or think they ought to have, this person would very much be about talking to both parties and figuring out a way to accommodate what that citizen is seeking to find," he said.

"Or, if it's something that's not public, to explain to the citizen why it's not a public record," Morgan said. "There's really is nobody out there to do that kind of work."

The comptroller's office has handled sporadic questions about open records in the past, but would not be equipped to handle a regular flow of questions unless it is allotted the extra money, Morgan said.

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, said he still wants to hear more about the proposal. Ramsey expressed reservations if the ombudsman would also investigate open meetings complaints.

"But if this is only open records, that's a whole different thing," Ramsey said.

Senate Finance Chairman Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, said an ombudsman could serve as a resource to state and local officials about which records need to be open.

"The other thing that office can do is gather data about where the problems are and where clarifications are needed, and I think that would be a valuable function," he said.

Doug Goddard, lobbyist for the Tennessee County Commissioner's Association, said he doesn't see a reason why the ombudsman proposal should leapfrog other considerations before the study committee on open government.

"We agree that every record is open," Goddard said. "We don't think that this proposal or any proposal should jump ahead of the committee."