As lawmakers descend on Nashville for an $883 million incentive package for Ford Motor Co., a government transparency group is concerned about the secrecy that could be allowed the board that will oversee the project.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee called a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly last week to review and approve a state-funded incentive package for Ford that includes:
• $500 million in grants
• $138.2 million for construction and demolition
• $40 million to build a Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) school on the site
• $200 million to build roads for the project
• $5 million in consulting fees
Another bill before lawmakers Monday afternoon would establish the Megasite Authority of West Tennessee (MAWT). That group will serve as a sort of city council for the megasite project with wide-ranging powers to buy real estate and personal property, build roads, grant mortgages, administer the properties, give grants, offer water and wastewater services, condemn land, and more.
This group will be governed by a volunteer group of board of directors, only being compensated for travel expenses incurred in carrying out board duties.
Members of the group include:
• Two appointed by the governor
• One appointed by the Speaker of the House
• One appointed by the Speaker of the Senate
• The Commissioner of the Department of Economic Development (or a designee)
• The Commissioner of the Department of General Services (or a designee)
• The Commissioner of the Department of Finance and Administration
The group has broad powers and broad access to government secrecy, according to the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government (TCOG). The bill establishing the group adopts the “principle of open records” as its official policy. Then, the bill immediately outlines a laundry list of exceptions to the principle of open records.
For example, a contract signed by the authority “that obligates public funds” is “not a public record” until the contract has been signed. Records containing “proprietary information” will be kept secret from the public for five years.
Anything containing “trade secrets” will be sealed. Capital plans and marketing information will also be kept secret by the group, as the law is now written.
These exemptions are anathema to those who support open government…
TCOG executive director Deborah Fisher
“These exemptions are anathema to those who support open government and public oversight that open government brings to government actions,” wrote TCOG executive director Deborah Fisher in a Monday-afternoon blog post. ”This oversight is especially important when large amounts of taxpayer money are involved.
“While bringing Ford Motor Co. to Tennessee may be a game-changer for economic stimulus in the western part of our state, we don’t need it to be a game-changer for transparency in government. We don’t need a whole new branch of government that can operate without public scrutiny.”