JOHN COFFELT
Editor

On Oct. 15, Chairman of the Ambulance Authority Tim Stubblfield, Dr. Jay Trussler, Dr. Jeff Keele, Missy DeFord and Frank Watkins held a private meeting after the public was removed from the room.

The public can’t know for certain what was discussed therein, but with the interim director also asked to leave and the Ambulance Authority currently seeking a new director, one can guess.

Commissioner Stubblefield, who serves as the county commission’s pro tempore, and is successor to the mayor’s office in the event that something happens to the county mayor, should be versed in Tennessee’s open meetings law and recognize that these “personnel meetings” that he routinely calls are in violation of open meetings.

If the hiring of such an important position were discussed in a cloud of secrecy, that casts shadows on the process. Were they short listing somebody’s cousin? Probably not, but when the public doesn’t know what happened, rumors spread. And those rumors are always juicy.

I propose that the county calls an Ethics Committee meeting to discuss the possible infractions of open meetings, and if warranted, censure the authority for its actions.

Liberty dies in the dark.