For governors, a limit to transparency
By Tom Baxter
Southern Political Report
June 2, 2008 — Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, and Phil Bredesen, the Democratic governor of Tennessee, both promote a transparent, business-like approach to managing state government. But as both have shown this year, transparency has its limits. Current law in Louisiana exempts from public view the records by all the agencies that come under the governor’s authority, down to the state poet laureate. Jindal’s executive counsel, Jimmy Faircloth, agreed broadly with a bill introduced by Rep. Wayne Waddell (R-Shreveport) to end the exclusion from open records requirements for most of these offices. But he said it went too far in limiting exclusions to only the governor, the chief of staff and the executive counsel. A House committee rebuffed Faircloth’s objection and passed the measure as written. In Tennessee, meanwhile, Bredesen’s office became involved in a row with a conservative think tank, the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, over a request for emails relating to a renovation project at the governor’s mansion. According to the think tank, the governor’s office told them it had withheld some emails because they were “personal” in nature, which brought an immediate protest from the Tennessee Republican Party, which said the exclusion could be used to cover up “crimes and ethical breaches.” Louisiana’s not an easy state for a Republican, and Tennessee’s not easy for a Democrat. But Jindal and Bredesen have another thing in common: Both have generated some buzz – Jindal especially after his Memorial Day visit toArizona – as possible running mates in their respective parties. |
