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New alderman sworn in after contentious exchange about a private text group and sunshine-law concerns
Summary
Joe LaCroix took the oath as alderman Oct. 9. Before the swearing-in, an alderman raised concerns about a private text group that included committee members, town employees and nominees, asking whether the exchanges could create legal exposure under Tennessee open-meetings rules; the mayor disputed that there was a violation.
Joe LaCroix was sworn in as an alderman at the Town of Farragut’s Oct. 9 meeting. The oath was administered by Tennessee Rep. Jason Zachary, who led the ceremonial swearing-in immediately after a heated exchange about a private text message group.
Before the oath, Alderman Kane raised concerns about messages in a private group-text conversation that, he said, included elected officials, committee members, a town employee and at least one nominee who was later to be sworn in. Kane said some comments in the group “surprised me” and that he was worried about potential legal ramifications for the board if the messages created a Sunshine Law issue.
Mayor Ronald Williams and other board members disputed that the text created wrongdoing. Williams said he had been receiving repeated messages from a small group of citizens seeking to “bait” elected officials into improper communications and that the town had been subject to a persistent campaign by critics, a point he tied to ongoing litigation that has since concluded. Vice Mayor Meyer and other members told the board they saw no evidence of deliberate improper deliberation in the text thread and urged the body not to “make up problems for ourselves.”
Kane told the board he had a list of phone numbers in the thread and suggested the matter might need further review, potentially in a closed session with the town attorney. Mayor Williams and others said several participants appeared to have been added without their consent, and the mayor characterized the messages as attempts to cause a “gotcha.” No formal motion to refer the matter to legal counsel for a closed-session review was made on the record that evening.
After the discussion, Representative Jason Zachary led LaCroix in the official oath of office. Town staff then proceeded with the remainder of the meeting’s business.
What was said (selected remarks) - Alderman Kane: “...there were some more comments put in that text group including 1 from you, mister mayor... a couple of the comments that you made surprised me.” - Mayor Ronald Williams: “...this whole thing that we're dealing with right now is a continuous effort by a small group of citizens to bait us every day.” - Vice Mayor Meyer: “You can't stop people from including you in a text. Just because people include you in a text that you're not voluntarily involved in, that's not... you're not deliberating.”
The transcript shows no vote or formal direction on the text-group issue. The concern was raised before LaCroix’s swearing-in and was not recorded as producing further formal action that night.
