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Rules committee approves resolution asking NES and power board to post contracts for public access
Summary
The committee approved RS20261858 directing Nashville Electric Service and the Electric Power Board to submit existing and future executed contracts to the Metropolitan Clerk so they are searchable in the city documents portal; sponsor Council Member Johnston framed the request as a transparency measure and the committee voted 5–0 to approve.
The Rules, Confirmations & Public Elections Committee on March 17 approved a resolution asking Nashville Electric Service (NES) and the Electric Power Board to submit executed contracts to the Metropolitan Clerk so they will be searchable in the city’s documents portal.
Council Member Johnston, the sponsor, said the measure is intended to “expedite” public access. Johnston said NES is not a standard metro department but is an agency whose contracts expose the metropolitan government to obligations, and that ‘‘all of their contracts are subject to FOIA requests,’’ so making them searchable in the documents portal makes sense as a transparency step.
Committee members sought legal clarification about whether NES is required to file such contracts. Legal counsel and staff explained that the Electric Power Board has greater independence under the charter and the city cannot compel NES to file contracts, but that executed contracts are already publicly obtainable and the documents portal (documents.nashville.gov) is available to the public. Committee members characterized the resolution as a formal request rather than a mandate.
After brief discussion the committee voted to approve RS20261858 on a voice tally the chair reported as 5–0–0.
The resolution accompanies two brief honors that the committee approved on consent: one recognizing Danny Heron upon his retirement from Habitat for Humanity of Greater Nashville and one honoring Dr. Robert Wingfield Jr. on his retirement from Fisk University for his environmental-justice advocacy and scholarship. Those honors were approved as consent items earlier in the meeting.
