As a Democrat leader in my county, I am troubled by this story. Just the mention of the shredding of files gives off the wrong picture. I applaud the Governor for putting an end to this tactic. God knows, the Governor doesn't need anymore trouble after all this with TennCare.

Gack! I teach Public Personnel Administration and Administrative Law in an MPA Program. I'm copying this story (with proper accreditation, of course) for inclusion in my files under "things not to do."

While shredding of documents is sometimes appropriate and legal, the circumstances usually dictate at least an indication of why the shredding was deemed so. As one who makes it plain that I *hate* adiminstrative paperwork, when I say, "paper trail, paper trail, paper trail" to my students *know* I'm serious.

This looks like a bad breach of policy and perhaps administrative law.