By Dave Hendricks
Progress Times
Originally published Jan. 9, 2019
After attempting to keep City Manager Alex Meade’s salary a secret, Pharr announced Wednesday that “in the interest of continuing its commitment to transparency” the city would release the information. …
The Texas Public Information Act includes an exception for “information that, if released, would give advantage to a competitor or bidder.”
A controversial Texas Supreme Court decision called Boeing v. Paxton effectively broadened that exception, concluding the exception covered information that would provide “an advantage, not whether it would be a decisive advantage.”
Pharr competes with other cities to attract and retain talented employees, according to the city’s letter to the Attorney General’s Office, which added that making the salary information public would place Pharr at a competitive disadvantage.