By Sandra Sadek
Fort Worth Report
Originally published June 30, 2022
Tarrant County residents’ frustrations with property tax appraisals boiled to the surface June 30 when so many people showed up that officials locked the doors to a public meeting. …
Joe Larsen, a media attorney and a Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas board member, said the meeting was a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act because a large majority of the public wanting to attend was not allowed in. When the board realized its meeting room was not large enough for the public, it should have recessed the meeting and rescheduled at a later date in a larger venue, he said.
Kelley Shannon, executive director of the foundation, said, “A government public meeting must be held in a place accessible to the public. So if they’re holding the meeting in a place where the doors are locked, and the public can’t even get in — that’s not OK.”
Appraisal district officials shut and locked the doors at 9 a.m. as the meeting started. No one was let in to wait inside the lobby. Officials later closed the blinds near the front doors to prevent people from taking photos and videos inside the lobby.