Mayor used personal email for arena talks
Photo by Jorge Salgado El Paso Mayor Dee Margo appears to have sidestepped the city’s public information rules and state law during negotiations with arena opponents earlier this year. An El Paso Inc. review of 155 pages of emails and documents, obtained from arena opponents and through public information requests, found that at least seven emails sent and received by the mayor from his personal email account were [...]
Houston Chronicle Editorial: The video the Houston firefighters union doesn’t want you to see
Recording of the Budget and Fiscal Affairs meeting on July 26. Whatever you’re doing, don’t read this editorial. Stop. Reading. Right now. Did we get your attention? Thought so. Anybody with a lick of sense knows that when you tell people not to look at something, they can’t help but look. All of which makes you wonder what the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association was thinking when it went to [...]
Attorney Joel White, former FOI Foundation president, remembered as strong advocate for press freedom, open government
First Amendment attorney Joel White, a former president of the FOI Foundation of Texas and longtime champion of open government, has passed away. White died July 21 in Cartagena, Colombia. He became ill during a trip, having suffered a perforated diverticulitis and septic shock, according to friends and his wife, Melinda Rainey. In his law practice in Austin, White represented news media clients in many types of cases including court access, [...]
Judge: Farenthold must testify in Open Meetings Act case
By Jessica Priest Victoria Advocate Originally published July 23, 2018 Former U.S. Congressman Blake Farenthold will have to testify in a Texas Open Meetings Act lawsuit, a judge ruled Monday. And so will Farenthold’s boss, Calhoun Port Authority Director Charles Hausmann, as well as the man who directed Hausmann to hire him, the Calhoun Port Authority’s Board Chairman Randy Boyd. The Victoria Advocate sued the port earlier this year, seeking [...]
Houston mayor’s former press secretary indicted, accused of withholding public records
By Mike Morris Houston Chronicle Originally published July 19, 2018 Mayor Sylvester Turner's former press secretary, Darian Ward, was indicted by a grand jury this week, accused of violating state law by failing to turn over public records in response to a reporter’s request late last year. The indictment, handed up Tuesday but released by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s office Thursday, says Ward misrepresented the number of emails [...]
Phillips: Local newspapers help taxpayers as watchdogs on government
By Alberta Phillips Austin American-Statesman Originally published July 12, 2018 Daily newspapers long have been the barking – and oftentimes biting – watchdogs that keep the public informed about what their government is doing, be that rescuing people from massive flooding in Austin in 2015, or the mismanagement of $2 billion in contracts by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which came to light that same year. Find the [...]
AG tells Victoria school district to release superintendent search details
By Gabriella Canales Victoria Advocate Originally published July 1, 2018 Victoria school district officials must release public documents about the district’s superintendent hiring process, according to an opinion issued by the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The opinion came about three months after Emett Alvarez, managing editor of the Revista de Victoria, requested information in May about the district’s superintendent search. Read the full story here.
Former Richardson ISD board member alleges board secretly deliberated before votes
By Nanette Light The Dallas Morning News Originally published July 9, 2018 A former Richardson ISD school board member has sued the school district and its board of trustees, alleging "continuous and systematic" violations of the state's open meetings law. David Tyson Jr. - a black businessman who has challenged the validity of the all-white board in the diverse district - said in the civil lawsuit that the school board has [...]
These groups make up Ted Oberg’s freedom of information hall of shame
By Ted Oberg KTRK, Houston Originally published July 5, 2018 One of the great freedoms we have in this country is being able to report freely the activities of those elected to govern us. And it's a guiding principle written into the constitution, federal law, and Texas state law. But there are some government agencies that need a lesson in just that. Over the last year, they've earned a spot [...]
Calhoun Port Authority in court filing denies it violated Open Meetings Act
The Victoria Advocate reported on June 22: The Calhoun Port Authority in a court filing has officially denied violating the Texas Open Meetings Act. At the same time, the port might be guilty of violating the law again with its posting of a special meeting next week, legal experts said. The port’s lawyer, Bill Cobb, of Austin, responded to the Victoria Advocate’s lawsuit by denying all its allegations. Read the full [...]
Comptroller Glenn Hegar to speak at FOI Foundation conference Sept. 21
Comptroller Glenn Hegar will be the keynote luncheon speaker at the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas state conference on Friday, Sept. 21, in Austin. Hegar will address transparency initiatives his office is overseeing to encourage all governmental entities to make their financial records publicly accessible. The one-day conference "Texas: Let the Sun Shine" will also feature panel discussions on college campus free speech, news reporting on difficult issues and the [...]
State audit slams Alamo oversight, appears similar to ‘doctored’ draft
By Jonathan Tilove Austin American-Statesman Originally published May 31, 2018 The Texas General Land Office released an internal audit Thursday critical of accounting practices at the Alamo that is consistent with a draft report from September that the American-Statesman had obtained and written about in February but which Land Commissioner George P. Bush had described as “doctored.” The document, which questions the use of a nonprofit to manage the Alamo, [...]
San Antonio City Council closed meeting spurs debate on transparency, Texas law
By Jan Ross Piedad Texas Public Radio Originally published May 24, 2018 Texas Public Radio's program "The Source" recently focused on the dispute sparked when the San Antonio City Council met behind closed doors to discuss whether the city should submit a bid to host the Republican National Convention in 2020. Joe Larsen, an attorney on the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas board, was one of the program's guests. [...]
Victoria Advocate files suit against Calhoun port in Farenthold hiring
By Jon Wilcox Victoria Advocate Originally published May 21, 2018 The Victoria Advocate filed a lawsuit Monday asserting the Calhoun Port Authority broke the Texas open meetings law in hiring former Congressman Blake Farenthold as a lobbyist. “Few rights of the public are as important as the right to knowledge about how their government spends taxpayer funds and manages the public’s business. This suit is to vindicate those rights and [...]
Calhoun Port Authority’s hiring of Farenthold could be illegal
By Jessica Priest Victoria Advocate Originally published May 18, 2018 The Calhoun Port Authority apparently violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when it hired former Congressman Blake Farenthold as its lobbyist. The Victoria Advocate is investigating its legal options in challenging the May 9 action on behalf of the public. “This is one of the most clear-cut examples of a notice violation that I’ve ever seen,” said longtime media attorney [...]
Corpus Christi community members, civic leaders talk importance of open government
By Kelley Shannon Executive Director Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas CORPUS CHRISTI - The public must have access to information about how taxpayer money is spent and other basic government data, transparency advocates said Thursday at a forum organized by state Rep. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi. The event focused on the importance of access to information in holding government accountable. "This isn't partisan," Hunter told the audience at Texas [...]
Texas Supreme Court dismisses defamation lawsuit against The Dallas Morning News
By Jeff Mosier The Dallas Morning News Originally published May 12, 2018 The Texas Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit Friday in which a couple claimed The Dallas Morning News defamed them when it published a column disclosing their decision to omit information about their teenage son’s suicide from a paid obituary. John and Mary Ann Tatum, whose 17-year-old son shot himself, sued The News and now-retired Metro columnist Steve Blow [...]
Column: Late-night Austin council meetings hurt the cause of open government
By Bridget Grumet Column Austin American-Statesman Originally published May 11, 2018 Click here to read Bridget Grumet's column, which starts out: We’re nearly a year into the Austin City Council’s latest push to rein in its late-night meetings. And if, like me, you were watching as the April 26 meeting ran into April 27, with a big debate on rentable scooters starting after midnight and a critical CodeNext discussion running [...]
San Antonio council’s closed-door meeting on GOP convention a ‘blatant mistake’
By Brian Chasnoff San Antonio Express-News Originally published May 8, 2018 San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg opted last week to convene the City Council behind closed doors to discuss whether the city should submit a bid to host the 2020 Republican National Convention. Made in private, the council’s controversial decision not to pursue the event likely violated the Texas Open Meetings Act — regardless of whether the council arrived at [...]
Spirit of FOI Award – Call for Entries 2018
The FOI Foundation of Texas is pleased to announce 2018 guidelines for the Nancy Monson Spirit of FOI Award contest. The contest is open to newspaper, broadcast and online media. The Spirit of FOI Award recognizes outstanding work in promoting open government and the public’s right to know. The deadline for submission of entries is Thursday, May 31, 2018. Nominations must be for work published or broadcast in calendar year [...]