Court ruling preventing public from seeing how taxpayer money is spent
By Jaie Avila WOIA/News 4 San Antonio Originally published March 19, 2018 How much did San Antonio pay REO Speedwagon to play on New Year's Eve? What kind of tax breaks are big corporations receiving to move here? The News 4 Trouble Shooters use the Texas Public Information Act to track how your tax dollars are spent. However, a new weapon is being used to prevent us from keeping you [...]
FOI Foundation to host Open Government Seminar, First Amendment Institute in Arlington
For Immediate Release AUSTIN _ The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is hosting an Open Government Seminar in Arlington on April 17, featuring training in public meeting and public records laws. A First Amendment Institute session also offered that day will instruct journalists on free press rights. The non-profit FOI Foundation, in cooperation with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, is organizing the one-day Open Government Seminar on Tuesday, April [...]
During ‘Sunshine Month,’ put spotlight on government accountability
By Kelley Shannon Shining light on government to hold it accountable is hardly a new idea. In fact, Texas was a national leader in this realm for more than 40 years. Sadly, the flow of public information in this huge state is slipping from the sunshine into the shadows. Some state leaders have been dimming the lights, ensuring that even the most basic information about our government is getting more [...]
Hello Sunshine Month!
Sunshine Week is March 11-17, 2018. It's a nationally declared week to celebrate open government and the people's right to know. In Texas, we are celebrating Sunshine Month to highlight our many activities this month aimed at letting the sun shine on our government and opening up access to public records. We'll be posting events and ideas throughout the month, so stay tuned. Mark your calendars now for a March 29 [...]
FOI Foundation state conference set for Sept. 21, 2018
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is pleased to announce that its annual state conference will take place Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Austin, 208 Barton Springs Road. This one-day conference features journalists, First Amendment attorneys, government officials and others who share information on the latest activities and trends in open government and the rights of free press and free speech. Speakers and details will be confirmed soon, so [...]
Subpoenas show Agua district investigation focuses on controversial severance payments
By Dave Hendricks Progress Times Originally published Feb. 23, 2018 The Hidalgo County District Attorney’s Office investigation of the Agua Special Utility District focuses on two former employees who received six-figure severance payments, according to grand jury subpoenas obtained by the Progress Times. Prosecutors sent the first subpoena in November, requesting records on severance payments to former Community Relations Coordinator Oscar “Coach” Salinas and former utility Project Manager Armin Garza. [...]
Texas prison system stalls release of public information on executions
By Jolie McCullough The Texas Tribune Originally published Feb. 15, 2018 The cloud of secrecy surrounding Texas executions has grown a little darker lately. After death penalty defense lawyers claimed the state’s first two executions of the year were botched because of old lethal injection drugs, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stalled the release of public information regarding the state’s supply of lethal doses. Without providing a reason, the department [...]
Internal GLO draft audit slams unusual use of non-profits to manage Alamo
By Jonathan Tilove Austin American-Statesman Originally published Feb. 8, 2018 On Dec. 5, the state Senate Finance Committee questioned Land Commissioner George P. Bush and the agency’s general counsel, Jeff Gordon, about the three nonprofits the General Land Office had set up to manage, promote and raise money for the Alamo — each with its own mission but with identical boards made up of Bush and 10 of the state’s [...]
Appeals court reinstates Texas Open Meetings Act indictments against Montgomery County officials
By Mike Snyder Houston Chronicle Originally published Feb. 7, 2018 Less than a month before a fiercely contested Republican primary election, a state appeals court on Wednesday reinstated indictments alleging that two elected Montgomery County officials and a consultant violated the state's open meetings law. The 9th Court of Appeals reversed a decision by state District Judge Randy Clapp, who had dismissed the indictments last April in a ruling that [...]
Dallas Morning News editorial: Paxton’s misinformed spokesman turns Public Information Act against Texans over petty grudge
The Dallas Morning News Editorial Originally published Feb. 2, 2018 At a conference put on last month by the attorney general's office to help train local and state officials on how to comply with the Texas Public Information Act, one of the experts providing advice was Marc Rylander. Rylander works for Attorney General Ken Paxton and in comments caught on video he managed to embarrass himself and his boss. Worse [...]
Texas senators examine free speech on college campuses
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz Austin American-Statesman Originally published Jan. 31, 2018 SAN MARCOS —Incidents of hecklers shouting down controversial figures on college campuses are anathema to free speech but pose a difficult challenge to overcome, a state Senate panel chairwoman said Wednesday.“No one should be shouted down,” said Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, whose State Affairs Committee held a hearing on campus free speech issues hosted by Texas State University. “We [...]
Six current, ex-members of Pasadena economic development board indicted for private meetings
By Brooke A. Lewis and Mark Collette Houston Chronicle Originally published Jan. 23, 2018, updated Jan. 24, 2018 Six current and former members of Pasadena's economic development board were indicted Tuesday by a grand jury for holding two private meetings in November 2016 with a contractor. Board members Ernesto Paredes and Emilio Carmona, former board President Roy Mease and ex-board members Brad Hance, Jackie Welch and Jim Harris were all indicted for [...]
Alamo Trust to hold open meetings in wake of transparency concerns
By Scott Huddleston San Antonio Express-News Originally published Jan. 15, 2018 A nonprofit board overseeing the Alamo’s day-to-day operations will open its meetings to the public this year. But one state senator says state officials and philanthropists in charge of the historic mission and battle site and a far-reaching plan to improve it should do more to provide a level of openness befitting the Texas shrine. “The public just has [...]
Attorney general: Austin city manager candidates not a competitive secret
By Elizabeth Findell Austin American-Statesman Originally published Jan. 11, 2018 The city of Austin cannot withhold records showing who applied for its city manager position by claiming the information would harm the city competitively in a search for qualified applicants, the Texas attorney general’s office says. Nor is the information a trade secret, a matter that would harm the search firm competitively or “highly intimate and embarrassing,” Matthew Taylor, an [...]
Texas cities mum on specifics of proposals to lure Amazon
By Jamie Stengle Associated Press Originally published Jan. 11, 2018 DALLAS - While Texas cities vying to land Amazon’s second headquarters have been vocal about why they think they should win, they’ve resisted releasing copies of their proposals. Requests by The Associated Press for information related to the proposals were met with replies including arguments that such information can be kept secret because it would give an advantage to competitors. [...]
New lawsuit filed in Mike Leach’s feud with Texas Tech, this time over records access
By Brent Schrotenboer USA Today Originally published Jan. 7, 2017 Mike Leach’s war against Texas Tech is headed back to court, this time to gain access to records related to his firing from the university in 2009. Leach, now the head football coach at Washington State, hired an investigative firm in Houston last year to dig up information on Texas Tech officials and pressure them into paying him the $2.4 million he [...]
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It's been a challenging year for open government and First Amendment liberties in Texas and throughout the nation. The non-profit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas has worked in 2017 to protect these rights, and we will renew and intensify our efforts in 2018. The public's right to know is at stake. Our operations depend on donations from individuals, groups and companies. So please support our mission with a contribution [...]
Media law experts say arrest violated citizen journalist’s First Amendment rights
By Julia Wallace Laredo Morning Times Originally published Dec. 17, 2017 The recent arrest of Priscilla Villarreal, better known as the Facebook star/citizen journalist Lagordiloca, on misuse of information charges is novel, and potentially a violation of her First Amendment rights, according to several media law experts. Villarreal was charged Wednesday with two counts of misuse of information. Police said she received or solicited information from one of their own [...]
Del Mar College board accuses fellow regent of violating Texas Open Meetings Act
Del Mar College regent Guy Watts violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by attempting to conduct college business through group emails, a letter to Watts signed by eight board members states. Regents formally distanced themselves from Watts via the letter during Tuesday's board meeting. Regents have approved four censures against him since March 2016, but this matter resulted in a different approach. Prior censures were largely based upon Watts’ violation of his ethical duties under board policies and [...]
Records reveal drama, disguises in Austin city manager search
By Philip Jankowski Austin American-Statesman Originally published Dec. 6, 2017 To dodge reporters, consultants suggested the finalists to be Austin’s next city manager don wigs, pretend to be tourists or possibly even wear Halloween masks after American-Statesman reporters managed to identify several candidates during the city’s top-secret search for its next leader. That was one of many details revealed in more than 400 pages of communications the city provided in [...]