Victoria Advocate: Calhoun County delay tactics show sunshine laws need more teeth
Victoria Advocate Editorial Board Originally published Nov. 30, 2013 Calhoun County's fight to keep public information away from the public is revealing in many ways. First, we're reminded yet again that government needs to be watched. These county commissioners and the Calhoun County district attorney aren't bad people by nature, but many public officials have an alarming tendency to forget they serve the public. Next, the Texas Open Meetings Act [...]
Longview News-Journal: Online access gives Texans needed look at government
Longview News-Journal Editorial Originally published Nov. 26, 2013 The Texas Public Information Act is clear about who gets access to government documents: You do, with a few exceptions. But just because our state has a strong open records law doesn’t always mean it’s easy to get your hands on the records you need to find out what your government is doing, how it’s spending your money, and who it’s [...]
Abbott Suggests New Privacy Laws
By Alexa Ura Texas Tribune Originally published Nov 21, 2013 Attorney General Greg Abbott's support for more stringent privacy laws is getting some notice, as privacy rights activists say his proposals would lead to more protections for Texans. But concerns tied to the enforcement of the proposed policies are also being raised. The Republican gubernatorial candidate has recommended requiring state agencies that collect personal information to acquire individual consent before selling or [...]
Tarrant water district hires expert to address open government, ethics
By Gordon Dickson Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Nov. 19, 2013 FORT WORTH — A former Texas Ethics Commission chairman has been hired to help the Tarrant Regional Water District resolve some of its problems with open-government issues. Ross Fischer, an Austin lawyer, will help the agency, which provides long-term water resources for North Texas, deal with an increasing number of open-records requests, as well as other matters related to [...]
Weslaco leaders oust public from city commission meeting, citing anonymous threat
By Elizabeth Findell The Monitor Originally published Nov. 14, 2013 City Manager Leo Olivares said police Chief Michael Kelley had notified him shortly before the City Commission meeting began at 5:30 p.m. that someone had called the department earlier in the afternoon saying there needed to be extra security at the meeting because there might be violence. Followers of Weslaco politics knew it would be a controversial evening. After a [...]
AG rules in favor of Victoria Advocate records request
The Texas Attorney General's Office has ruled Calhoun County must release the records of a federal employment lawsuit settlement that were requested by the Victoria Advocate. The newspaper asked for the records of a June settlement in a case brought by a former county employee. The county maintained the settlement agreement was not a public document and that the record was not in its possession, but the Attorney General's Office [...]
City of Austin launches social media archive
The city of Austin is making thousands of social media records available to the public on its website in a free, searchable archive. City officials announced this week that because of Austin's "commitment to an open and transparent government" the social media archive is being offered to further the goals of the Texas Public Information Act. The archive was developed by the company ArchiveSocial and can be found at http://austintexas.gov/social. [...]
FOI Focus: Fall 2013 Newsletter
Find out what the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas has been up to in our quarterly newsletter FOI Focus.
Save Our Springs sues for emails on proposed Texas 45 tollway
By Farzad Mashhood Austin American-Statesman Originally published Nov. 13, 2013 The Save Our Springs Alliance is suing to get access to a Travis County commissioner’s conversations on the controversial Texas 45 Southwest tollway. Commissioner Gerald Daugherty has been a vehement advocate for the proposed highway, a 3.6-mile toll road connecting the southern end of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) with FM 1626 in Hays County. His campaign to return to public [...]
Annexation deal still under seal
By Emma Perez-Treviño Valley Morning Star Originally published Nov. 12, 2013 HARLINGEN — The city is asking Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott if it must release a copy of its settlement agreement with annexation opponent Charles “Chuck” Lee. The city also wants Abbott to determine if it must release how much money it agreed to pay Lee to settle the five-year conflict over annexation of land on the city’s west [...]
Are anonymous bloggers protected by First Amendment?
By Jordan Smith The Austin Chronicle Originally published Nov. 7, 2013 Who is the anonymous blogger known as the "Trooper?" More importantly, does anyone – including Bob Brockman – have a right to know? Those are among the questions now before the Texas Supreme Court after oral arguments this morning in a case where Brockman and the company he heads, Reynolds & Reynolds, seeks to compel Google to divulge the [...]
Records show confidential settlement agreements
By Scott Noll KHOU 11 News I-Team Originally published Nov. 6, 2013 EAST ALDINE AREA, Texas – Weeks after the KHOU 11 News I-Team investigation into possible misuse of tax dollars at a local fire department, we’re learning the amount in question could top $200,000. Through the Texas Public Information Act, the 11 News I-Team obtained confidential settlement agreements between the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department and three former department administrators. [...]
Lawmaker eyes access to UT regents’ computers
By Reeve Hamilton The Texas Tribune Originally published Nov. 4, 2013 State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer believes that the investigation into whether a University of Texas System regent should be impeached could require a look at UT regents' personal computers, iPads and smartphones. In an Oct. 31 letter to Rusty Hardin, special counsel to the House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations, Martinez Fischer — a committee member — submitted [...]
Grand jury investigates secrecy allegations in Irving ISD
By Avi Selk The Dallas Morning News Originally published Nov. 1, 2013 During a bitter power struggle in the spring, four Irving ISD school board members accused their colleague Steven Jones of breaking state laws and district policies. They asked the state to investigate him. But the state declined, and then the tables turned. A grand jury is now investigating the four trustees after Jones complained that their request was [...]
FOI Foundation supports Victoria Advocate information request
The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas has submitted comments to the Texas Attorney General's Office in support of the Victoria Advocate, which is requesting information from Calhoun County about a federal lawsuit settlement. Read more in this Nov. 2 news report by Jessica Priest of the Advocate.
Perry defends regent’s records request
By Jay Root The Texas Tribune Originally published Oct. 30, 2013 Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday called the ongoing impeachment investigation into University of Texas System Regent Wallace Hall “extraordinary political theater,” and said his appointee’s quest for voluminous records from the University of Texas at Austin was justified. A legislative committee is mulling whether to draw up articles of impeachment against Hall, who has been accused of overstepping the bounds of [...]
Texas Ethics Commission to hold secret proceeding on complaint
By Ross Ramsey The Texas Tribune Originally published Oct. 28, 2013 State ethics regulators are weighing complaints sparked by the political campaigning and legislative influence of the conservative gadfly Michael Quinn Sullivan, Empower Texans and related organizations. But you won’t get a chance to watch most of it. Two lawmakers accused Sullivan and his organizations of breaking the state’s election laws while inveighing against moderate Republicans in the 2012 primaries, [...]
Lawyers withdraw motion to bar public from teen suspect’s trial
By Mitch Mitchell Fort Worth Star-Telegram Originally published Oct. 22, 2013 FORT WORTH — The attorneys for a 14-year-old accused of killing his 5-year-old neighbor withdrew a request to bar the public from the trial during a hearing on Tuesday. The 14-year-old suspect, who is not being identified because he is a juvenile, confessed to killing Sida Osman by hitting him twice in the head with a bowling ball while [...]
Public has right to hear Dallas City Council discussion
The Dallas Morning News Originally published Oct. 21, 2013 The Dallas City Council plans to meet behind closed doors Wednesday to discuss city staffers’ questionable activity impeding the local launch of Uber, an online car service. The public has a right to hear this discussion, in spite of the twisted rationale cited by Mayor Mike Rawlings and City Attorney Warren Ernst to keep it closed. Uber allows customers to use [...]
Testimony begins in UT regent impeachment investigation
By Reeve Hamilton The Texas Tribune Originally published Oct. 22, 2013 After years of simmering tension, a slate of long-awaited hearings that begin Tuesday may advance the ball toward potential resolution of a yearslong feud between the University of Texas System, its flagship institution and the Legislature. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations will, for the first time, hear public testimony from witnesses [...]