Abilene City Officials Did the Right Thing

Moments ago, in a 4 to 3 vote, the Abilene City Council went against the tide and voted NO on joining an ill-fated lawsuit that will gut the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Not because they don't have any concerns about being accused of unintentionally violated the law - they clearly do. Instead, it was because they saw through the smokescreen being spread across Texas and correctly understand that an expected lawsuit being pushed by the City of Alpine and Texas Municipal League in Austin won't help them. Instead, they saw it for what it is: a legal attempt to strip the teeth out of the law by removing criminal penalties, including possible jail time.

Originally the item was scheduled for a vote without discussion. But after I contacted Abilene's City Attorney, Dan Santee, and urged him to have it re-posted for public comment he did so.

Santee also correctly pointed out to council members that they "didn't have to join the lawsuit" like three small cities have done but added that at the Texas Municipal League this is a "big topic of discussion."

Santee also said, "This issue is important enough that Keith Elkins, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, came all the way to Abilene" to speak out against the lawsuit.

Mr. Santee of course is right on both points.

This issue should be of concern to all Texans. If you know anything about the Sharpstown Stock-Fraud Scandal of the early 1970's you understand why criminal sanctions are important. If you don't, it would be worth a quick "google" search to discover what can happen when politicians have nothing to fear when they conduct the people's business in private.

It's also questionable why a few Texas cities and their lobbyists all of a sudden want to remove part of the legal language that bans "a quorum of members of a governmental body from discussing business in secret." As it stands now, if they do and they get caught, the violation is an unclassified misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $500.

Proponents of the lawsuit contend this language — which has been on the books for 36 years with its jail and fine provisions — somehow infringes on, or prevents, council members from being able to talk to other council members outside of public meetings, to reporters or even to their own constituents. What? Since when?

Thank goodness the Abilene City Council didn't buy this load of you-know-what, and on behalf of FOIFT I was glad to visit their city and urge them to stand strong against other rogue cities, who do.

And for any other Texas cities sitting on the fence on this issue - if you can't understand what conducting public business in public view means - God help you as you consider more pressing issues in your area.