Transparency Essential to Good Government

Print this entry

The Texas Supreme Court met in Longview a few weeks back at LeTourneau University. It was fascinating to hear oral arguments in two civil cases, the nine justices peppering the attorneys with questions on stage in front of about 1,000 people in the Belcher Center.

The justices on the state’s highest civil courts are clearly intelligent and experienced men and women. As a newspaper publisher for more than a quarter-century, I met a number of justices as they campaigned during elections. Even if I didn’t agree with their views, I respected their legal minds. And I still do, though two decisions in the past few years have badly weakened the public’s access to knowing how millions of dollars in our money is being spent. In two cases, the majority did serious damage to the state’s sunshine laws.

A pair of decisions two years ago curtailed public access to contracts that governments hold with private companies — a practice that increases each year as more pieces of government are privatized. The Boeing ruling allows governments to seal contracts if a company claims its release would lead to a competitive disadvantage. So, for example, if Longview ISD signs a deal with Coca-Cola to be the exclusive beverage vendor at Lobo Stadium, the district could withhold details of that contract by claiming it would give Pepsi inside information. The result is the public would never know how much Coke was paying the district for the right to exclusivity — and what perks were given to school officials. (This is hypothetical.) The same goes with Aramark, which provides food service to schools and universities across the country. Surely, the public ought to be able to find out how much public entities are paying for these services — or being paid.

Not anymore, since this ill-considered decision passed. The sole dissent came from Justice Jeff Boyd, a former board member of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, on whose board I have served for the past five years.

The second case involves the Greater Houston Partnership, which is essentially a chamber of commerce. Even though the partnership receives taxpayer money for economic development, the court ruled its financial books were off-limits to the public. How are we to know if similar organizations, which exist in most cities, are not misusing taxpayer money if we have no access to their records? In this case, Judge Boyd was joined by Justices Johnson and Willett in dissenting.

Now it is up to the Legislature to fix these assaults on the state’s open record laws. Sunshine Week starts on March 12 and the Legislature is deep into its session, so it is time to let our legislators know that we strongly support governmental transparency. Texas once had one of the best open records laws in the nation, but it has been eroded each session despite our best efforts to keep the sun shining on government. For example, in many cases dates of birth are now exempt from disclosure. That means if John Smith is arrested, the media are unable to determine for certain exactly which John Smith got busted. Was it John Smith, the local city council member, or John Smith, the school bus driver?

Luckily, supporters of open government have several champions in the Legislature. Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake have filed bills to fix the Boeing decision regarding private contracts with public entities, and to ensure that chambers of commerce and other private organizations that receive public funding must open their books and let taxpayers know how the money was spent. Please contact our local representatives in the Legislature and ask them to support the Boeing bill (SB 407 and HN 792) and the Greater Houston Partnership fix (SB 408 and HB 793.)

Along with many other folks, I have spent my entire career in journalism fighting for transparency in government, whether it was criticizing the San Augustine City Council or testifying against bad ol’ bills in legislative committees. Open-government advocates understand and believe that lawmakers work for us, and we have a right to know where our money is being spent — even if it is being outsourced to private companies. After all, it is still our money.

Print this entry