Texas Government Oversight Hearing: Did the City of Bastrop get caught? Yes, but Stan Gerdes got caught too.

Did the City of Bastrop caught? Watch Rep. Shelby Slawson (R-Granbury) artfully question the Mayor and City Manager starting at 10:17:00.

"Foundations such as BHEF [Barbers Hill Education Foundation] are holding/spending tax dollars, and lax oversight (not subject to Texas Public Information Act records or open meetings laws) is a prescription for disaster. I also wonder what other basic financial controls are missing? And does anyone else think it’s absurd that school boards even consider such schemes to outsmart the state and avoid recapture payments? This tells you how dysfunctional our school funding system has become in Texas." Mike Collier, financial auditor and Independent Texan.

The Texas House Committee on Oversight, Select held an marathon 11-hour+ interim hearing on Wednesday, August 26, focused on Education Foundations, the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA) and the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA). The committee hearing notice and this Texas Dispatch article Counties Call the Public Information Act Weaponized; Transparency Groups Call It Toothless gives a decent pro and con overview.

We also watched the scrutiny given to the decision by the Bastrop City Council to hold a "retreat" 140 miles away in Fredericksburg. Mayor Ishmael Harris' testimony, as well as Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo's, made clear that the "retreat" was really a two day meeting with a two page agenda. Though no action was taken at the meeting -- which would have been a clear violation of TOMA -- it's seems to us that the City of Bastrop did get caught violating the spirit of it.

What was of equal interest to us is the guy who alerted the media about the City of Bastrop's lapse in judgement. It was none other than State Rep. Stan Gerdes. Gerdes got caught too. This is how Gerdes operates, including using social media to throw his weight around. And for what purpose, really? To deliver to the GOP establishment attacks on local control.

We most appreciated the testimony of Kelley Shannon, the Executive Director of the Texas Freedom of Information Foundation, starting at 6:10:00.

Here's our challenge to independent voters of Texas. Let's say you are confronted with similar violations of the spirit or intent of TOMA and TIPIA. Do you care enough to do something about it? LIV is here to help you take appropriate action. In the meantime, choose your officials wisely in this election. Do they care about open government and fair play or do have ulterior motives?