Fort Worth, Dallas on Line 1

Finally.

The Dallas Morning News writes about the Tarrant Regional Water District. 

Read what the Water District spokesperson had to say.  YOU can't afford not to.

Kudos to Dallas for having a real "news" paper.  Y'all come back real soon!!

And for the rest of you, there's an election coming up.  Pay attention!

Bennett’s lawsuit alleges that the real debate and discussion of water district business — decisions on the pipeline route and awarding of multi-million-dollar design, engineering and construction contracts — takes place not in the public meetings of the board of directors but in secret committee meetings.

Notices about the time, place and agenda of those committee meetings are neither posted publicly ahead of time nor do they appear on the water district’s web site, according to Chad Lorance, a spokesman for the water district.

A little background is in order here for readers unfamiliar with local governments in Texas.

The Texas Attorney General has ruled repeatedly that a governmental body such as a tax-supported water district cannot create committees to deal with a public issue and then allow the committees to meet in secret and make decisions in secret.

I asked Lorance for a legal rationale for why the water district’s committees should not be subject to the state open meetings law. He did not answer directly.

Instead, he cited another statute found in the Texas Water Code. It says, “A meeting of a committee of the board, or a committee composed of representatives of more than one board, where less than a quorum of any one board is present, is not subject to the provisions of the open meetings law.”

One could infer from Lorance’s citation that the water board committees purposely structure their meetings to include less than a quorum to avoid violating the open meetings law. But he did not say that.

“All 339 actions were unanimously adopted by the board,” the lawsuit concluded.

Water Boarding 3-2

Earlier we told you the Tarrant Regional Water District held a vote to give them themselves another year in office.

Wouldn't it be a conflict of interest for someone to vote on extending their own term?  You know, even in Fort Worth?

Kudos to Jim Lane and Hal Sparks for possibly making history on a TRWD vote.  Even the Fort Worth Star-Telegram noticed.

But the water board, which historically has been known for casting unanimous votes, was split on the issue.

Sparks said he felt like he made an agreement with voters to serve four years when he was elected and voted his conscience on the issue.

Does that mean the other board members don't have one?

Taking back OUR town...

One board at a time.  Read about the Tarrant County College Board elections and the shake up (or down) in the FW Weekly. 

What a difference an election makes.Less than an hour after Bill Greenhill and O. K. Carter were sworn in as new trustees on the Tarrant County College District board last week, the majority voting bloc that board president Louise Appleman had led for two years was turned on its collective head.

Trustee Robyn Winnett, who often butted heads with Appleman on critical policy issues and at least once called for her resignation, nominated board member Joe Hudson for president that night. Greenhill and Carter voted with them in what Carter calls “a power shift on the board.” Winnett and Hudson, who had previously found themselves on the losing end of most votes, were suddenly part of a new and very different four-member majority.

Under Hudson’s leadership, Greenhill said, the board will be “more inclusive, transparent, and will engage the community” in its decision-making process. Long-time critics of Appleman say she failed to do that, running the board as if she oversaw a private corporation rather than a public institution.