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The Texas Open Meetings Act was established specifically so that elected officials couldn't conduct the public's business without the public at least having an opportunity to be present. That's what participatory democracy is all about. The spirit behind the law is simple: We pay the taxes. It's our money. We have every right to know how it's being spent by the officials we put in office.
But sometimes public meetings bring a level of scrutiny to officials who really would be more comfortable if they could get on with their work in private, without all those nosy reporters and nerdy meeting-watchers looking at everything they do. Such is the case in Irving, where three top city employees met privately with a majority of City Council members in February. They were careful never to have a majority of council members in the room at any one time because that would have invoked a series of time-consuming procedures mandated by the Open Meetings Act. The public would have to be notified. The meeting schedule would have to be posted.
Instead, they made the rounds in private, meeting with one or two council members at a time to discuss Fire Department personnel issues. The officials -- City Manager Tommy Gonzales, City Attorney Charles Anderson and Fire Chief Mario Molina -- defended their actions and said they did nothing wrong, according to Dallas Morning News reporter Brandon Formby. The problem is, when you deliberately try to schedule briefings with elected officials specifically to avoid having a quorum present -- thereby invoking the Open Meetings Act -- you are violating the law. You are deliberately trying to skirt the provision of the law that is designed specifically to give the public access.
Mayor Herb Gears told Formby that these small gatherings were specifically called to avoid a quorum. Former council member Beth Van Duyne said these "walking quorums" were routinely held when she was on the council -- and she refused to participate in them.
Irving voters should be outraged. If these officials are up to such sneaky behavior on this one issue, imagine what else they're hiding. Officials who aren't afraid of public scrutiny, who have nothing to hide from the public, have no problem abiding by both the spirit and the letter of the law. Officials who sneak around in order to avoid being accountable provoke the worst of our suspicions. They deserve not to be trusted because their actions betray an attitude of underhanded betrayal.
In particular, City Attorney Anderson should know better. Using the law to see what you can get away with, and to avoid public accountability, is such an egregious violation of public trust that he needs to resign. Anderson, of course, disagrees that he's done anything wrong.
But none of these officials can claim ignorance of the law. They know exactly what they've been doing. And thanks to Brandon Formby's reporting, now the public knows what's been going on behind their backs.
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