Open government is fundamental to our democratic system, and essential for elected officials to be responsible and accountable to the people they serve.

Otherwise, politicians would be able to conduct business in secret and our government would be more rife with corruption, cronyism and scandals.

Yet, the Texas Municipal League, a lobbying organization funded by taxpayer dollars from its 1,100 member cities, is continually trying to chip away at the public's right to know.

On Oct. 23, TML passed a resolution offered by the City of Sugar Land that seeks to pass a law that provides "less restrictive penalties that balance the First Amendment right of government officials" who violate the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Simply put, they want to take the teeth out of the Open Meetings Act and make it ineffective.

The Open Meetings Act states that it's illegal if a member or members of a governmental body conspire to circumvent the law "by meeting in numbers less than a quorum for the purpose of secret deliberations."

An offense is punishable by a fine of $100 to $500 and/or confinement in the county jail for one to six months.

The law's intent is to prevent government decisions from being made in secret. The penalties are necessary to prevent rogue elected officials from thumbing their nose at the statute. The reality is that there are only a handful of prosecutions under this statute, but the unspoken message is that it makes public officials mind their P's and Q's. If there is nothing to hide, why disrupt the status quo?

TML's resolution is disingenuous and duplicitous. It starts off by saying Texas cities support the Open Meetings Act, but its criminal penalties create an "unreasonable and possibly unconstitutional constraint on the ability of public officials to communicate with their colleagues regarding public matters outside of governmental meetings." This has never been a problem before, so why the sudden heartburn?

The resolution encourages "less restrictive penalties" that would preserve the integrity of the act and "recognize the fundamental right of city officials to free speech."

Stripping away the enforcement mechanism crucifies the integrity of the Act. TML is saying we need more government secrecy to protect free speech. What tortured logic.

In the meantime, the cities of Alpine, Rockport and Pflugerville aren't waiting on the Legislature. They're planning to file a lawsuit that seeks to declare the criminal penalties of the Open Meetings Act unconstitutional, and seeking other TML member cities to join in. This lawsuit is being paid for by taxpayer dollars as well - outrageous.

It stems from another lawsuit brought earlier this year, Rangra v. Brown, in which the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals dismissed a challenge to the Open Meetings Act.

Passed in 1973 after the infamous Sharpstown scandal, the Open Meetings Act has been successful in allowing more sun to shine on state and local government.

It would be a giant step backward for the courts or Legislature to weaken the act. What are the people at TML afraid of, anyway?

A government of the people, for the people and by the people must do business in the open, not under the cover of darkness.



Vice Chairman, Hartman Newspapers L.P., Rosenberg, and Chairman, Texas Daily Newspaper Association / Texas Press Association Legislative Advisory Committee.