Open Records Process Question

Does the College Station, TX open records policy and procedures result in the production of the records requested?

Background:

I read the web page information that College Station used to explain the Red Light Cameras System.  I wanted to know more.  To accomplish this goal I used the Texas Public Information Act to request information from College Station, TX.  “An open government is the cornerstone of a free society” is one of the first lines I read on the Texas Attorney Generals Open Records Web Page.  I felt good about the system that was in place for citizens to understand what was happening with my government.  I felt confident that that I could gain access to the documents that I needed for my education on Red Light Cameras.

I was nervous filling out the first Open Records Request; I had never done anything like asking for information from the government.  I am now over the nervousness and have used the Open Records Request System to produce much of the information that I have on the Red Light Camera System.

Facts:

I emailed the open records request below to the City of College Station, TX on Friday Aug 28, 2009:

Open Records Request Aug. 28, 2009

One city official reported that they had no materials related to the request.

Reply from Elected Official

The results of an Open Records Request cost .10 per page to purchase from the City.  Because of the potential cost and the wide date range of my request I selected one elected official to focus on.  You can see the request below.

Open Records Request Sept. 11, 2009

I expected to receive thousands of pages of information on every thing from the Convention Center, Tree Ordinance, Sound Ordinance, but no red light camera emails.   In response to request for all emails for the elected official for the past 27 months I received 72 pages of material covering only 45 emails, and 7 of the 45 emails were about the Red Light Camera Issue.  I received no emails from the gmail.com address, all of the emails were from the cstx.gov email address.  The 7 red light camera emails are posted below.

Elected Official Doc 1

Elected Official Doc 2

Elected Official Doc 3

Elected Official Doc 4

Elected Official Doc 5

Elected Official Doc 6

Elected Official Doc 7

Questions:

• Do you believe as a reasonable person that I received the information that I requested?
• Do you believe that their are no emails related to official College Station business on the gmail.com address of the official in question
• If  I was denied information; how many other officials are similarly situated, conducting College Station business on their personal email accounts and then not including the emails in open records request searches.
• Do you believe that an elected official can have only 45 emails related to their official work in the past 27 months?

Why does it matter?

As the Attorney Generals Web Page states “An open government is the cornerstone of a free society”.   If the City’s Policy toward Open Records results in reports that are less then what can be reasonably expected then we can not have confidence that the City is acting as an open government.

City to use Public Funds to Purchase Political Ads

Sept. 11, 2009 – The question I have?  Could the City of College Station go so far with this voter eduction program they end up violating the spirit or letter of the Texas Election Code, by the nature, size, timing, and aggressiveness of their planned “educational program”?  When was the last time you saw a red light camera education program ad in College Station?  Is this the same city that could not find even one more dime in spending cuts last week…

Ben White Notes from Larry Hodges Meeting

Larson How Aggressive to be

Larson Voter Education Tactics

Bullard to Larson 10K education proposal

Larson to Borowiec 8-10-2009

2008 RLC Education Spending CSTX

Texas Election Code Sec. 255.003 – Unlawful Use of Public Funds For Political Advertising

Sept 15, 2009
News hits the web media

College Station Media Buy on TheNewsPaper.com

Sept 15, 2009 at 4:00pm I received one report that I am trying to confirm that the City of College Station has changed their plans to do a big media buy to run while the polls are open this election cycle.  I will not speculate on their manor of decision making, rather I will let the open records speak for themselves.  I will work today to confirm the City of College Stations position on the ads, and once I get the confirmation I will post it here. Stay tuned…

Sept 17, 2009 at 9:44am
The City of College Station’s Assistant City Manager David Neeley confirms that the City plans no media buys during the coming election cycle.

Neeley Says CSTX not going to buy media during election cycle.

Oct. 8, 2009 It appears the City of College Station and city manager Glen Brown has violated the election laws of the State of Texas. Mr. Brown is using taxpayer money to fund political advertising to keep red light cameras in College Station. A complaint filed in Austin October 7, 2009 alleges Mr. Brown is using $20,000.00 in public funds to produce, and send out to the voters, material that falsely and misleadingly states red light cameras have reduced traffic accidents. The false and misleading information is sufficiently substantial and important enough to influence a voter in the November 3, 2009 election.  Conversations, emails obtained as a result of “Freedom of Information” requests indicate the city manager and members of the city council know the facts to be misleading and false.  Knowingly using city money to misrepresent facts for the purpose of influencing an election is a violation of election code.

Glenn Brown Texas Ethics Commission Complaint

2008 RLC Tickets

Total Ticket Report 2008

The linked document shows the total number of tickets issued in 2008. I encourage you to take a look.