Frontlines

Probe finds no open meeting violations

SAN ANTONIO — Mayor Ed Garza has been cleared of violating the state Open Meetings Act as he and City Council members discussed the fate of then-City Manager Terry Brechtel in late August, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

In a letter to Garza’s attorney, District Attorney Susan Reed said a Texas Rangers investigation turned up insufficient evidence of any violation.

After a series of phone conversations with council members, the mayor called Brechtel to a late-night meeting at City Hall on Aug. 25 and asked her to resign, noting that a council majority supported her ouster.

District suspends official after finding documents

FORT WORTH — A school district administrator has been placed on paid leave while investigators try to determine whether she willfully withheld documents requested under the Texas Public Information Act, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

Juanita Silva, associate superintendent for instruction and a 35-year district employee, was suspended.

Superintendent Joe Ross has asked the district’s Office of Special Investigations to examine why, after almost four months of inquiries, thousands of pages of documents related to the instructional computer program I CAN Learn were discovered in Silva’s office and the offices of two of her subordinates.

AG might sue school district over records

LONGVIEW — The Texas Attorney General’s office planned to sue Longview schools unless the district turned over a document involved in an open records dispute, according to a letter from the attorney general’s office.

The Longview News-Journal requested  a copy of a student’s complaint against a school employee in October under the Texas Public Information Act.

School officials released the document, marking out all but 27 words of the multi-page complaint, citing federal privacy laws.

The News-Journal asked the attorney general’s office in November to review the document, and determine whether the information the school district marked out was lawfully appropriate.

Lawsuit alleges county violated meetings act

BEEVILLE — A lawsuit filed in the 156th Judicial District Court contends the Bee County commissioners violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when approving a $340,000 lease and a $500,000 contract agreement with a computer firm.

The suit was filed against Bee County Judge Jimmy Martinez, Precinct 1 Commissioner Carlos Salazar, Precinct 2 Commissioner Susan Stasny, former Precinct 3 Commissioner Norberto Garcia, Precinct 4 Commissioner Ronnie Olivares, Affiliated Computer Services Inc. and Lorenzo Property Management Inc.

AG: Grant money exempt

AUSTIN — The state attorney general has ruled that companies’ applications for millions of dollars of job-creation grant money cannot be released to the public.

The Dallas Morning News requested the applications in October under the state’s Public Information Act. Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office ruled in late December that applications for grants, which come from Gov. Rick Perry’s $295 million Texas Enterprise Fund, contain confidential corporate information.