Documents are public from the moment they are fixed – in print or digital formQ: My city is seeking a city manager. The city council narrowed the field from 30 to an unknown number. Interviews are starting next week. Do they have to tell me the names of the final three or four? I know school boards don’t.
Q: Without advertising the availability of land for purchase, our county hospital district agreed to sell an adjacent strip of land to an individual. As far as we can tell at this point, it was the buyer who approached the district, not the other way around, and remarkably, a deal was made without public knowledge or consent.
Q&A: Checks endorsed to deceased man still get cashedQ: Our county is making out checks to a known-to-be-deceased person for goods and services. A living person is cashing the checks. How do I know? Because my open records requests to obtain copies of the checks have been fulfilled.
Q&A: EEOC complaints, council nepotism and school board settlements Q: I am hovering at the edges of a potential story that’s brewing at the county courthouse. It has to do with allegations of employment discrimination. Can I get my hands on written complaints that are rumored to exist?
Q: I am just back from covering the UIL State Championship Basketball Tournament with a card full of photos. I noticed in the press packet that UIL prohibits sale of those photos. Is this a new rule?
County clerk may or may not store certified agenda
Q: Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Our superintendent approved a voluntary separation agreement with the school district. TASB was hired to do the search for a replacement with an interim to be appointed by the school board. At a special board meeting, the four controlling members blindsided everybody by naming the existing superintendent as her own interim.
Q: To guard a newspaper’s reputation for impartiality, is there not some kind of unspoken “industry understanding” that newspaper employees should follow regarding political activities? I have an opening for a reporter and I want to screen applicants to make sure they can keep their political proclivities to themselves.
Q: We're looking ahead to our county day at the Capitol in the coming session of the Texas Legislature. What's the process for getting access to the floor of the House and the floor of the Senate?
Q: How much can my city spend on a police vehicle without publishing a bid notice in the newspaper?