Pratt,
I found it laughable that the City of Abilene decided to table a proposal to suspend all public information requests in the midst of the Wuhan Flu calamity. Abilene leaders want voters to see this as a display of the city’s monumental effort to remain transparent- even during a “crisis.”
Taxpayers have been requesting information about the city’s downtown hotel project for well over one year now and officials still won’t release any numbers (feasibility studies, market analyses, pro-forma studies) to the public.
The Texas Attorney General even told the city earlier this year that it is obligated to release this public information. In response, the City of Abilene has filed a law suit against the AG so that it can continue to withhold the information from the public!
The city already refuses to release info that it doesn’t want the voters to see, so what difference will it make if they decide to suspend all public information requests? Does this sound like transparency?
As if that isn’t enough to start a rebellion, the city is also continuing to spend tax dollars on frivolous projects while shutting down certain local businesses deemed nonessential. The city has not responded to questions about what they are going to cut but instead, has announced a “hotel groundbreaking” this summer, and approval of more DCOA projects. An expansion of city-owned water parks will be announced soon, no doubt.
Abilene elected officials need to remember that the voters will have their opportunity at the ballot-box to show Mayor Williams and the City Council just how “essential” they really are.
Let’s hope folks turn out to vote.
Colby
I may be 100% wrong, but I have served on juries in the past, and have been to local gov’t meetings. A stenographer was present to record the minutes. I have always been under the assumption that this was a legal requirement . So,…….how can the City of Abilene keep public information from it’s taxpayer citizens…? I know if I was in a trial, there would be a recorded history of that event.