The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 79, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 3, 2009 Page: 4 of 17
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Makes Eagle Scout
Thursday, Decembers, 2009
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HHUIISMI
Evan Kice, the son of
Steve and Kathy Kice of
Bastrop, was awarded
the rank of Eagle Scout
on Sept. 27. Along with
fellow scouts, Kice raised
$2,000 to design and
build a 100 square foot
mufti- level cat house for
the Dreamtime Animal
Sanctuary in Elgin. Kice
has been a scout with
both Pack and Troop
187 since 1998. He is
a senior at Bastrop High
School and after a sum-
mer traveling, plans to
attend the University of
Texas at Dallas to pursue
a degree iri computer en-
gineering and software
design,
Book sale opens riday
The Friends of the Bastrop Public
Library invite the public to the 2009
Holiday Book Sale on Friday, Dec. 4
and Saturday, Dec. 5. Used books of all
varieties, videos, DVDs and other items
will be available for purchase. Books
include hardback and paperback, chil-
dren's, reference materials, fiction and
nonfiction. This year a silent auction is
being held for select books. In addition,
a special gift basket will be given away
through a drawing by the Friends.
Income from the sale will help sup-
port the purchase of new books and
other equipment and materials for the
library.
The Holiday Book Sale will be open
to the public on Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mem-
bers of the Friends of the Library are
nvited to an early bird book brows-
ing on Thursday evening, Dec. 3 from
6 to 9 p.m.
Book donations are accepted any-
time at the library during regular
business hours.
Friends of the Bastrop Public
Library are volunteers who support
the city's library through a variety of
fundraising events and by providing
volunteer help in the library, for its
summer program and other events.
For more information about the Hol-
iday Book Sale or to find out more
about membership in the Friends,
contact the Bastrop Public Library at
512-321-5441. The library is at 1100
Church St., Bastrop.
COMMENTARY
Don't mess with law
BY BILL HOBBY
Special to the Advertiser
In Texas the law is clear.
Governing bodies must con-
duct the people's business in
public or else face some seri-
ous penalties. This statute
has protected the public and
elected representatives alike
for the past 42 years with a
basic premise: public bodies
should deliberate in public.
The days of making
backroom good ol' boy deals
in private are a thing of the
past because the Texas Leg-
islature outlawed it by pass-
ing the Open Meetings Act
in 1967, and strengthening
it in 1973 after the infamous
Sharpstown scandal.
Yet, there are some seri-
ous and troubling attempts
under way that could open
the door for that very thing
to occur. At least three
Texas cities and the Texas
Municipal League are en-
dorsing a legal challenge in
the courts that will render
Texas' open meetings laws
ineffective. The TML, which
is supported by your tax
money in the form of mem-
bership fees, is urging more
than 1,100 Texas cities to
sign on to a federal lawsuit.
The details of the chal-
lenge are stated simply:
These public officials claim
the Texas Open Meetings Act
unconstitutionally restricts
their right of free speech un-
der the First Amendment.
Of course, they are free to
say anything they wish to
anyone they wish at any
time they wish. However,
when they are meeting as
a quorum of a governmen-
tal body, they must say it in
front of the public at an open
meeting.
Even more importantly,
the First Amendment can-
not be a shield to prevent
accountability of public offi-
cials, but guarantees access
to the workings of these gov-
ernmental bodies just like it
does to our courts.
TML wants criminal
penalties such as jail time
stripped from the law that
has protected the public
for more than four decades.
They believe the current
language is too punitive and
argue "less restrictive penal-
ties would not only continue
to preserve the integrity of
the Texas Open Meetings
Act but would also recognize
the fundamental right of city
officials to free speech."
In other words, if pub-
lic officials break the law
n the future by conducting
business in secret - i.e., ex-
ercising their rights to free
speech behind closed doors,
a slap on the wrist should be
punishment enough.
It simply defies logic and
apparently not all of TML's
own members agree with
this position. As reported in
The Brownsville Herald on
Nov. 21, 2009, TML board
member and Mercedes May-
or Joel Quintanilla said,
"Either I misunderstood the
entire meeting or something
is happening. The way I
understood it, we all (board
members) voted in favor of
keeping the restrictive pen-
alties, not lessening them."
Quintanilla added, "We
didn't want elected officials
to get comfortable."
He's not the only one ap-
parently confused by TML's
action.
Mercedes Commissioner
Ruben Guajardo is also quot-
ed as saying, "The consen-
sus (of the TML Resolutions
Committee) was that things
were fine the way they were
(with the Texas Open Meet-
ings Act) and that trying to
reinvent the wheel was not
in the best interest of every-
one involved. We (the reso-
lutions committee) felt that
to change something (in
the meetings act) was just
not correct. It really wasn't
right. The consensus was
to leave the Texas Meetings
Act the way it is."
I couldn't agree with
Commissioner Guajardo or
Mayor Quintanilla more.
As a member of the public I
am left confused by what is
happening and why. But I
do know this; I don't want
elected officials to get too
comfortable either because
I have seen firsthand what
can happen if they do.
I hope you will join me in
supporting the idea that the
Open Meetings Act should
be left intact and open
government, without any
strings attached, should
continue to be the law in
Texas. I also urge you to
contact your city leaders
and encourage them not to
join in this effort that could
weaken the Texas Open
meetings laws.
If clarifications are need-
ed to address modern day
changes such as electronic
and digital communications,
then they should be made at
the statehouse - not at city
hall. And, at a minimum,
you should point out to your
public servants that any
discussion on this or any
other issue involving free
speech should be debated in
a public meeting instead of
a rubber-stamp style vote to
please Austin lobbyists.
(Bill Hobby served as
Texas lieutenant governor
from 1973-91.)
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GRAND OPEN NG
LOCATED AT:
57 LOOP 150
In the Colorado Crossing Shopping Center (Formerly Bealls)
DECEMBER 12
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Wright, Cyndi. The Bastrop Advertiser (Bastrop, Tex.), Vol. 156, No. 79, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 3, 2009, newspaper, December 3, 2009; Bastrop, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth252636/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Bastrop Public Library.