Hurst Mayor Henry Wilson: No Friend of Transparency

Hurst City Councilman Henry Wilson

Is No Friend of Government Transparency

By

James Scott Trimm

Government transparency has long been regarded as paramount to Texas voters and the Texas Open Meetings Act seeks to guarantee transparency.  The Act does so by requiring that most government meetings be open to the general public. Notice of these open meetings must be given at least 72 hours in advance.  All final actions, decisions or votes must be made in these open meetings. There are very few exceptions to these rules.  Any official who violates this Act is subject to fines up to $500 or up to six months in prison.

The Texas Open Meeting Act is an essential law which protects the people from closed door meetings and back room dealing behind the citizens backs.  The Texas Open Meetings Act helps keep government transparent.  It is hard to imagine that anyone would be opposed to this important legal protection for Texas citizens.

But Hurst City Councilman Henry Wilson is no friend of transparency in government.  In 2010 Henry Wilson joined fourteen other city council members from various Texas cities and sued the state of Texas in a failed effort to have the Texas Open Meetings Act thrown out.  

The three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit ruled against Mr. Wilson saying:

“Here, government is not made less transparent because of the messages of private speech about public policy: Transparency is furthered by allowing the public to have access to government decision making. This is true whether those decisions are made by cogent empirical arguments or coin-flips. The private speech itself makes the government less transparent regardless of its message,”

Wilson and his friends appealed this decision all the way to the US Supreme Court, which in 2013 refused to hear the case, letting the Fifth Circuit Court's opinion stand.

Our Texas Attorney General (now Governor) Greg Abbott defended TOMA on behalf of the citizens of Texas.  Abbot put it well when he said:

"Open, transparent government is fundamental to our democratic system of government. Today’s decision ensures that the Texas Open Meetings Act will continue holding elected officials accountable to conduct the taxpayers' business in the light of day and in a manner that informs the public about government decision-making,”