The Sandy Oaks City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act on September 2, 2015 when it held a meeting without announcing its location to the public 72 hours in advance.
4 of the 5 Aldermen were present for the meeting which was led by Mayor Pro Tempore Earnest Gay. Accomplice to the illegal meeting were City Clerk Charlotte Rabe, City Marshal Jesse Gutierrez, and City Attorney Cassandra Ortiz.
The Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA)requires notice of a meeting’s location 72 hours in advance:
Sec. 551.043. TIME AND ACCESSIBILITY OF NOTICE; GENERAL RULE.
(a) The notice of a meeting of a governmental body must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least 72 hours before the scheduled time of the meeting
The City Council had originally planned a September 2nd meeting to take place at the Braunig Lake RV Resort Meeting Hall, the same location as the August 13th City Council meeting which was also listed as a “meeting hall.” Instead of meeting at the planned location, the Council moved the meeting to a different building approximately 100 yards away.
Texas law does allow the location of a meeting to change if there is a catastrophe. The law also clearly defines what a possible catastrophe could be:
Sec. 551.0411.
(c) In this section, “catastrophe” means a condition or occurrence that interferes physically with the ability of a governmental body to conduct a meeting, including:
(1) fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, or wind, rain, or snow storm;
(2) power failure, transportation failure, or interruption of communication facilities;
(3) epidemic; or
(4) riot, civil disturbance, enemy attack, or other actual or threatened act of lawlessness or violence.
Sandy Oaks News could not find evidence or rumor of fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, tornado, wind, rain, snow, power failure, transportation failure, epidemic, or riot.
The City Council did not give a reason for the illegal location change.
Violating the Texas Open Meetings Act is a misdemeanor offense. Members of governing bodies who knowingly violate the act can be fined up to $100 and/or serve up to 6 months in jail.
The violation of the Act was not the first violation of this year. On May 14, 2015, Aldermen David Tremblay, Earnest Gay, and Doug Tomasini participated in a meeting where they engaged in an conversation over an item not listed on the agenda. Click here to read more.
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