"Only Local News All the Time"

  Colleyville News Section

PO Box 332 ~ Colleyville, Texas 76034

Publisher@LocalNewsOnly.com

May 24, 2001

Dianne McWethy

City Manager

City of Colleyville

Via Electronic Transmission

Dear Dianne:

On behalf of Local News Only.com, I put in what I thought was a simple Open Records request asking for information on the amount and ranking of Payless Cashways as a retailer in regards to sales taxes collected.

My office received a call from a Damion(?) saying he was the spokesman for Terry Leake, this date. I was informed that Ms. Leake decided not to release this information because it was "private" and could create some sort of competitive scenario difficulty.

Citizens seeking information on local news visited local News Only.com (LNO) more than 6,000 times last week. As the Publisher of LNO and more importantly as a citizen of Colleyville, I am disappointed in any action that impedes the citizens’ right to public information.

Our attorney has expressed his concern to Ms. Leake over her decision, however she has not agreed to make this information public. LNO considers this decision to be capricious and not based in law.

I refer you to the 1998 Texas Open Record Handbook pg. 62 in the matter of exemptions.

To be within this common-law tort, the information must (1) contain highly intimate or embarrassing facts about a person’s private affairs such that its release would be highly objectionable to a reasonable person and (2) be of no legitimate concern to the public. Because much of the information that a governmental body holds is of legitimate concern to the public, the doctrine of common-law privacy frequently will not exempt information that might be considered "private." For example, the attorney general has found that the doctrine of common-law privacy does not protect the specific information at issue in the following decisions:

I have discussed this matter with the Texas Attorney General’s office and confirmed that the city has no more than 10 days to specifically inform LNO of what exemption is being claimed in this matter.

Speaking as a citizen, versus our business interest, I believe it is clear the citizens have a right to the information and should be provided this data in a timely manner. Recently the city has obligated all taxpayers to millions of dollars in bonds, ultimately that could be offset with partial or all sales tax revenue. The loss of a major taxpayer to our city is a matter of serious concern and the citizens have a right to know the impact of this event.

Having a great deal of respect and affection for our city employees. It is with a great deal of consternation I must inform you that I expect the city to follow the statutes in this matter and honor our Open Records request or provide an Attorney General’s exemption opinion in lieu thereof.

Based on our initial request, the city has until June 8, 2001 to provide this information. In the unlikely event the city does not comply, I will have no choice but to file an official complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s office and ask for their assistance.

Please feel free to call me if we can clear up any misunderstandings.

Sincerely,

Nelson Thibodeaux
Publisher

nt:er

cc: Colleyville City Council

cc: General Counsel & LNO Board