Open Meetings Investigation of City of Austin – More than One Year Later

It’s been more than a year since a potential candidate for Austin’s city council filed a bombshell complaint launching an investigation of possible open meetings violations. That criminal investigation is still underway.  Austin activist Brian Rogers reportedly told the online investigative Austin Bulldog, a sitting city council member “told him that council members and the mayor meet in regularly scheduled private meetings with each other to talk about city business.” The Bulldog went on to report, “These meetings routinely occur in days immediately leading up to posted public meetings of the city council.” That could  be considered a “walking-quorum,” a potential violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act with misdemeanor penalties of $100 to $500 fines and up to six months in jail.  But, as the Austin American Statesman points out, time is running out if Travis County Attorney David Escamilla plans to take any official action due to a fast approaching statute of limitations. So far, only Escamilla knows what will happen next.