Texas lawmakers are considering restrictions on where local governments can conduct official meetings after a Bastrop City Council retreat more than 100 miles away in Fredericksburg sparked concerns over public access.
The issue was taken up Wednesday by the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight, which was tasked with evaluating the authority of political subdivisions to hold meetings subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act outside their jurisdictions.
Michael Cotton, chief of the Opinions Division at the Office of the Attorney General, told lawmakers that state law does not generally establish a geographic boundary for where political subdivisions may meet.
Instead, Attorney General opinions have emphasized that meetings must be physically accessible to the public, with distance among the factors a court could consider in determining whether a meeting complies with the law.
The committee’s examination follows controversy earlier this month over the Bastrop City Council’s two-day workshop in Fredericksburg, more than 100 driving miles from Bastrop.
The agendas included discussions of the city’s budget and tax rate, transportation, water and wastewater infrastructure, data center policy, legislative priorities, and Flock cameras. Both days also included periods for citizen comments.
Bastrop officials revealed during the hearing that just one resident attended the Fredericksburg workshop in person.
Mayor Ishmael Harris defended the decision, telling lawmakers that Fredericksburg was selected because Bastrop could learn from another historic community dealing with growth, tourism, economic development, and preservation.
“Our workshop was properly posted. It was open to the public. It was live streamed, and no final action was taken,” said Harris. “No votes were cast.”
Harris said he met with the Fredericksburg mayor and that council members and staff also heard from local tourism officials about hotel occupancy taxes, Main Street programs, tourism, and marketing.
City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino said the retreat was also intended to help council members work through internal relationships and substantive policy issues away from their normal environment.
State Rep. Shelby Slawson said she did not believe Bastrop had illegally conducted its meeting and characterized the city as technically complying with the Open Meetings Act. She nevertheless questioned whether holding substantive policy discussions so far from residents was consistent with the law’s purpose.
“These are high interest items for citizens all over the state right now,” said Slawson, pointing to the tax rate, transportation, water, data centers, and Flock cameras discussed during the retreat.
“Don’t remove the business of the people that far from the people,” she added.
Slawson also indicated lawmakers are likely to address the issue legislatively.
“I do expect that the Legislature will take up in some regard how to ensure that these deliberative meetings” remain accessible, she said, later telling Bastrop officials not to “book anything non-refundable for next year.”
State Rep. AJ Louderback was also critical, repeatedly questioning whether taxpayers would view the retreat as a vacation.
Harris rejected that characterization, saying officials did not visit wineries or stay at a luxury hotel and spent their time working and learning about Fredericksburg.
“This was not a vacation,” said Harris.
Committee Chairman Cody Vasut suggested lawmakers could establish a general requirement that political subdivisions conduct meetings within or near their jurisdictions while providing exceptions for circumstances such as natural disasters.
“The general rule I would love to see for all political subdivisions is meet where you have authority or right next door if at all possible and keep it close by,” said Vasut.
State Rep. Stan Gerdes first raised concerns about the Bastrop retreat earlier this month, arguing that holding the workshop in Fredericksburg made it “nearly impossible” for residents to attend and participate.
Gerdes said at the time that he would file legislation requiring city council meetings to be held in the cities they represent so residents have “a fair opportunity to attend, speak, and hold their elected officials accountable.”
Following the hearing, Gerdes told Texas Scorecard that he still plans to pursue legislation targeting the practice.
“It was completely unacceptable for the Bastrop City Council to take a taxpayer-funded trip hours away from where citizens could participate to spend 2 days discussing critical issues including the budget, tax rate, flock cameras and data centers.
“This is not the treatment our families deserve and I’m glad the House committee members saw fit to question this complete abuse of taxpayer dollars after we directly called out the Council for this disgrace.
“I will be filing legislation to ensure these taxpayer-funded getaways to handle the business of the people do not happen anymore,” he added.
