But Wait, You Voted For That
September 24th, 2007 at 10:02 am
In an article last week in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas House members Patrick Rose (D-Dripping Springs) and Rob Orr (R-Burleson) were quoted criticizing the notion that the state’s General Land Office ought to be able to keep certain information secret while involved in buying and selling real estate.
The Observer has touched on the merits of the practice here.
The secrecy gives the Land Office an edge — since important details like how much the state paid for a given piece of property as well as how much it’s worth can be kept from prospective buyers and the public for a certain period of time. The problem is, Texas decades ago embraced the idea that government should be transparent in its operations and that sunshine can and must illuminate the dark corners of the state’s freewheeling deals — if only to keep the voters informed and to serve as a check on powerful bureacrats and influential interests.
According to the Star-Telegram, Rose echoed this ‘open government’ rationale, saying, “The state’s business is the people’s business… To take this out of the sunshine of open records just doesn’t make sense. It makes a problem that’s bad, I think, worse.”
The paper says Orr argued a similar point, saying, “I don’t really believe that government, no matter whether it’s local or state government, should be in the business of competing against private interests… I think they should be into more-conservative investments.”
Sounds like both are ready to gear up and exercise at least a little oversight into the Land Office’s deals — right?
Wrong. The talk and the walk aren’t quite in sync. In fact, a cursory check of the votes cast on the various ‘confidentiality of contracts’ bills in 2005 and 2007 shows that Rose and Orr both voted ‘aye’ — they joined an overwhelming majority of house members in passing HB 2217 in 2005 and SB 596 and HB 3699 in 2007 — the very pieces of legislation that enable the Land Office to keep the information confidential.
According to Star-Telegram reporter Jay Root,Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson makes no bones about what he sees as part of his job.
“I’m not in the park business,” he said. “I’m in the moneymaking business.”
Some Texans think the state owns certain real estate because people want those properties preserved (like the Christmas Mountains near Big Bend National Park or even the Governor’s Mansion) There are some things that only the state can do — and protecting a unique mountain range from development is one of them.
Maybe Mr. Rose and Mr. Orr can clarify their position on ‘confidentiality of contracts.’ As soon as they do, we’ll have it here.
