Peyton Wolcott - The HB 2264 Saga

2007 TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION LOBBY LIST

Baxter, Todd A. (00051716)
(512)474-2082
506 West 16th Street Austin, TX 78701

Alliance for Retail Markets
701 Brazos Suite 1040 Austin, TX
78701
$50,000 - $99,999.99

Alliance of Retail Markets
701 Brazos Suite 1040 Austin, TX
78701
$50,000 - $99,999.99

Lost Creek Municipal Utility District
1305 Quaker Ridge Rd Austin, TX
78746
$25,000 - $49.999.99

Texas Cable & Telecom Assn
506 West 16th Street Austin, TX 78701
$150,000 - $199,999.99

Texas Cable Association Inc.
506 West 16th Street Austin, TX 78701
$150,000 - $199,999.99

Bill would limit
public information
May 4, 2005
Associated Press

A bill under consideration in the Texas
House would limit to 50 pages the
public records per month a person
could retrieve from the same
government agency without incurring
extra charges.

Current law has a limit of 50 pages per
request free of labor, overhead and
other charges but has no monthly limit
on the number of different requests
that can be filed.

Proponents say the bill is necessary to
relieve the burden placed on school
districts and other agencies for
extensive requests that are ultimately
paid for by taxpayers.

Some open government advocates,
including a network of parents across
Texas who say they use open
records requests to hold schools
accountable, counter that the bill
would restrain the average person's
ability to investigate possible
government wrongdoing.

The open records battle between a
pair of Austin-area mothers and Eanes
Independent School District spilled into
the Capitol when a House committee
heard testimony this week on the bill
by Rep. Todd Baxter, R-Austin.

"It's not my intent at all to impede the
access of information," Baxter said,
adding that citizens could continue to
look at as many public records as they
want without charge but would have
to pay to have them copied.

"People will still be able to make
requests and review them for free.
This bill doesn't change that at all," he
said.

The bill is not meant to target people
who file numerous requests, such as
the two women who file regular
requests with Eanes schools in
Baxter's district, he added.

One of those women testified against
the bill before a House committee
Monday night.

"They're restricting my ability to share
what I have viewed to the general
public," said Susan Bushart, who has
filed more than 250 requests with
Eanes to find out whether the district's
resources are being allocated
efficiently. "Obtaining public
information in my district is costly."

She and Dianna Pharr have posted
many of the documents on their Web
site.

"The vast majority of our requesters
would never have any change" under
the bill, Eanes Superintendent Nola
Wellman said. "I don't believe the
authors of the Freedom of Information
Act intended school districts to bear
the cost of the requests."

Eanes has been strained by a recent
flood of requests and had to hire
someone to handle the increased
volume. Between late spring 2003 and
autumn 2004, Eanes spent more than
$65,000 in staff time and lawyers'
fees related to open records requests,
Wellman said last year.

Baxter said he was not pressured
by the school district to push the
bill.

His proposal remains pending in the
House State Affairs Committee.

2005
TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION
LOBBY LIST
Ratliff, Robert
Thomas
(00031723)
(512)494-9180
816 Congress # 1270 Austin, TX 78701

American Insurance Assn
500 West 13th 3rd Fl Austin, TX 78701
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

C-L Ranch
Box 192 Dell City, TX 79837
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

City of Longview
P.O. Box 1952 Longview, TX 75606
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

El Paso Electric Company
P.O. Box 982 El Paso, TX 79960
Amount: $50,000 - $99,999.99

JR3 Education Associates LLC
P.O. Box 1067 Waco, TX 76703-1067
Amount: Less Than $10,000.00

Microsoft Corporation
1 Microsoft Wy Redmond, WA 98052
Amount: $25,000 - $49.999.99

North Atlantic Trading Company
257 Park Ave South NY, NY 10010
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Northrop Grumman Tech Svcs
2411 Dulles Crnr Pk #500 Herndon, VA
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Polaris Industries
2100 Hway 55 Medina, MN 55340
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Ron Hinkle
816 Congress #1270 Austin, TX 78701
Amount: $25,000 - $49.999.99

T-Mobile USA
12920 SE 38th St Bellevue, WA 98006
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Texas Alliance for Patient Access
P.O. Box 15587 Austin, TX 78761
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Texas Asbestos Consumers Coalition
401 West 15th # 975 Austin, TX 78701
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Texas Civil Justice League
401 W 15th # 975 Austin, TX 78701
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Texas Travel Industry Assn
801 San Antonio Austin, TX 78701
Amount: Less Than $10,000.00

The Home Depot
101 Constitution Ave Wash DC 20002
Amount: $25,000 - $49.999.99

Western Wireless
3650 131st Av NE #400 Bellevue,WA
98006
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

P E Y T O N W O L C O T T

The HB 2264 saga: How Education,
Inc.'s vast, hidden tentacles connect
lobbyists, superintendents & lawmakers

Texans for Education Accountability
(TEA), from left: Peyton Wolcott,
founder; Nancy Gadbois, Susan
Bushart and Dianna Pharr.

'ON A STACK OF BIBLES': Outside the
hall, Baxter spoke with Susan and me,
asserting that HB 2264 had nothing to
do with either of the Eanes moms, to
the point that he said, "I swear on a
stack of Bibles." The comment took
us both by surprise for a variety of
reasons, not the least of which was
his reference to Biblical oaths.

LET'S START WITH EANES ISD:
Three years ago, when Eanes moms
Dianna Pharr and Susan Bushart
(see "Who's Who" at right) were intro-
duced to each other by a teacher, they
quickly discovered they had similar
backgrounds of volunteering in their
kids' schools plus both were looking
for similar information regarding
Eanes' spending and the reasons
behind its decision making. When
the administration ignored their infor-
mal requests for information, the two
began filing independent public rec-
ords requests at Eanes in June 2003.

TEXANS FOR EDUCATION
ACCOUNTABILITY: Although several
parents from around the state came
together to organize this new group to
stop passage of HB 2264, in the end
only a handful of us were able to take
entire days off to travel to Austin and
lobby the legislature: Susan Bushart,
Nancy Gadbois, Dianna Pharr and I.
Armed only with a stack of homemade
flyers we visited every representative
and most senators. Because none of
us had ever done anything like this
before, imagine our surprise when HB
2264 failed.

Eanes ISD administration building

EANES REACTS: Like many school
districts, Eanes didn't like the two
moms looking so closely. Interim
supe Jess Butler and his successor
Nola Wellman both chose rather than
to produce the requested documents
to instead steer an increasing
number of the moms' public records
requests to outside attorneys and to
Texas attorney general Greg Abbot.

Texas Legislature

There this tale would have
ended except that Dianna
Pharr filed a public records
request to view Todd Baxter's
emails, more.

Left, Jess Butler (PHOTO/Jana
Birchum- Black Star, CrossTalk)
Right, Nola Wellman (PHOTO/News 8)

MAY 24, 2005: To his credit, Baxter
produced the emails and other public
records Dianna had asked to view
without involving either outside
attorneys or the Office of the Attorney
General. We all met at his designated
viewing area at the Reagan Building
on West 15th in the capitol complex.

Given that districts could themselves
determine the number of hours of
"labor," costs to parents and taxpayers
to view districts' public records would
have skyrocketed and put an end to
many such searches. Experienced
public records activists well know that
you have to sort through reams of
paper to find anything.
Baxter listed as sources for the bill
Eanes supe Nola Wellman and
Thomas Ratliff, a professional lobbyist
whose father and partner is Bill Ratliff,
lobbyist for Texas Ass'n of School
Boards (almost $100,000/year). The
Ratliff's also represent The Texas Civil
Justice League whose directors
include Alcoa, Shell, Conoco, TXU and
Union Pacific Railroad executives.
Nevertheless, Baxter insisted he was
an advocate of open records.

Many of Baxter's responsive
documents were heavily redacted

This is what a public records viewing
looks like: a couple of people sitting at
a table going through a stack of
papers. You have to look carefully at
each of the sheets because none of
them comes equipped with bells and
sirens saying, "This is important."

(Left to right) Eanes ISD's paid
lobbyist Brad Shields, Todd Baxter,
Nola Wellman and Clint Sayers

HB 2264 PUBLIC HEARING: In
addition to EISD supe Nola Wellman,
EISD board president Clint Sayers
testified on behalf of HB 2264, Sayers
making the point that as a business-
man when he did public records
searches he expected to pay for the
records-- missing the point that
Susan Bushart and I made during our
testimonies that we were parents and
taxpayers trying to find out how our
schools were spending our money,
not businessmen expecting to recoup
the public records fees by turning a
profit from the records.

Susan Bushart (left) with Dianna
Pharr looking at the smoking gun
buried in hundreds of pieces of
paper, the document below signed
by Baxter's aide Candice Shapiro,
clearly showing Eanes ISD supe Nola
Wellman as "Source of bill" along
with Bill Ratliff's son Thomas Ratliff.
Note that neither Susan nor Dianna
were listed as potential witnesses.

Then-Eanes ISD board president
Clint Sayers testifying on behalf of
HB 2264 at May 2, 2005 hearing

"THE SMOKING GUN"
Here's what a smoking gun looks like--just another piece of paper
unless you understand the context, the names, the dates

Notable if incorrect
quote from
Associated Press:
"Baxter said he
was not pressured
by the school
district to
push the bill."
-- May 4, 2005

This (above) with EISD supe Nola Wellman's name ('Dr. Wellman') shown first as 'source of bill' is proof that
Eanes ISD was the source of HB 2264--Baxter's stack of Bibles or no. 'Thomas Ratliff' is the son of Bill Ratliff,
author of Texas' so-called Robin Hood public school finance scheme--and powerful Texas Ass'n of School
Boards paid professional lobbyist. POSTSCRIPT: Five months after this bill was defeated, Baxter resigned
his seat to become a full-time professional lobbyist himself (more below under banner 'Texas Ethics
Commission Lobby List').

HB 2264 TIMELINE

May 5, 2005 - Dianna Pharr
reminds Nola, "I tried for a full
year to volunteer to work on the
EISD website–at no cost to the
district–to post items such as
board agendas, minutes and
handouts. Public information
could be posted to the EISD and I
am certain that this could be
accomplished through volunteer
efforts."
NOTE: NO RESPONSE
RECEIVED FROM NOLA AS OF
JULY 10, 2006.

May 6, 2005 - Dianna Pharr
sends a series of public records
request to Rep. Todd Baxter:
"Please allow me to observe any
and all public information related
to communications of any kind for
any reason, including but not
limited to e-mails and
correspondence between and
among you (and your office and
staff) and the Eanes Independent
School District employees,
associates and board members
for the past two years....Please
allow me to observe any and all
documents that show or reflect
information regarding the Eanes
Independent School District
(employees, associates and
board members) for the past two
years. Responsive documents
should include but are not limited
to phone logs and notes
generated and/or received by
you or your office and staff.
Please also include emails
generated by or received by
home and/or office computers. If
an email has an attachment,
please remember to open it and
print it out for my review, as
well. If any of the public
information has confidential
information, please contact me so
that we can work together to
avoid the need for an opinion
request with the Office of the
Attorney General."

May 9, 2005 - Committee report
filed.

May 10, 2005 - Committee report
sent to Calendars.

May 13, 2005 - Austin American-
Statesman announces HB 2264
is "dead," never having found a
Senate sponsor. Fortunately for
Texas parents and taxpayers,
Senator Jeff Wentworth of San
Antonio apparently changed his
mind and declined his co-
sponsorship. of the bill.

May 24, 2005 - Dianna, Susan
and Peyton view documents
produced by Rep. Baxter's office
responsive to Dianna's May 6
requests.

Oct. 20, 2005 - Todd announces
his resignation from the Texas
Lege, effective Nov. 1, 2005.

March 8, 2005 - Rep. Todd
Baxter files HB 2264 during
the 79th Legislature's regular
session.

May 2, 2005 - The five-day
rule regarding posting of bills
is suspended by David
Swinford, chair-State Affairs
Committee, who then
immediately schedules a
public hearing for later that
afternoon. Testifying in favor
of HB 2264 are Eanes ISD supe
Nola Wellman and then-EISD
board chair Clint Sayers;
testifying against are Susan
Bushart and Peyton Wolcott.
When Wellman begins her
testimony, committee chair
Swinford remarks on the golf
game earlier that day.

May 2, 2005 - DeeDee
Stone, wife of EISD board
member Paul Stone, sends
an email with the RE line:
"House Bill 2264- PLEASE HELP
ASAP" to "Friends" including:
former EISD board member
Donna Howard (who won Todd's
seat after he resigned); Teena
Ball (wife of 2004-05 president,
Westlake Chap Club (the high
school's athletic booster club);
Ellen Balthazar (EISD board
member); Marvin Bendele (former
EISD board member); Jill Durkee
(EISD "permanent substitute" and
wife of board member/now
board president Robert Durkee);
Clint Sayers (2004-05 EISD
board president); Mike Monnig
(EISD board member) Anne
Monnig (wife of Mike Monnig);
Shary Orr (2005-06 Westlake
Chap Club co-President).

May 5, 2005 - Rich Oppel of
the Austin American-
Statesman writes a column
regarding HB 2264, quotes
Eanes ISD supe Nola Wellman as
citing lack of personnel as the
district's reason for not posting
public records online. (See grey
box below)

May 5, 2005 - According to
Lege records, "Representative
Cook, Byron moved that HB
2264, as substituted, be reported
favorably to the full house with
the recommendation that it do
pass and be printed. " The
motion prevailed because the
following five representatives
were willing to go on the record
as "aye" votes: Dave Swinford,
Byron Cook, Jim Keffer, Trey
Martinez-Fischer, and Mike
Villarreal.

Brad Shields-
Registered Lobbyist
(2005)

(00012135) [partial listing below]
(512)413-2700 P.O. Box
162925 Austin, TX 78716-2925

Eanes Independent School District
P.O. Box 162925 Austin, TX
78716
Amount: Less Than $10,000.00

RaptorWare
Amount: Less Than $10,000.00

Texas Assn of School
Psychologists
Amount: $25,000 - $49.999.99

Texas Smokestack School
Coalition
Amount: $50,000 - $99,999.99

Interested? Would
you like to learn
more about Texas'
registered lobbyists
and their clients,
how much they
expect to earn this
year? Link to more
here:
www.ethics.state.tx.us/t
edd/lobcon2006d.htm

POSTSCRIPT

As of July 10, 2006, Dianna Pharr was still
waiting for the following from Eanes ISD:
EISD supe Nola Wellman's new salary,
benefits and contract (requested Apr. 27,
2006) EISD Apr. 26, 2006 handwritten
board meeting minutes (requested Apr. 27,
2006) Public information held by EISD
trustees: board minutes, agendas and
correspondence (first requested September
2005). When EISD provided no responsive
documents by Jan. 2006, Dianna asked
again. EISD filed an opinion request with
the OAG which issued an opinion letter on
May 10, 2006, specifying which documents
EISD had to produce responsive to her
requests. STATUS PER DIANNA
JULY 10, 2006, TWO MONTHS LATER:
"The district has not provided a single
responsive document." The following was
requested Dec. 7, 2005: Any and all
documents related to the $21,000 in
allowances to the superintendent.
“Information in an account, voucher or
contract” including for example contracts on
applicable individuals, such as Ruth Bibb.
05-06 information on Cory Duty and Anne
Nelson. Payroll Authorization Forms and
any other responsive information
for 2005-06 on all specified employees (see
list of employees provided to district on
December 21, 2005 upon the district’s
request). Earnings related to Community
Education (EISD coaches, for example,
earn money through Eanes ISD Community
Education). Health club membership
documents. Name, sex, ethnicity, salary,
title, and dates of employment and contract
and/or agreement for each identified
employee. Expense reimbursements.
Salary, benefits, stipends, incentives,
incentive plans, expense reimbursements,
automobile allowances, health club
membership benefits and any other tangible
or intangible benefits for 2003-04, 2004-05,
2005-06. (NOTE: The only responsive
documents provided by the district for 05-06
is an Excel spreadsheet which did not
include information for it didn’t include Cory
Duty or Anne Nelson or other information
requested such as expense reports.)

RELEVANT, AND
WORTH THE
READ

Commentary: Crack
open schools' books
By Chris Patterson -
Thursday, April 28, 2005
(Austin American Statesman)

What enterprise do you
suppose wrote checks
amounting to $1.6 million for
lawyers, $375,000 for
various chambers of
commerce, $311,000 for
professional association
fees, $90,000 for Franklin
Covey (personal
effectiveness and
productivity training),
$14,500 for Billie Arbuckle
Adventures and $2.7 million
for Young Audiences of
North Texas (arts and
cultural programs)?

Would you be surprised to
learn it was a Texas public
school district?

These expenditures
occurred when the district
claimed it was "forced" to
dismiss several hundred
high school teachers
because of "inadequate"
funding. And when it was
suing Texans for more tax
dollars. The district? Dallas
Independent School District,
according to a review of their
check register last spring.

Dallas is not alone; its
books were just the easiest
to crack, which explains how
the education bureaucracy
gets away with claims of
"inadequate" funding.

Public schools simply do not
keep accounting books that
clearly identify how money is
spent. Although districts
make megabytes of financial
data available on the
Internet, the state's reporting
system is so Byzantine that
it's impossible for Texans to
get a handle on how school
spending is directed into
true academic outcomes.

School finance reform offers
the perfect opportunity to
introduce a reporting system
that opens the books to
taxpayers in a clear, direct
way. The Texas Legislature
should seize this opportunity
to craft legislation that
improves school accounting
practices.

The Texas House, in House
Bill 2, called for greater
clarity in school spending by
requiring more disclosure.
The bill requires schools to
provide more detail about
non-instructional spending
— identifying money spent
on memberships and
lobbying. This is a definite
step forward, a strong
improvement over current
accounting practices. But it
does not go far enough.

As the Texas Senate takes
up its own version of school
finance reform, it, too, must
make every effort to restore
our confidence that reporting
on school spending is more
than another Enron-style
accounting scheme.

The accounting ledger must
differentiate between
expenditures on mandatory,
direct classroom costs and
optional programs.

What cannot happen is the
watering down of
meaningful reporting with
the inclusion of items such
as "school leadership,"
"curriculum development"
and "counseling services"
as direct instructional costs.

If the lobbyists representing
school administrators have
their way in this debate,
almost anything a school
does would be identified as
instructional expenditures —
just like it is today. Of
course, that makes as much
sense as counting
everything in a kitchen as
nutrition-related spending.

School administrators want
to continue to claim that
inadequate funding forces
them to fire elementary
school reading teachers,
while being able to pay
chamber of commerce dues
and construct tennis courts,
and using our tax dollars to
hire lawyers who sue us for
higher state taxes.

Our hope for getting schools
to open their books to
scrutiny rests now with the
Texas Senate, then with the
Legislature's conference
committee. We must get this
right; it is unlikely we will
have another chance to
improve school accounting
practices for a decade.

Texans deserve full, clear
access to the information
needed to control wasteful
spending and improve
public education. And until
schools are forced to do so,
Texans should close their
wallets.

Patterson is the director of
research at the Texas Public
Policy Foundation, a
nonprofit research institute
based in Austin. [NOTE:
Chris has since left TPPF.]

How we take back our children's education:
one person, one question, one school at a time.

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"Governor vetoes
sunshine bill

Citing an 'inherent conflict of
interest,' Gov. Arnold
Shwarzenegger last weekend
vetoed legislation that would have
required the Attorney General’s
Office to review rejected requests
for public records under the
California Public Records Act and
offer its written opinion concerning
the request.

Sponsored by Californians Aware
and supported by CNPA, AB 2927
by Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-
San Francisco) would have also
allowed courts, in appropriate
circumstances, to assess a
financial penalty against agencies
that disregard their duty to comply
with the Act and made several
changes to the law with regard to
improving public access to state
agencies by use of their internet
web sites. It would have required
the Department of Justice to
convene an advisory task force to
consider a statutory standard
governing the posting of certain
activities under the act, and to
report its findings and
recommendations to the Governor
and the Legislature no later than
September 30, 2007.

In his veto message,
Schwarzenegger declares 'an
open and accessible government
is critical to instill confidence in
the governed.' Noting the people
recently 'voted overwhelmingly to
make access to public records a
fundamental right,'
Schwarzenegger said he had
issued an executive order
requiring state agencies to post
their public records procedures in
their offices and to train staff.
'These efforts address the
problem this bill is attempting to
fix,' he wrote.

With respect to the Attorney
General review provisions,
Schwarzenegger wrote: 'The
Attorney General is the attorney for
most State agencies and advises
agencies on responding to such
requests and thus this bill creates
an inherent conflict of interest.'

The Senate had approved
AB 2927 on a vote of 40-0
and the Assembly on a
vote of 78-0.

Schwarzenegger is the third
governor to veto attorney general
review legislation. Three previous
bills sponsored by CNPA and
overwhelmingly approved by the
legislature were vetoed–two by
Gov. Gray Davis and one by Gov.
Pete Wilson.

Cal Aware General Counsel Terry
Francke said this about the veto:
'The Governor’s veto of AB 2927
puts him in the open government
tradition of Gray Davis and the
Bush White House. Last January
Californians Aware audited key
state agencies’ compliance with
their most basic duties under the
California Public Records Act and
found them earning an F grade
average. The Governor then
ordered training for the agencies
that raised the average grade on
our second survey to no more
than a C-although the audited
agencies knew we were coming
back and what we would ask for.
Obviously the Governor is
satisfied with C performance at
best, since his training efforts, he
says, 'address the problem this
bill (was) attempting to fix.'    We
don’t believe that, of course, and
neither do the more than 150 state
agency officials who are coming to
our own training session in the
Capitol this week. As for the
'inherent conflict of interest' the
Governor sees in having the
Attorney General review denials of
public records requests, that
issue was resolved in the bill, as
anyone who actually read AB 2927
would have discovered.   The
Governor’s veto of this bill leaves
no doubt that his pledge, in his
first campaign for the Governor’s
office, to take extraordinary steps
to open California government to
public scrutiny, either was an
empty promise from the outset or
a commitment he decided to drop
after achieving office. One way or
the other, the Governor has at this
point obviously decided there is
no longer any need to make
transparent government a
standard to pursue. The only thing
transparent at this hour is the
phoniness of his pretexts for
vetoing AB 2927.' "
---------------------
PW Comment:
Our extra step here in Texas, that
we can take our public records
problems to the state attorney
general rather than go straight to
court as they do in California and
other states, is not perfect, but at
least it's an extra step available to
us.
One reason why parents do not
fare as well as school districts
when presenting our case to the
OAG may be as simple as this:
Texas Attorney General Greg
Abbott's wife Cecilia accepted an
appointment to the State Board for
Educator Certification, which is at
the Texas Education Agency.
Our queries about this
arrangement to both Abbotts have
gone unanswered.
So what do we do now, take a
complaint to General Abbott for
aruling on his wife?

HB 2264
hearing

COMMENT

This "smoking gun" from Todd Baxter (above) is a great example of why it's important
for school districts to honor Texas Attorney General Opinion JM-757 which allows citizens
to take photos at document viewings such as ours on May 24.

So many times I'd find something like this "smoking gun" and request a copy, then when the
clerk got to the xerox machine and realized what it was, refused to give us the copy; we then
had no record at all of the document's existence and it became our word versus the schools.'

--Peyton Wolcott

Paper wars in
West Lake Hills
By Rich Oppel | Thursday,
May 5, 2005, 06:09 AM
Austin American-Statesman

I have a plan for ending battles over
public records. Put all government
records up on the Internet, except
for those that are specifically
confidential by law.

Routinely, some agency equates
openness to waste. The poor
taxpayer, we are told by the
agency head, must bear the cost of
public employees spending hours,
days, rummaging through filing
cabinets to assemble scraps of
paper.

A recent example is the Eanes
Independent School District, which
serves West Lake Hills, West Austin
and Rollingwood. Since at least
2003, Susan Bushart and Dianna
Pharr have regularly filed demands
for school records.

“Somebody has to pay for the labor
to do all of that," Supt. Nola Wellman
told me. “We’re funded by
taxpayers to provide an education
to students. Should that money be
spent on public information?"

The legislator who represents most
of the Eanes School District is Rep.
Todd Baxter, a Republican. He filed
House Bill 2264. If passed, Bushart
and Pharr would be able to get 50
pages of information each month
from Eanes schools. After reaching
that level, the two woman would
have to pay a fee. I see the 50-
page limit as merely another excuse
to further close government. School
districts are unusually resistant to
open records requests. This will
raise higher the barricades against
the public’s right to know.

I called Baxter. Why doesn’t the
Texas Legislature require all
governmental units to post all public
records on the Internet?
“You know, that’s a great idea,"
said Baxter. “It’s one of the things
we’ve talked about…We probably
ought to require more of that. It’s
good for all involved, it saves costs
to to government and makes
records more accessible."

Good. Then why not withdraw HB
2264 and introduce, say, the
Mandatory Internet Posting of Public
Records Act of 2005?
“I’ll look to see if (the Internet idea) is
germane. If not, we can amend the
caption‿ of HB 2264. I’m not sure
what that means. I would kill the bill
and start over. When Rep. Baxter
reports back, I’ll let you know what
he decided.

Look around your office. In our
newsroom, you no longer will see
Royal typewriters or IBM Selectrics.
You see Dell PCs and Apple Macs.
You see fewer filing cabinets. My
“files" are in pull downs on my
navigation bar.

When will school districts –
especially wealthy ones like Eanes
– reach the 21st century with
technology that will allow easy
access to public records?
“For one thing, we just haven’t
focused on the business of putting
records up electronically," said
Wellman. “We focus on education.
We haven’t had the personnel to do
it."

I know this is not as simple as it may
seem. Some records are works in
progress, and not public. In school
districts, some records involving
teacher discipline, students on
assisted lunch programs and so on
are protected by law.
With the best of technology, it may
be cumbersome today to put up
some records, like vouchers,
invoices and canceled checks
(although my bank recently told us
they’d no longer return canceled
checks to us).

But we can get started. While Nola
Wellman’s first responsibility is to
education, this is, after all, public
education. Rep. Baxter has backed
other open-records legislation,
including one bill placing a new
emphasis on training public
employees in records disclosure.

While over 300 Texas school districts have embraced accountability
with open arms by posting their check registers online, others in
Texas and elsewhere are running hard and fast the opposite
direction, all at huge costs in legal bills and loss of taxpayer
confidence. The natural question, "Why?" And gnawing away
underneath, "What are you hiding?" Here is an account of parents
in four Texas school districts seeking accountability.

NOTE: Although Texans for
Education Accountability had
many members and many
supporters in other school
districts around the state,
only four of us were able to
clear entire days of our
calendars and travel to
Austin to lobby the Lege.

NOW LET'S LOOK AT
BREMOND ISD: Pat and Maurice
Yezak and Nancy and Robert
Gadbois had also begun looking into
their superintendent Kenneth
Johnson's spending, similarly
experiencing stonewalling and delays
in obtaining receipts and records.
They called their group Concerned
Taxpayers of Bremond. Because the
husbands worked and the moms
were at home during the day, Nancy
and Pat did most of the groundwork.

Bremond moms Pat Yezak (L)
& Nancy Gadbois with open records
binders (PHOTO/Waco Tribune)

AND A LOOK AT LLANO ISD:
Parents Bill and Rebecca Jennings
and Pat and Jim Donahy were also
looking into then-superintendent Jack
Patton's spending and meeting the
same resistance, what one calls "a
brick wall." Rebecca found a receipt
for a pricey steak dinner Patton had
treated himself and some board
members and spouses to at a state
school boards convention in Dallas;
Rebecca also found hotel receipts for
telephone sex and/or call-girl
services from a hotel stay billed to the
district at the same convention
although to whom the room belonged
is a matter of some dispute.

Pat Donahy

When the two couples
took their findings to a
local newspaper, the
publisher wanted his
own copy of the steak
dinner receipt so he
filed a separate public
records request and
Patton--apparently not

AND A LOOK AT MARBLE
FALLS ISD: Like all these other
folks, I was wondering how the district
where my daughter was attending
high school was spending its money;
why were the kids taking choir class
having to do fund raisers for new
formal performance clothing when
partici- pants in the school's
extracurricular activities were receiving
several sets of uniforms for free. Also,
had heard rumors about how the
then-supe had come to purchase
some goofy programs for the district.
So I filed my first public records
request to look at programs spending
and was presented with a $426 bill.
Christine and Bill Forsyth and I began
lobbying the state comptroller to bring
the Texas School Performance
Review audit to the district; within ten
days of the Comptroller's
announcement a year later (Dec. 10,
2002) that she was going to audit
MFISD, both the supe and an ass't
supe had resigned; the following
spring three long-term board mem-
bers elected not to run again. We
organized the first PEAK$ group, and
succeeded in bringing drug testing
and a dress code to the high school.

realizing that he'd already produced
it--denied having such a receipt. In
the meantime, the four persisted in
taking their findings through a chain of
command not dissimilar to the
Bremond moms' including
disappointing rounds with the Texas
Education Agency and the State
Auditor's Office; the latter reportedly
considered the four's findings a slam
dunk--until politics in the form of
District Attorneys Ronnie Earle and
Sam Oatman got involved and
suddenly the case died.

Marble Falls HS

MEANWHILE AT LLANO ISD: I began
covering MFISD and Llano ISD for a
group of local weeklies, focusing on
investigating and reporting LISD's
finances, Jack Patton's eventual trial
and conviction (Texas' first public
information act conviction), and the
surrender by Jack of his SBEC certi-
ficates.

Fast forward to April 5, 2005 as
parents in Bremond, Llano, Marble
Falls and Eanes continue plugging
away looking for the truth.

As written by Baxter,
the new bill would
have enabled school
districts and other
governmental entities
to charge $20/hour
labor after the first 50
copies/month.

THE ADVENT OF HB 2264: In early
spring 2005 Eanes approached their
state representative, Todd Baxter, who
responded on April 5, 2005 by drafting
new legislation--HB 2264--specifically
designed to hamper parents' efforts.

Todd Baxter

MEANWHILE, AT BREMOND ISD: In
May 2004 Pat Yezak and Robert
Gadbois both successfully won spots
as Bremond ISD trustees; Robert
served as BISD board president his
first year.

MEANWHILE, IN BREMOND ISD: The
moms continued working to bring
their district's murky finances to light
and attempting to gain the attention of
state and federal agencies (here for
more); while Baxter and Eanes and
Ratliff worked to pass HB 2264, the
groundwork was being laid in
Robertson County to convene a grand
jury. Throughout, the moms were
harassed by BISD employees and
anonymous citizenry.

MEANWHILE, AT BREMOND ISD: Was
there something in the air or going on
with the planets? The same week that
we discovered the smoking gun
among Todd Baxter's public records,
the Robertson County grand jury was
talking to witnesses regarding the
results of the Texas Ranger and State
Auditor's Office investigations; Johnson
was eventually indicted in September
2005 for stealing more than $100,000
from BISD, on two counts of felony theft.
Johnson's son Jason and BISD's
former business manager Sandra
Nolan were also indicted. Below,
Kenny Johnson in handcuffs on way to
prison; he eventually served two years.

A BIG OUCH: Wire transfers which did
not show up on the district's check
register were otherwise unaccounted
for.
      The parents also discovered
financial mismanagement in the
district's in-house technology
department, including LISD's
technology consortium (now an illegal
practice). Checks were written out of
LISD's account to a Robin Hood
partner district--LISD is property-
rich--accompanied by a letter of
instruction from LISD'S CFO Carol Voit
to endorse and return the check in a
provided envelope. But when the
checks arrived back at Llano ISD, they
were not deposited back into LISD's
checking account but instead into an
account not belonging to LISD in an
East Texas bank near Jack Patton's
home in Crockett.
      At this point one of the parents
received a threatening letter with a
pack of matches enclosed, "This is to
give you a jump start on leaving."
There were other technology issues
also.

By Peyton Wolcott - Updated Mar. 30, 2009

WHO'S WHO

Bremond ISD - Parents: Nancy and
Robert Gadbois, Pat and Maurice
Yezak; Then-supe: James Kenneth
("Kenny") Johnson

Eanes ISD - Parents: Susan Bushart,
Dianna Pharr; Supes: Former interim
Jess Butler, current supe Nola Wellman

Llano ISD - Parents: Pat and Jim
Donahy, Rebecca and Bill Jennings
Supes: Former supe Andrew Jackson
("Jack") Patton, current supe Dennis Hill

Marble Falls ISD - Parents: Christine
and Bill Forsyth, Peyton Wolcott
Supes: Former supe Dana Marable,
current supe Ryder Warren

When Llano ISD's board
began its executive
sessions--often 3-4 hours
long--the public was herded out
into the hallway where there was
no ventilation save the front
door; if it was 110 degrees
outside, it was hotter inside. Top
right: trustee Alan Geistman
(stated profession: "investor")
closing and locking the door on
the public. Although at all times
the board had access to any of a
dozen A/C'd offices, they chose
instead to herd taxpayers
outside into the heat. "It's our
meeting," said one trustee. "See
the sign on the door? It says
BOARD Room."

UNBRIDLED HUBRIS
AT LLANO ISD:
TENOR OF THE TIMES

BREMOND REACTS: Nancy, an active
volunteer in all four children's
classrooms, was no longer welcome
on campus. Pat, an active substitute
teacher at BISD, suddenly was no
longer needed as a substitute.
Things happened to their kids. An
obscenity was written in reverse on
the dust on the back window of
Nancy's SUV so she could read it in
the rear view mirror, which she did,
one Sunday morning en route to
church.

MEANWHILE, AT LLANO ISD: We
organized as PEAK$ of Llano ISD and
successfully placed all five of our
reform-platform candidates on the
seven-person school board in the May
14, 2006 election; one of the secrets
of our success: we required all five
endorsed candidates to sign a public
pledge to not do business with the
school district during their tenure.

MEANWHILE, AT MARBLE FALLS ISD:
With the three board members
needing to be gone already down the
road, community members did not
need to organize again.

How a handful of moms
successfully blocked HB 2264

UPDATE/BREMOND ISD: Pat Yezak
and Robert Gadbois, as trustees,
continue to work to bring more
transparency to BISD, aided by the
business manager they hired, Bruce
Fuller, a retired business executive
who stepped into the situation
Kenneth Johnson and Sandra Nolan
left behind: no paper records.
Kenneth Johnson is currently still in
prison, although his first release
hearing is next month; sadly, Sandra
Nolan has passed away.

UPDATE/EANES ISD: Susan Bushart
released a series of "Community
Updates" via email to share her
public records findings, and Dianna
Pharr has reactivated her website,
www.keepeanesinformed.com. Nola
Wellman continues to be employed
as EISD's supe despite the fact that
her supe's SBEC certificate expired
Jan. 13, 2005; she has never passed
the state superintendent exam.
Todd Baxter, author of HB 2264,
resigned from his seat in the Texas
Lege a few months later--imagine,
how embarrassing to lose your bill to
a handful of moms--and is now a
professional lobbyist primarily for the
telecommunications industry.
Further, Eanes filed an amicus curiae
"friend of the court" brief in Lake
Travis ISD's SLAPP lawsuit against
parents David and Melissa Lovelace.
Remember Thomas Ratliff, son of
Bill Ratliff, both lobbyists? And
Thomas was named by then-rep.
Todd Baxter as source of HB 2264?
Thomas Ratliff has surfaced again;
according to the Austin American-
Statesman, "Thomas Ratliff, the son
of former Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff, filed suit
Thursday [Dec. 7, 2006] in Travis
County District Court because the
district spends too much tax money
on open records requests, his lawyer
Buck Wood said. The district was
harassed by too many requests from
the same people, Wood said."

TSPR manager Betty Ressel and
team present Llano ISD audit findings

I also reported that the current Llano
ISD supe had only complied with 10%
of the timeline recommendations in
LISD's TSPR audit, released August
27, 2003. In February 2004 trustee
Mark Stephenson (top right) took
publisher Eric Bishop to lunch and
reportedly threatened to sue the news-
paper group; afterwards, I was invited
to "lighten up" on my investigating and
start covering "good news" such as
the poetry contest at the local high
school, so of course I quit. Shortly
thereafter we were asked by neigh-
bors to bring PEAK$ to Llano ISD.

Then Llano ISD trustee Billy Ratliff (far
right) returning papers to Jack Patton
(standing) during secret negotiation
session--public was barred; photo
taken through glass door panel.

Illegal electioneering by Llano ISD
schoolteacher/CFO's husband

In another incident also in Llano ISD,
then-Packsaddle Elementary
principal Dwight Leon "Dwin" Nanny,
Jr. (above right, narrating PES
Christmas program), used LISD's
computer and email service to
encourage employees to campaign
trustees to promote Dennis Hill to
permanent supe; like both Voits,
Nanny has left the district.

Cartoons such as this one below left
taking aim at PEAK$ members were
published in a local paper which has
since folded; the cartoonist, Michael
Voit (the husband of LISD's CFO,
(above far right), was cited by the
Texas Ethics Commission for
violating the election code, by using
LISD's compu- computers email to
electioneer, here:
www.ethics.state.tx.us/sworncomp/200 4/2406114mv.pdf

Fast-forward to 2006

UPDATE/LLANO ISD: Jack Patton is
selling barbecue out of Doc's Country
Store and BBQ, the convenience store
he owns in his hometown of Crockett,
Texas; he sometimes caters events at
the local school district.
New LISD supe Dennis Hill's refusal
to follow the TSPR timelines cost the
district hundreds of thou- sands of
dollars; had, for example, Hill followed
TSPR recommendation #47 and
required the CFO to establish a central
filing system for contracts, Llano ISD
would have known where to look for
paperwork when technology director
Tim Gau left Llano ISD to work in
Dickinson ISD in the Gulf Coast area;
according to district employees, Gau
left behind no paper records, including
any passwords to systems he
installed. A year later, LISD tech-
nology employees were still finding
servers, still figuring out passwords.

UPDATE/MARBLE FALLS ISD: The
district has just passed a popularly
supported bond issue, and I am on the
agenda Monday night, Dec. 18, to
discuss the possibility of the district
posting its checks online.

Llano ISD supe Dennis Hill controlling
one of only three mics he allocates to
eight people at LISD board meetings,
an ironic situation for the 66th richest
(of 1,032) Texas districts; further, Hill
sits, "Team of Eight" style, in the
middle of the dais.

Former Llano ISD CFO
Carol Voit (left) sold her new
house with the indoor lap
pool and returned to
Lubbock where she is
employed by Region 17
ESC as "Coordinator,
Business Services."

Advantage Capital Partners
AIG
Alltel Wireless
American Insurance
Association
ChoicePoint
Council of Independent
Tobacco
Manufacturers of America
El Paso Electric Company
Microsoft
T-Mobile USA
TXU
Texas Association of
Campground Owners
Texas Civil Justice League
Texas Coalition for Capital
Texas Council of Engineering
Cos.
Texas Motorcoach
Association
Texas Police Chiefs
Association
Texas Travel Industry
Association
Verizon Wireless

RATLIFF CO. CLIENTS

FROM THE RATLIFF
COMPANY'S WEBSITE:
"Since 1995, The Ratliff
Company has represented
the interests of businesses
and trade associations in
matters dealing with the
Texas Legislative and
Executive Branches, as well
as key State Agencies. We
routinely provide critical
information to elected
officials, testify before
legislative and regulatory
committees, review pending
legislation, and work to pass,
modify or defeat legislation
and policies that affect our
clients. With over 50 years of
combined experience
dealing with the Texas
Legislative process, our
team can effectively
represent your interests. If
you are seeking such
representation, we would be
pleased to discuss your
possible addition to our list of
clients.
"Our offices are conveniently
located just 500 yards (a
short par 5) south of the
Capitol and one block from
the Governor's Mansion."

Thomas Ratliff

HOME

2008 TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION LOBBY LIST

Baxter, Todd A. (00051716)
(512)474-2082 919 Congress Ave
Ste 1350 Austin, TX 78701

Alliance for Retail Markets
701 Brazos # 1040 Austin, TX 78701
$50,000 - $99,999.99

Texas Cable Association Inc.
919 Congress #1350 Austin,TX 78701
$150,000 - $199,999.99

2006 TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION LOBBY LIST

Baxter, Todd A. (00051716)
(512)474-2082
506 West 16th Street Austin, TX 78701

Alliance of Retail Markets
701 Brazos Suite 1040 Austin, TX
78701
Amount: $50,000 - $99,999.99

Lost Creek Municipal Utility District
1305 Quaker Rdg Rd Austin, TX 78746
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Texas Cable & Telecom Assn
506 West 16th Street Austin, TX 78701
Amount: $150,000 - $199,999.99

2005 TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION LOBBY LIST

Baxter, Todd A. (00051716)
(512)474-2082 506 West 16th
Street Austin, TX 78701

Texas Cable & Telecom Ass'n
506 West 16th Street Austin, TX 78701
Amount: $10,000 - $24,999.99

Todd Baxter
Registered Lobbyist
(2005-2009)

TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION
REGISTERED
LOBBYISTS

Thomas Ratliff -
Registered Lobbyist
(2005-2008)

2008 TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION LOBBY LIST

Ratliff, Robert Thomas (00031723)
(512)494-9180 816 Congress
Avenue Suite 1270 Austin, TX 78701

AIG
2929 Allen Parkway Suite L4-02
Houston, TX 77019
Less Than $10,000.00

Alltel Communications LLC
P. O. Box 3373 Little Rock, AR
72203
$10,000 - $24,999.99

American Insurance Association
500 W 13th Street 3rd Fl Austin, TX
78701
$10,000 - $24,999.99

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
P. O. Drawer 1210 Durant, OK
74702-6170
Less Than $10,000.00

El Paso Electric Company
P. O. 982 El Paso, TX 79960
$50,000 - $99,999.99

Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA
98052
$25,000 - $49.999.99

Ron Hinkle
816 Congress Ave #1270 Austin, TX
78701
$25,000 - $49.999.99

T-Mobile USA
12920 SE 38th Street Bellevue, WA
98006
$10,000 - $24,999.99

Conservative Commentary - HB 2264 (onerous anti-sunshine legislation) & other FOIA*
issues here in Texas including a school district's SLAPP suit, online check registers

WHY I DON'T FILE
PUBLIC RECORDS
REQUESTS
ANY MORE**

Friends, many of you who
contact me are filing Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA)
public records requests,
and God bless you for being
interested enough to make
the effort. With America's
families' finances tanking
along with the economy, more
folks are questioning public
school district spending.

I used to file public school
records requests myself; after
all, it's our money and our
right to see these records.
Alas, historically many
superintendents have viewed
such requests as attacks and
responded accordingly, often
using lawyers, threats and/or
their state administrators'
lobbies, with the result that
sunshine laws are under attack
everywhere, constantly, most
often in the form of increased
copying costs along with
formalized tracking of
requests and requesters.

Defeating Anti-Sunshine
Legislation: During the 2005
Lege here in Texas when a
Republican representative
sought steeper fees for public
records, I organized a handful
of moms (more below right);
although working together we
defeated the bill, I realized
afterwards that the members
of the administrators' lobby
(TASA) behind HB 2264 had
careers and pensions at stake
whereas we were volunteers.
Taxpayer-salaried supes
have almost unlimited time
not to mention unrestricted
access to unlimited funds for
lawyers and expenses.

Sun Tzu recommends not
waging a battle on a field
your opponent can dominate.

TASA's next anti-sunshine
attempt was a SLAPP lawsuit
by TASA's lobbyist against
some parents who had filed
thousands of FOIA requests;
when TASA lost the suit they
used the example of the
parents to persuade legislators
to write bills with steep fee
increases targeting volunteer
parents and taxpayers.
As a strategy newspapers
were exempted with the result
that the editors and reporters
who usually oppose
anti-sunshine encroachments
instead stood by mute
and the bill became law.

Increased FOIA Costs
Used by Governmental
Bodies Such as School
Districts as a Deterrent to
Parents & Taxpayers:
When businessmen and
reporters file public records
requests and incur $100 or
$500 or $1,000 in costs, they
know they'll be reimbursed by
a boss or a client, but parents
and taxpayers have no such
intent or expectation; in fact,
through the years many of us
have spent hundreds if not
thousands of dollars
out of our own pockets.

But why do we want to look?
When I realized the goal of
viewing public spending
records was to be able to see
districts' spending, it came to
me that if we could persuade
school districts to voluntarily
post their check registers
online, we'd reach the same
place but via a friendlier,
happier route. More here.

+++++++++

* FOIA is an acronym (the
Freedom of Information Act,
which is federal legislation);
states have their own versions
-- FOIL (the Freedom of
Information Law) in New
York, the Texas Public
Information Act, etc.

** On rare occasions I will file
a public records request, but
only after the district has
chosen not to respond to a
friendly question or request.

Then-Llano ISD board president Mark
Chapman (left), trustee Mark Stephen-
son dodging questions re generous
settlement they'd just moments before
granted to convicted supe Jack Patton.

MEANWHILE, AT BREMOND ISD:
Parallel investigations by Texas
Rangers and State Auditor's Office
began in October 2003, just prior to
supe Johnson's resignation. The
following January, auditors
announced Johnson and business
manager Sandra Nolan had taken
$200,000+ more than they were due
from district funds.

2009 TEXAS ETHICS
COMMISSION LOBBY LIST

Baxter, Todd A. (00051716)
(512)474-2082 919 Congress Ave
Suite 1350 Austin, TX 78701

Alliance for Retail Markets
701 Brazos #1040 Austin, TX 78701
$50,000 - $99,999.99

Texas Cable Association Inc.
919 Congress #1350 Austin, TX 78701
$150,000 - $199,999.99

Friends, I'm bringing this page out of retirement because so many of you have raised questions about filing public records requests and
fighting anti-sunshine legislation at the state level. Three things to keep in mind:
(1) It's good for folks embarking on this path for reasons of their own to know that a handful of moms can defeat a piece (HB 2264) of
.......anti-sunshine legislation at the state level, and also to encourage you; if we did it with no budget and no political pull, anyone can.
(2) It's worthwhile with major events to compile a careful time line and history.
(3) There's a "smoking gun" at the bottom of this page which helps clarify why public records are important. (Updated 10.13.09)

[ ]

'Dr. Wellman' is the superintendent of Eanes
ISD; here's the quote from Associated Press:
"Baxter said he was not pressured by the
school district to push the bill."