September 06, 2008
Online disclosure

Meant to give Texas Watchdog a shoutout for their nice catch.


Houston city officials have failed for the past two years to post ethics forms online as required by law, Texas Watchdog has learned.

The ethics forms are meant to make public any ties city officials may have to a business seeking a government contract.

On Wednesday - and only after Texas Watchdog questioned city officials about the missing ethics forms - the city posted a single conflict-of-interest form that was originally filed in 2006.


We've seen plenty of examples of potential conflicts of interest at the county and state level. The best antidote to this is better disclosure, and since we already have a law mandating that for the city, we ought to be following it. I'm confident that that will happen now that it has been brought to light, so kudos to Texas Watchdog for flagging it.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 06, 2008 to Local politics
Comments

Usually it's the Republicans who believe the law doesn't apply to them. Apparently the Democrats and the Republicans at City Hall don't believe the law applies to them.

I have never had much confidence in our city government which at times makes K Street look like a training ground rather than a breeding ground in terms of what really at times is blatant corruption and through the years it seems have gotten worse, not better.

Sooner or later maybe everyone will wake up and there will be a "United Way" fund for politicians. That will take care of all the problems. At least the problems on top of the table.

Not sure how you can take care of the problems under the table. Except hope some learn the art of being a snitch and the prosecutors learn the fine art of asking for jail time instead of slaps on the hand.

The only real conflicts-of-interest at City Hall is the money. I am still just appalled by our mayor after he was first elected holding a "Second Chance to Buy City Hall" fundraiser. For those who supported his opponent and decided they wanted to support him instead.

That should have been a portent of what followed.

Posted by: Baby Snooks on September 6, 2008 6:18 PM

That is a good blockquote. I concur. We'll see what happens going forward.

Posted by: Kevin Whited on September 6, 2008 6:52 PM

Did you really have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than leave a silly comment like that, Kevin? Even for you, that's pretty sad.

Posted by: Charles Kuffner on September 7, 2008 7:19 AM
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