We, the people, need to know what government entities and their many subsidiary boards, committees, agencies, commissions, etc are doing. They obligate the people to fulfill the agreements they make. However, they  sometimes fail to fully inform the people about proposed obligations in advance. As a result,the people find they are obligated to pay for projects, facilities and services they do not want or need.

Under ideal conditions, elected officials and government employees gladly make every detail about public spending readily available. Failure to do so arouses citizen animosity toward government and fuels suspicion of incompetence and/or corruption.

McCulloch County has at least six taxing entities (County, City, Hospital, Brady ISD, Lohn ISD , and Rochelle ISD) with a combined operating budget in excess of $40,000,000 per year.

That is more than $5,000 per year for every man, woman and child in McCulloch County. Astonishingly, about half of it is spent by the City of Brady.

Inquiring citizens have sometimes found city officials less than open about the activities at the City of Brady. Brady City Council meetings seem poorly publicized; Council meetings are not held at times most convenient to its constituents.  (Mayor Gail Lohn is commended again for her effort to change that.).  Frequent executive sessions are  closed to the public leave meeting attendees with the impression that important information is being kept from them. In fact, some Council members seem openly hostile when questions are posed or opposition is expressed by Brady residents.

BBN has made the Texas Municipal League's Guidelines for Compliance with the Open Meetings Act and the Public Information Act easily  available to everyone interested. These guidelines are short and easy to understand. It is appropriate for any citizen to remind public officials of their responsibilities under the law and report violations to the Texas Attorney General's office.