Fees for Texas Public Information Act Requests

Nearly one month ago more than 60 of my neighbors and members of our community met for the first time at City Hall. While there, many of us spoke in opposition of the Bastrop 552/Line 204 development and our voices got the attention of many in our community.

Since that time, much more has been learned about the development but not near enough to help us understand why the City recently unveiled their plan to annex the Colorado River. We asked if the annexing of the River is a sign that a future bridge will be built where the development's property line meets El Camino. We also wanted to know if any plans were in the works to exercise eminent domain. Unfortunately, the response received was full of legal jargon instead of a plain and simple, yes or no answer.

When our City leaders are not forthcoming with information that is necessary to help us better understand their plans for our property and our futures, it is incumbent upon us to ask the tough questions. When the answers to those questions are insufficient, we start with making Public Information Requests.

Currently, we're trying to better understand how Carlson, Brigance & Doering, Inc. (CBD) came to be involved in the Bastrop 552/Line 204 development. An engineer herself, Mayor Schroeder was once married to the CEO of CBD, Charles Brigance and they share children together. To be clear, divorce does not end a nepotism relationship when children are involved. Also, Mayor Schroeder previously owned her own engineering firm, which shares the same address as CBD. At the very least, it seems Mayor Schroeder should be recusing herself from any and all votes which involve CBD, but she has not. Our first Public Information Request is for all documentation pertaining to CBD and the we've been quoted $415 by the City for this information.

Our requests for Public Information won't stop there. A second request will be submitted tomorrow to the Economic Development Corporation and we expect that invoice to be the same or greater. Additional requests will likely be needed to follow-up on any information learned from these requests, which require additional context or supporting documentation.

I am personally paying for these fees myself. Any assistance you could offer would be very much appreciated <3