State representative Terry Wilson held a townhall today at the Cowan Creek pavilion in Sun City. He cited HB 2189 as a bill that would improve transparency with respect to contract information.
HB 2189 - Disclosure of Contracting Information (Joint Author with Rep. Capriglioni)"Makes all information on contracting done by a government entity public information by default unless specifically excepted by legislation."
The key phrase with respect to Georgetown's energy contracts is underlined. Georgetown uses the "competitive" exemption in the open records law allowed for municipal utilities. Thus, the City is specifically allowed to withhold utility contract information, even though they are not required by law to withhold the contracts or related information.
Do not expect any relief from the legislature this session. The open records law needs to be changed to remove the exception for municipally owned utilities. Until that is done, Georgetown will likely continue it secrecy.
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