{"content":[{"text":"March 18, 2016 \n Number 11","bbox":{"left":0.737026,"top":0.287571,"width":0.1456210000000001,"height":0.04398799999999997}},{"text":"Government in Sunshine Week \n “Sunshine week” is a national media initiative that takes place each March with the goal of \n promoting open government. City officials may have noticed newspaper editorials around the \n state supporting the public’s right to know. For example, one editorial asserts that:","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.415329,"width":0.7643280000000001,"height":0.09747599999999995}},{"text":"You needn’t look so high to find examples of government subdivisions violating the \n letter or the spirit of open government laws, however. About every week, some school \n board or city council tries to hold an illegal closed session or some police department \n tries to withhold public information. Every time the Legislature convenes, the Texas \n Municipal League or some similar organization attempts to weaken the laws through \n amendment.","bbox":{"left":0.15298,"top":0.529895,"width":0.694213,"height":0.10490500000000003}},{"text":"The editor who wrote the above clearly doesn’t understand the purpose of the League. A former \n League attorney wrote a paper many years ago for cities titled “The Information Business.” His \n premise was that cities aren’t only in the street, public safety, and water and sewer business. \n Providing information is also a core city function.","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.65189,"width":0.764376,"height":0.07003199999999998}},{"text":"One purpose of the League is to advocate for reasonable laws, including open government laws. \n But its legislative program has never been forged by “the forces of secrecy” as insinuated in the \n same editorial. In fact, another purpose of the League is to educate city officials about open \n government and other laws. In addition to frequent training, TML attorneys answer hundreds of \n open government questions each month from city officials who want to comply with the laws.","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.736558,"width":0.7646540000000001,"height":0.089947}},{"text":"Perhaps, instead of vilifying city officials, certain editors should commend those city officials in \n the information business who go above-and-beyond to keep local democracy alive.","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.841141,"width":0.763981,"height":0.037632}},{"text":"1","bbox":{"left":0.495212,"top":0.917955,"width":0.009804000000000035,"height":0.020212000000000008}}],"images_bbox":[{"left":0.169118,"top":0.090909,"width":0.66402,"height":0.161237}],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[{"left":0.169118,"top":0.090909,"width":0.66402,"height":0.161237}]}