None of your business?

Mayor Bartlett smirked at me. "I'm glad that you know what we're going to discuss before we even get a chance to discuss it," Bartlett said. He assured me that no laws would be broken, and then he adjourned the meeting and went into executive session.

Later that afternoon, the council did hold a short public briefing on the arena, though I never knew why. I just went. Last week, though, Sam Lindsay explained it. "When you stood up back in the fall and said there were certain things that could be discussed in open session, I made some inquiries about what was going to be discussed, and then I talked to [First Assistant City Attorney] Charles Bierfeld, and we both decided you were right. And so [the council] came back and did some of the briefing in open session."

What was most surprising about what Lindsay told me last week was that he hadn't known beforehand what was going to be on the closed meeting agenda. When I asked him about this, Lindsay told me that he hadn't known because he doesn't put together the executive session agenda--in fact, he doesn't even review it to make sure it's legal. He just lets the city manager's office do it. "If you're asking me if I look at every item they put on the agenda for executive session, the answer is no," Lindsay told me. "Sometimes if there's a discussion about putting an item on, they'll ask me my advice...But staff is very aware of the four exceptions for executive session."

In other words, there are only two ways to stop illegal meetings at the city of Dallas.

One is for a citizen to stand up before each executive session and threaten the council and manager and city attorney with the law--an uncomfortable thing to have to do, and one the council is sure to ignore after the first few times it happens.

The second is to sue them.
Joe Martin, a 69-year-old retired newspaper production man who lives in Oak Cliff and goes to every city council meeting and most committee meetings, has known this a long time. He's been told as much by some of the council members. "It's just like Mr. Garcia and Mr. Tandy used to tell me when I raised this point," says Martin, referring to former council members Domingo Garcia and Charles Tandy. "They'd say, 'Well, Mr. Martin, why don't you sue us?' Well, a citizen shouldn't have to sue to get these people to do what's proper."

But, as Judge Kendall's ruling suggests, it looks as if it's not going to happen otherwise.