San Angelo Standard-Times from San Angelo, Texas • 30

SAN ANGELO Sunday July 17 AC Open meetings open records foster open Texas information-access statutes among strongest in US AUSTIN (AP) Parent! checking on ichooli seekers of public students society since they first were passed Rep Juan Hinojosa House sponsor of a 1987 revision of the Open Meetings Law said such laws are needed to remind pweiaia of their responsibility to the public order to continue trust in our government whether it's local or state we must have accountability in the system And you cannot have accountability if the public doesn't know what's going on behind closed doors" said Hinojosa D-McAllen The open meetings and open records laws allow people to take charge of their government Ms Monson said have a tendency to throw up their hands and say 'I do Well you can't if you know what's going she said "This is something that our country was built upon citizen participation in government" ment spending Businesses use the act too she said "Burglar alarm companies routinely get police reports They will telephone or write to people who have been burglarized to try to get them to purchase burglar alarms and burglar Ms Riggs said Because the act prohibits a governmental body from asking a person why they want the Information she said "The fact they are using it for commercial purposes is About 400 opinions have been completed each year since the Open Records Act was passed in 1973 she said The office has published about 500 decisions involving issues that are not routinely raised Compliance with the Open Meetings Law is enforced by state courts said Ms Riggs That law was passed in 1967 Most recently students angry about the firing of President Robert Hardesty of Southwest Texas State University by Texas State University System regents got the decision overturned in court because the regents did not properly post the action on the agenda To make the firing effective regents had to meet and vote again after making public a proper agenda Both laws have been changed tor id the Freedom Information Foundation of Texas said although Journalists may most often use the laws it's important for everyone to know how to do so is the preu's busineu that's their work to get information In the case of the private citizen it doesn't occur to him to do it until his rights are trampled on or he is in a situation in which he needs information" Ms Monson said you intend to be able to vote and participate in a self-governing republic you have to know what the government is doing or you can't participate she said The attorney office oversees the Open Records Act and anyone can ask for an opinion concerning the application of that law requests do come from reporters (but) there are a lot of private citizens who ask for said Jennifer Riggs chief of the open government section of the attorney opinion committee Applicants rejected for public employment use the law to find out the qualifications of people who got a certain Job Ms Riggs said she also has received requests from parents about teachers and school expenses from environmentalists with inquiries about state action and from taxpayers who want general information about govern An uphill battle Physically emotionally mentally spiritually I have to be out there with the people eyeball-to-eyeball and that's why I'm in Texas so much Beau Boulter Final Deadline for Ballots 67 8 is Wednesday July 20 at 5:00 pm Our readers are deciding what they think Is best about San Angelo Results will publish In a special newspaper edition on August 7 Standard While Boulter may look flashy on TV Slagle says the 13th District representative doesn't study the issues and has not earned the respect of his colleagues or the admiration of his constituents Two Republicans and former supporters in his district have called for resignation unleu he improves a miserable voting record and gets back to work in Washington Amarillo's best-known citizen oilman Boone Pickens is contributing to Bent-sen's campaign according to election reports filed with the Federal Election Commission Boulter bristles at loyalties and says doesn't support me now and it a big In El Paso recently Pickens said: "First I'm a Texan second Pm a Republican In this case I have to be for Lloyd Jim Simms an Amarillo businessman who supported Boulter "in every race ever run" now is a co-chairman of Panhandle Republicans and Independents for Bentsen and was one of the men who circulated the call for resignation unleu he Improves his voting record Boulter counters complaints about his attendance in Congreu by saying he needs to be in Texas to get out his message he takes his Boulter Breakfast Club a dig at Bentsen's quickly disbanded 110000-a-person Council to the corners of the Lone Star State "Physically emotionally men Clip Money Out Of Your Newspaper Every week you'll find valuable coupons that work like money when you clip and save For home delivery of the Standard-Times call 658-3500 Jobs and college angry about the firing of their president are among Texans who have made state "sunshine laws" a tool of the public not Just the press The state Open Meetings Law and Open Records Act are among the strongest in the United States and are used often by citizens said John Hildreth executive director id Common Cause of Texas "The statutes start out forcefully stating that the basic premise is that meetings are open and records are unleu there are specific legal exemptions Hildreth said very important In some states it's the other way he said start with a better premise" Nancy Monson executive direc Boulter: WASHINGTON (AP) With his feet propped on his desk sharing the space with a black leather-bound Bible Republican Rep Beau Boulter leans back in his chair and talks about his David vs Goliath race against Sen Lloyd Bentsen Boulter likes to say that the bigger they come the harder they faU He recites again his litany of reasons for running Bentsen is a friend of the men in the boardrooms while he an Amarillo attorney and two-term congressman has tasted hard work determination and more hard work in the rough and rugged world of West Texas tough fair and not for says the narrator of a campaign video His opponents though paint another picture of a man with an ego the size of the Texas Panhandle he represents as someone who was stalled in Congress with no hope of ascending into the ranks of the Republican leadership couldn't draw enough water to float in a bathtub" says one congressman Another Rep Henry Gonzalez D-Texas says he recognize Boulter if he walked into a room Even Sen Phil Gramm R-Texas says the congressman's biggest advantage if he do it he know got an enormous says Bob Slagle Democratic Party chairman in Texas more show than and is good at posturing and getting his name in the newspaper" High-tech greenhouse plan a bust AUSTIN (AP) A company that solicited investors with plans to build computerized greenhouses covering hundreds of acres will be closed and liquidated as part of a state order State District Judge Paul Davis signed the temporary order Friday after ruling on behalf of five investors in Agra Pacific who said they had invested more than 5200000 in cash or property in the company but were never iasued stock shares The liquidation will be conducted by a court-appointed trustee the Austin American-Statesman reported Saturday The State Securities Board has subpoenaed the president of Agra Pacific Larry Tarrington to give a deposition Board officials also have subpoenaed the company's records Tarrington's plans to build the greenhouses were publicized on local television news reports and in weekly newspapers They also were featured in an article in an airline in-flight magazine None of the greenhouses ever was built authorities said Investors who sued claimed in their original petition that they believed the Tarringtons were using company funds for personal use and the busineu plan wu not being followed In court filings the Tarringtons denied they had used company funds for unauthorized purposes or tor their other busineu interests They admitted that the investors' shares had not been iuued Under the order signed Friday by Davis the investors and an attorney representing the Tarr-ingtons the company's assets will be liquidated and the Tarringtons will have 120 days to repay Investors In an interview with an American-Statesman reporter this year Tarrington said his operation would employ up to 1000 people within a year by building greenhouses that would grow vegetables in computer-controlled environments He said he had studied similar Dutch greenhouses during the past 14 years and would generate large profits by using their techniques in Texas Times blind But with this machine I can see a bright future at best tally spiritually I have to be out there with the people eyeball-to-eyeball and why in Texas so he said According to figures released by office and compiled by LEGI-SLATE a non-partisan political service Boulter had cast votes 235 percent of the time between the first of the year and July 7 Bentsen had cast 945 percent of votes during the same period Some of Boulter's former supporters say they're sorry he's running and foresaklng his seat to challenge Bentsen a mighty fundraiser with few equals and wealthy three-term senator who has risen in the Democratic leadership to become chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee you've got an uphill battle if you're going to beat an incumbent senator in Texas" said Gramm who lost a challenge to Bentsen has happened but ob-viously an uphill Gramm said he tried to discourage Boulter from running because it wasn't "worth the risk" an incumbent senator in Texas is a hard Job a big state and people don't tend to change their leadership for light or transient Gramm said "Beau was not persuaded by my logic go to do what your heart tells Boulter 46 says it was a difficult choice made on the very last day of the 1987 congressional session but be forged ahead for the sake of his baby granddaughter and his children MACT PROGRAM Hats by: Stetson Bailey Bangora by American Discover the Texas Reading Machine Program at a library near you Or call the Texas State Library toll free at 1-800-252-9605 Discover the Texas Reading Machine Program at a library near you The Reading Machine is a small computer with an optical scanner capable of converting printed words into synthetic speech It enables a blind or impaired person to read printed materials independently Participating libraries in our area are: Midland County Public Library Midland 915-683-2708 Ector County Library Odessa 915-333-9633 University of Texas of the Permian Basin Library Odessa 915-367-2114 Tom Green County Library San Angelo 915-655-7321 Angelo State University Porter Henderson Library San Angelo 915-942-2051 Stay ahead of the race Sell your car in a Standard-Times Classified ad 655-SELL Standard Times i.