Beyond Trendy Transparency
Transparency is more than a trendy term to me. Transparency holds our elected officials accountable to working toward common goals in the best interest of all constituents.
Transparency and accountability are important tenets of any elected official. The Public Information Act allows citizens of the community to be a part of our government and helps ensure that our elected officials execute the duties of their office responsibly and with fidelity. One process under this act is the ability of the public to make Open Records Requests (ORR) in order to gain access to information from a governmental body. Some information is still confidential and protected from these requests.
Because I have taken an active role in the district over the last few years, my interactions with district leadership were of interest to some people even before I announced my candidacy for the Board of Trustees. This was brought to light when these groups or individuals filed multiple open records requests (ORRs) under the Public Information Act to obtain over a year’s worth of emails between myself and ANY RRISD email address. These requests, made by unknown persons/groups prior to me becoming a candidate, resulted in a huge data file that contains everything from my emails to the board of trustees and district staff about topics that I stand by to copies of the Peachjar flyers that I get from my children’s school and everything in between. It’s hundreds of pages of mostly uninteresting things, and the things that ARE interesting I plan to dive into in much more detail here with you all over the coming months. These are important topics that affect our students, staff, and administration and should be addressed by the Board of Trustees. You can learn about my first interactions with the board in this post.
Out of a deep commitment to transparency, I am personally releasing the entire data file of information and communication that was subject to these ORRs. This was a hard decision as these communications frequently involve other people, teachers, and district staff. I have chosen to release this file because other people have made this request and hold this information, and it seems like they intend to use it for a purpose. I would like to remove that ability from unknown parties. I am proud of the advocacy work that I have done on behalf of the students and staff of RRISD, and I am proud of the work done by the teachers and staff at our schools. As a trustee, I intend to continue partnering with the board and the community to ensure that the needs of all stakeholders are considered during the decision making processes.
When I say that I’m transparent I mean it. I want to have the hard conversations WITH all of you, in the light, so that we can all learn and grow together. I look forward to engaging on important topics with all of you in the months leading to the election, and I promise to work hard to make sure that when you vote in November you know exactly who I am and what I stand for. Thank you for taking the time to get to know me. I'm glad that you are here.