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San Antonio, Texas

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Budget Y
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Meetings Y
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Elected Officials Y
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Administrative Officials P
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Permits, zoning Y
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Audits Y
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Contracts P
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Lobbying N
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Public records Y
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Local taxes Y
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Transparency grading process
San Antonio Texas is a city in Bexar County Texas.

Evaluating The Website

Last rated on Jan. 17, 2012

The good

  • The names and contact information of all city council members, as well as the Mayor and his staff, are available. [1][2]*The city council meeting agendas[3], minutes[4], and meeting schedule[5] are published.
  • Administrators are listed with phone numbers and physical addresses; email addresses are not always provided on the department pages.[6][7]
  • Open Records Request procedures, as well as a way of checking the status of record requests, are provided.[8]
  • The current budget is published.[9]
  • Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports are posted.[9]
  • Monthly City Check Registers are posted.[9]
  • Information about obtaining building permits is provided, as well as city zoning ordinances.[10][11]
  • Local tax information is provided.[12]
  • Bidding and contracting opportunities are posted.[13] Awarded contracts and contract documents are not available.[14][15]

The bad

  • Email addresses are not provided for administrative officials.
  • Lobbying information is not disclosed.

Elected officials

City Council

Name District
Diego M. Bernal District 1
Ivy R. Taylor District 2
Jennifer V. Ramos District 3
Rey Saldaña District 4
David Medina, Jr. District 5
Ray Lopez District 6
Cris Medina District 7
W. Reed Williams District 8
Elisa Chan District 9
Carlton Soules District 10

Mayor

The current mayor of San Antonio is Julián Castro. [2]

Stimulus funds

Rose Jackson, head of the Weatherization Assistance Program for the Alamo Area Council of Governments, was recently forced to step down from her position. Gloria Arriaga, executive director, said that she suspected administrative mismanagement asked the state to perform an audit.[16] The program is funded by $15 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.[16]

Public employee salaries

Main article: Texas state employee salaries

Even though public utilities traditionally do not release salary information, CPS Energy in San Antonio, recently released its top salaries.[17] The report revealed the top 18 executives earn more than $4.2 million collectively, with the CEO Doyle Beneby earning a base salary of $360,000.[18]

Controversy over Citizen Activists

John Foddrill and Michael Cuellar, two San Antonio citizens and former employees of the city, claimed they found inaccuracies with city contracts and filed multiple FOIA requests and made repeated efforts to contact city officials. According to Texas Public Radio the two men did not receive the information they wanted and were both banned from attending city council meetings and were banned from city hall. The city attorney told TPR if the police department determines someone is a threat, that is sufficient to prevent individuals coming onto city property. No information was provided as to the specifics of the restraining order. [19]

Taxpayer-funded lobbying

Main article: Texas Municipal League members list

San Antonio paid $98,500 in lobbying for 2011. [20]

San Antonio pays membership dues to the Texas Municipal League, a government sector lobbying association.

External links

References

  1. City Council
  2. 2.0 2.1 Mayor
  3. Agendas
  4. Minutes
  5. Meetings
  6. Departments
  7. City Manager
  8. Open Government
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Budget and Finance
  10. Permits & License Division
  11. Zoning
  12. Tax Assessor-Collector
  13. Bidding & Contracting Opportunities
  14. Intent to Award
  15. Bid Tabulation
  16. 16.0 16.1 Texas Watchdog, San Antonio stimulus program investigated; one of 5 in TX fraught with problems, Aug. 5, 2010
  17. Texas Watchdog, CPS Energy discloses top salaries, promises openness, Sept 7, 2010
  18. My San Antonio, CPS pays 18 execs average of $233,000, Sept. 1, 2010
  19. Texas Public Radio, Banned From City Hall: The City Responds And The ACLU Reacts, Jan. 18, 2013
  20. 2011 Lobbying - Open Secrets
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