Open Meetings Act, Not So Bad After All

I've long had a grudge against the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA). Not with the intent behind the act -- open meetings -- but with the unintended consequences of the act. Two clauses of the act, each fine by itself, work together to suppress open discussion.

• Meeting agendas must be posted 72 hours in advance
  
• Public officials may not discuss subjects not on the agenda
  

After the jump, the harm these rules cause and a possible solution.
 

Coterie "Great Steakout"

From 2011 11 Coterie Steakout

"Coterie" is an organization of Richardson-area friends who get together three times a year for dinner and entertainment. The theme and activity for each occasion varies. The November 2011 Coterie party was a "Great Steakout" dinner party at Hoffbrau Steakhouse in Dallas.

For a slide show of the evening, click here.

Autumn in the Steger Garden (2011)

From Flowers

More photos after the jump.

Shooting the OWS Messenger

Today's dialog is about how the conversation about income inequality started by the Occupy Wall Street protest movement has morphed into a conversation about the shortcomings of the protesters themselves. As is often the case, my dialog is prompted by the writings of my favorite crunchy conservative, Rod Dreher, on his blog at The American Conservative.

After the jump, my dialog with Rod Dreher.

New Front in Culture War at the SBOE

I was shocked in 2010 when George Clayton defeated Geraldine "Tincy" Miller for the GOP nomination for the District 12 seat on the State Board of Education (SBOE). Clayton was an unknown. Miller was the longtime incumbent. Most attributed his victory to an indiscriminate anti-incumbent attitude by the voters. I personally was lukewarm (lukecool?) to both candidates, but I sided with Miller because at least I knew what I was getting with her. I was concerned with what I was hearing from Clayton.

Since the 2010 election, I have heard little about George Clayton's service on the SBOE. In recent years, I've considered no news to be good news when it comes to the SBOE. Usually the SBOE makes news for pushing Creationism in the science curriculum or Christian revisionism or McCarthyism in the American history curriculum. So, if George Clayton and the SBOE were keeping theirs heads low, they couldn't be doing too much damage, right?

Well, George Clayton has now raised his head, on a surprising matter that is likely to become a factor in his bid for re-election. After the jump, the story by Ross Ramsey in the Texas Tribune.

Occupy Wall Street Wins

And so does Occupy Dallas and Occupy Oakland and all the other spontaneous movements that sprang up across the United States to protest the growing income inequality between the so-called 1% and the 99%. Critics have dismissed the movements, either because protesters are disorganized and lack consensus on what to do about the issue, or because the protesters are becoming a public nuisance. I won't dispute those criticisms. Occupy Wall Street, like almost all spontaneous protest movements, is disorganized (by design) and disorderly (more or less) and destined to disintegrate (probably).

So, why do I say Occupy Wall Street wins? The answer after the jump.

Not Quite as Open Mic in Dallas

The Dallas City Council is proposing rule changes for public speakers at council meetings. Dallas proposes moving up the deadline to request time to 5 p.m. the day before the meeting. Also, if you have spoken within the last 30 days, your time will be limited to one minute, instead of three minutes allotted to everyone else.

After the jump, my thoughts about how this is handled in Dallas and Richardson.

Review: Wolf Hall

Amazon

From "Wolf Hall," by Hilary Mantel:


...it's all very well planning what you will do in six months, what you will do in a year, but it's no good at all if you don't have a plan for tomorrow."

After the jump, my review.

Mighty Ram Band March-a-thon

From 2011 11 Berkner March-a-thon

The Berkner High School Mighty Ram Band entertained the neighborhoods around Berkner Saturday morning during a five mile march-a-thon from the high school to Dartmouth Elementary School and back.

Perhaps you saw or heard the band as it marched through your neighborhood. Or maybe while you were shopping at Lowe's home improvement store (thanks, Lowe's, for inviting the band inside to entertain your customers). In any case, if you didn't get a chance to make a donation to support the band program (believe me, it is a very good cause), please contact one of the adult volunteers in the Berkner Area Band Club. They'll let you know how you can help keep this great tradition alive.

More photos from the 2011 march-a-thon can be viewed here.

Playoffs: Berkner 7, Garland 24

From 2011 Football

The Garland Owls beat the Berkner Rams 24-7 Friday night in a bi-district playoff game at Garland's Williams Stadium. The Rams started strong offensively and defensively, jumping to a 7-0 lead. Berkner gave Garland a close game through the first half, but Garland gradually asserted themselves in the second half and put the game away with a 4th down, 4th quarter interception return for a touchdown to make the final score 24-7. The Rams finish the season with a 7-4 record. It's still a great time to be a Ram!

In other bi-district playoff action, the RISD's Lake Highlands lost to Rowlett 53-14.

More photos from all of the 2011 season, including the bands and color guards and drill teams and cheerleaders and everything else that goes into making high school football the best value in Friday night entertainment, can be found here.