Jennifer Peebles

Texas Watchdog
5535 Memorial Drive
Suite F, #601
Houston, TX 77007

March 16, 2009

The Honorable Greg Abbott

Attorney General of Texas
Open Records Division
P.O. Box 12548
Austin, Texas 78711-2548

Dear Gen. Abbott:

Your office has been asked to determine whether the City of Houston can withhold certain records I
have requested under the Texas Public Information Act. I am writing you today to argue that the city
should not be allowed to withhold that information.

Specifically, I am writing you in reference to the Feb. 11, 2009, and Feb. 18, 2009, letters that your office
has received from Ms. Candice de la Garza, an assistant city attorney in Houston.
In its letter, the city argues that certain entries on Mayor Bill White's calendar should be withheld
because they "relate to the mayor's private social affairs and do not relate to any official City business." I
disagree in the strongest of terms.

The mayor of any town's social affairs are the business of that town, whether the mayor wishes them to
be or not. Who the mayor has lunch with, goes to dinner with, attends church with or tailgates with at
the football game would be clearly identify people who may have influence on the city's public affairs.
Being mayor is not a job where one can punch a timeclock at the end of the day and suddenly stop being
mayor until 8 a.m. the next morning. All the mayor's business is official city business.

The city further argues that it should be allowed to withhold certain private correspondence and
communications we have sought regarding a particular real estate development project here in
Houston. The city argues that release of such information would constitute an invasion of privacy.

News accounts here in Houston have raised questions about the relationship between the mayor's office
and the development in question. The public has a right to know the depth of this relationship and how
that affects public policy here, and the documents concerned would help the public's understanding of
such. If the parties involved were truly concerned about their privacy, they should have known ahead of
time that their comments would be subject to public scrutiny via freedom of information laws -- and if
they didn't want their business out there, they should have kept it to themselves.
In closing, I ask that your office require the city of Houston to release all the requested information.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. My cell phone is and
my e-mail is jennifer@texaswatchdog.org.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Peebles
Deputy Editor
Texas Watchdog