Conflicted about conflicts of interest at Houston City Hall

By Trent Seibert | Thursday, September 4th, 2008

When new journalism group Texas Watchdog looked online for city officials’ ethics forms – ones the city is required by state law to have on its Web site – and the journalists found something interesting.

They weren’t there. 

 Today, Texas Watchdog takes a look at why the city spent two years not complying with the law.

Interestingly, soon after Texas Watchdog’s Crystal Hubbard and Trent Seibert started asking questions, city officials appeared to scramble in order to post something on its ethics Web page – an ethics form filled out by a city council member in 2006.

But Texas Watchdog found other forms detailing conflicts of interest that the city failed to post, and we feature them in our exclusive story.

“I’m surprised it’s taken the city so long to comply with the law,” said Trent Seibert, editor of Texas Watchdog. “It took us about 40 seconds to scan and place on our Web site the ethics documents we found at City Hall. Who knows how many others are out there, hidden from public view because they are under a pile on a desk somewhere.”

Texas Watchdog is a news Web site and training center that scrutinizes the actions of government agencies, bureaucracies and politicians in Texas. It is an independent, nonpartisan entity founded on the belief that our American democracy depends on transparency in government.