The public has a right to know what their government is up to -- and to be there when important decisions are made.

That's the principle behind a lawsuit that's been filed by a citizens' group in Big Spring, Texas, with help from the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas and the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

They're suing the city council, accusing the city leaders of breaking the Texas Open Meetings Act.

I'm a board member for FOIFT, and I'm proud to be one. Financial aid to help file the lawsuit is being provided by the new Knight FOI Fund, set up by the Knight Foundation.

The citizens' group had filed a petition asking for a referendum to be held on a tax rollback. According to FOIFT, the city council had the petition for more than two weeks, and then scheduled a meeting on the petition with just six hours' notice. The open meetings law requires 72 hours' notice.

According to FOIFT:

"We are in Big Spring today not to tell local citizens or their elected officials what to do," said Keith Elkins, Executive Director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, "but to ensure that government bodies comply with Texas laws on open meetings, and to ensure that taxpayers are granted every legitimate right to make important decisions for themselves allowed under Texas law.

That apparently did not happen with a recent citizens led effort to force a tax-rollback election. According to the lawsuit filed in the 118th District Court today, “…the City did not comply with TOMA (Texas Open Meetings Act).”

“The facts of this case will show that the City of Big Spring failed to act until the very last minute, to either certify or reject a citizens’ rollback petition,” said Elkins. “Then they scrambled to take action providing concerned citizens with only six hours’ notice claiming an emergency exception to the Open Meetings Act. This is a clear violation of the legal requirements of the Texas Open Meetings Act which call for 72 hours notice and Big Spring City officials must be held accountable.”

For more, check out the press release on FOIFT's Web site.