The city council in Grapevine, near Dallas-Fort Worth, recently met behind closed doors to add their city to the list of municipalities that pay former state Rep. Fred Hill to lobby for them.

Open government advocates aren't happy about it. From this morning's Star-Telegram:

A government-transparency advocate criticized Grapevine officials last week for what he considers a "clear violation" of a state law barring secret deliberations of elected bodies.

At issue is the City Council's March 2 closed-door discussion of hiring a lobbyist to represent the city in Austin. Grapevine officials say they didn't break the law, but Bill Aleshire, an attorney with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, said "absolutely it was a violation of the Open Meetings Act."

City Attorney Matthew Boyle, who signed off on the agenda, said the city is "as comfortable as can be" that no violation occurred.

You might remember Texas Watchdog's story from last year about Hill's trip through the revolving door, leaving the legislature and becoming a lobbyist for local governments near Dallas. 

I'm a board member of FOIFT, and I share Aleshire's view. The public has a right to see and hear the debate over important issues and expenditures of taxpayer money, such as whether to hire a lobbyist.