The chief spokesman for the Houston Independent School District says Texas Watchdog is unethical.
For a school district that’s been mired in accusations of cronyism, contract steering and even corruption, that’s pretty rich. But let's put aside the irony for just a moment.
As the editor of Texas Watchdog, I want to step back a moment and address the accusations HISD has levied at us.
For those of you who did not read our story from earlier today, our reporter Mike Cronin sought out HISD board President Paula Harris after a meeting Monday night to ask her why she'd blocked him from her Twitter and Facebook feeds. This was after Harris and her representatives had failed to return Cronin's calls and e-mails for nine weeks, including calls asking her to respond to questions as innocuous as what her goals were for the district if she were to be re-elected Nov. 8.
HISD spokesman Jason Spencer sent us an e-mail today making several accusations against us. Let me rebut them one by one.
+ He said our reporter, Mike Cronin, physically blocked Ms. Harris' path. This is not true. Ms. Harris was in an office cubicle when Mike approached, and at no time did Mike try to prevent Ms. Harris from leaving.
+ He said Mike secretly recorded the conversation without telling Harris he was doing so. Mike says he had his digital audio recorder in his hands, out in front of him, the entire time during the conversation. There's no way that can be "secretly recording" someone. And apparently Ms. Harris is unaware that, as a school board president, reporters will sometimes approach her for comment and yes, they can legally record her without first saying "I'm recording you" -- but there's usually not much need to tell someone you're recording them when you have a tape recorder stuck out in front of you, and they're an elected official in a public building after a public meeting, and they know you're a reporter.
+ He said Cronin "has no legal right of access" to Harris' Twitter feed. We would encourage HISD and its attorneys to re-read the Texas Public Information Act and the recent rulings by Attorney General Greg Abbott stating that a public official's communications regarding public business are a matter of public record, regardless of the ownership nature of the account or device through which they are transmitted.
+ He said Mike and our deputy editor Jennifer Peebles "attempted to plant activated video and audio recording devices inside a closed meeting of the Board of Education’s audit committee" back in August. This is not true. Mike and Jennifer brought their audio-visual recording equipment with them to a public meeting. When the meeting went into closed session, the school board members instructed them to leave. As they got up to leave, they were told they could not leave their equipment and other belongings in the meeting room while waiting outside. Mike and Jennifer doubled back, gathered up all their gear, and left the room.
And we have a witness to back that up.
“I did not interpret Texas Watchdog’s actions at the beginning of the closed session of the Audit Committee meeting in August as trying to secretly record the closed session,” HISD school board member and Audit Committee Chairman Mike Lunceford told Mike today. Mike and Jennifer, Lunceford said, “gathered up (their) stuff and left.”
Lunceford was present at the start of the audit committee meeting in question. Harris arrived about 45 minutes later, well into the closed part of the meeting.
+ He accused Mike of "unethical, bullying, and intimidating behavior." Asking an elected public official questions that they don't want to answer isn't unethical, bullying or intimidating.
Spencer and HISD "requested that Mr. Cronin be instructed to respect Ms. Harris’ decision to not speak with him."
That's not going to happen. If Ms. Harris didn't want to be questioned about her relationship with HISD vendors and whether she went to bat with HISD to get her buddies business with the school district, she either shouldn't have been dealing with them or should not have run for the school board.
I'm sure HISD would like the stream of stories we've been producing about their ethical problems to go away. And I'm sure they'd like Mike to go away.
We want to reassure our readers that that's not going to happen, either.
****
Contact Trent Seibert at trent@texaswatchdog.org or 832-316-4994.
As the editor of Texas Watchdog, I want to step back a moment and address the accusations HISD has levied at us.
For those of you who did not read our story from earlier today, our reporter Mike Cronin sought out HISD board President Paula Harris after a meeting Monday night to ask her why she'd blocked him from her Twitter and Facebook feeds. This was after Harris and her representatives had failed to return Cronin's calls and e-mails for nine weeks, including calls asking her to respond to questions as innocuous as what her goals were for the district if she were to be re-elected Nov. 8.
HISD spokesman Jason Spencer sent us an e-mail today making several accusations against us. Let me rebut them one by one.
+ He said our reporter, Mike Cronin, physically blocked Ms. Harris' path. This is not true. Ms. Harris was in an office cubicle when Mike approached, and at no time did Mike try to prevent Ms. Harris from leaving.
+ He said Mike secretly recorded the conversation without telling Harris he was doing so. Mike says he had his digital audio recorder in his hands, out in front of him, the entire time during the conversation. There's no way that can be "secretly recording" someone. And apparently Ms. Harris is unaware that, as a school board president, reporters will sometimes approach her for comment and yes, they can legally record her without first saying "I'm recording you" -- but there's usually not much need to tell someone you're recording them when you have a tape recorder stuck out in front of you, and they're an elected official in a public building after a public meeting, and they know you're a reporter.
+ He said Cronin "has no legal right of access" to Harris' Twitter feed. We would encourage HISD and its attorneys to re-read the Texas Public Information Act and the recent rulings by Attorney General Greg Abbott stating that a public official's communications regarding public business are a matter of public record, regardless of the ownership nature of the account or device through which they are transmitted.
+ He said Mike and our deputy editor Jennifer Peebles "attempted to plant activated video and audio recording devices inside a closed meeting of the Board of Education’s audit committee" back in August. This is not true. Mike and Jennifer brought their audio-visual recording equipment with them to a public meeting. When the meeting went into closed session, the school board members instructed them to leave. As they got up to leave, they were told they could not leave their equipment and other belongings in the meeting room while waiting outside. Mike and Jennifer doubled back, gathered up all their gear, and left the room.
And we have a witness to back that up.
“I did not interpret Texas Watchdog’s actions at the beginning of the closed session of the Audit Committee meeting in August as trying to secretly record the closed session,” HISD school board member and Audit Committee Chairman Mike Lunceford told Mike today. Mike and Jennifer, Lunceford said, “gathered up (their) stuff and left.”
Lunceford was present at the start of the audit committee meeting in question. Harris arrived about 45 minutes later, well into the closed part of the meeting.
+ He accused Mike of "unethical, bullying, and intimidating behavior." Asking an elected public official questions that they don't want to answer isn't unethical, bullying or intimidating.
Spencer and HISD "requested that Mr. Cronin be instructed to respect Ms. Harris’ decision to not speak with him."
That's not going to happen. If Ms. Harris didn't want to be questioned about her relationship with HISD vendors and whether she went to bat with HISD to get her buddies business with the school district, she either shouldn't have been dealing with them or should not have run for the school board.
I'm sure HISD would like the stream of stories we've been producing about their ethical problems to go away. And I'm sure they'd like Mike to go away.
We want to reassure our readers that that's not going to happen, either.
****
Contact Trent Seibert at trent@texaswatchdog.org or 832-316-4994.
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Tape recorder photo by flickr user edvvc, used under a Creative Commons license.
Like this story? Then steal it. This report by Texas Watchdog is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License. That means bloggers, citizen-journalists, and journalists may republish the story on their sites with attribution and a link to Texas Watchdog. If you do re-use the story, we'd love to hear about it. E-mail news@texaswatchdog.org.
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