It's a frackin' good idea for candidates for high political office to make their income tax returns public -- and a story in this morning's Houston Chronicle shows why.

Former Houston Mayor Bill White, now the Democratic nominee for governor, has made a whole lot of money from a company that is being probed for pollution problems, the Chronicle reports this morning.

White also received almost $830,000 in stock and another $245,000 in stock options. He will receive an additional $180,000 in stock and a retirement payout of $783,000 if the firm's merger with Baker Hughes is approved by shareholders Friday.

The issue of White's involvement with BJ Services came to light after he refused a Houston Chronicle request for his tax returns during his tenure as mayor. The relationship was disclosed in personal financial disclosure statements. White's campaign provided details on his BJ Services earnings Tuesday.

A former state House member from Houston who knocked off an incumbent state rep by 10 votes in the March 2 primary has been accused of violating state election laws in wording his campaign signs.

The signs posted by Borris Miles, who beat state Rep. Al Edwards by a razor-thin margin in the Democratic primary for state House District 146, are the subject of a complaint to the state Ethics Commission. A local watchdog group says Miles' campaign signs asked voters to reelect him when even though Miles did not hold incumbent status.

“He slapped those signs, asking voters to reelect him, all around the district,” said Justin Jordan, executive director of the group Texans for Ethics and Responsibility. “And the statute states you have to be a current office holder to do that.”

Jordon has also been active in Republican politics in Texas.

See the complaint filed by TEA here.

Miles and Edwards have been locked in a tug-of-war over the House seat for years now. Back in 2006, Edwards was the incumbent when Miles beat him. In 2008, Edwards took the seat back from Miles. And this year, the race was as tight as expected and even wackier than predicted -- the rivalry even got some national attention when Miles, responding to Edwards' challenge, urinated for a drug test during a radio broadcast. Edwards has asked for a recount (of the votes, not the drug test).

“Our team is in the process of investigating the allegation and ... we will handle everything legally and make sure all political procedures were followed correctly,” said Jeri Brooks, a Miles spokeswoman.

This week Texas Watchdog is highlighting local Texas heroes who have fought for greater government transparency. Please come back all week to see different Texans profiled for their work in making government more open to us all. Some are government officials. Others are regular folks. All have succeeded at making government a little more open.

Today, read about an effort for open government in the growing town of Big Spring, Texas.

Read an earlier story about how school volunteer and mother Peyton Wolcott launched a national movement to post school check registers online. Also check out our video about how Houston public officials keep the public from hearing key speeches -- and how that is starting to change.

Houston ISD's new chief school officer for elementary schools is keeping himself busy. Sam Sarabia, former east region superintendent, talked to parents and teachers at various town hall meetings last week.

Trustee Paula Harris invited Sarabia to explain what his new position will mean for parents, teachers and students. Sarabia said his new role will be similar to what he did as a region superintendent, but with a focus on elementary schools.

Sylvester Turner, longtime state representative from Houston, agreed to pay a fine of $4,500 for a variety of political contribution reporting discrepancies in 2007 and 2008.

In a 27-page report, the Texas Ethics Commission said Turner agreed to file accurate contribution reports after the Commission found that Turner had under-reported amounts, and failed to disclose correct reimbursements to staff as well as amounts of his personal funds used to pay for political expenses.  

The report also outlines the responses of Turner, who was first elected to the Texas House in 1988, to allegations that he failed to correctly report contributions from corporations and labor organizations, failed to provide some information about out-of-state political committee donations and made other reporting errors.

The Department of Criminal Justice, the Texas Youth Commission and the Department of Public Safety will be giving pay increases totaling $292,448 a year to 160 employees whose jobs were not properly classified.

According to a review just released by the state Auditor's Office, the 160 were among 451 program specialist jobs not properly classified by the three state agencies. These other reclassified positions did not result in a pay increase, according to the auditor's review.

A classification team for the auditor's office in July 2009 found that about half the agencies' program specialist positions were correctly classified, or 418 of the 869 positions. The agencies agreed with the auditor's recommendation that the specialists be reclassified as supervisors.

The State Board of Education violated state open meetings rules when it voted to support Gov. Rick Perry in spurning federal tax dollars for education and failed to notify the public by putting the resolution on its January agenda.

That's according to the Quorum Report, which is challenging what it says were two separate violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act. In addition to the January violation, the Quorum Report takes issue with the board's passage of a memorial resolution for a former board member that was not included on a recently published agenda.

Perry in January said Texas would not compete for the Race to the Top stimulus funds because of the onerous federal requirements that would go with the money.

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. 

Houston ISD will once again be funding small schools in the district with a subsidy after trustees unanimously voted for it Thursday.

The plan keeps the subsidies in place, but reduces the funding by $961 or less per school. Trustees voiced concerns about an earlier plan, which would have implemented cuts from about $100 to $14,000.

The smallest schools in the Houston Independent School District receive some funding based on a formula the Houston Independent School District's board adopted years ago, which is based on programs offered such as music or theater, and on organizational structure such as one set up around smaller class sizes.

The small-school subsidy debate does not seem to be over. Trustee Paula Harris said the plan the board adopted Thursday is just a temporary fix, not a solution.

Trustee Larry Marshall agreed with Harris. In the clip below, Marshall discusses the history of the small schools as responses to desegregation.