Citizens in Charge

Those were the words of Shannon Thomason of the Big Spring, TX Concerned Citizens Council. Trevor Ford and I traveled to Big Spring this week to find out why the city council went so far as to violate Texas public meeting law to hold an emergency meeting to prevent a tax rollback from making the citywide ballot.

The petition controversy is big news in Big Spring, and KWES-9 news was on hand to cover the meeting. You can read about it and watch the video - including comments from yours truly - by clicking here.

Around the country elected officials are going to great lengths to keep citizens’ petitions from seeing the ballot. Beside holding illegal meetings, officials have changed the rules in the middle of the game, fined citizens for seeking accountability, and regularly resort to a host of petty tricks like tying petitioners up in court to keep the people off the ballot. It all comes down to one thing: silencing voters. Keep an eye on this blog for more developments from Texas and elsewhere.