Open records requests filed at City Hall
By Melinda L. Lucas
Three weeks after the Albany City Council declined to adopt a “Sanctuary City for the Unborn” ordinance, the city is facing renewed attention because of a sweeping public records request filed by Tammy Fogle, a non-resident who, along with Mark Lee Dickson of Longview, has played a large role to try to get the ordinance passed locally.
The request, submitted last Thursday, Sept. 4, seeks 32 categories of communication between city leaders and others regarding the ordinance and the process for placing items on the council agenda.
While the request is fully legal under the Texas Public Information Act, city officials believe its scale and timing suggest a broader campaign.
“Citizens may not fully understand that this request is putting the City of Albany through a big mess of trouble,” City Manager Billy Holson said. “Even if I was texting my wife about it, I’d have to turn that over.”
Mayor Susan Montgomery expressed concern about the financial impact. “This will cost the city thousands of dollars — money that should be used for streets to be redone or the city pool to be fixed. Now it will be spent on lawyer fees,” she said.
Montgomery also raised questions about the request’s intent. “We feel like the goal is to influence how council members vote or to undermine them. This same thing happened in Clarendon, and now it’s happening here.”
Some local supporters of the ordinance have voiced a different perspective. Rodney Casey, the only local resident whose name is included in the request, said, “Although I didn’t know about my name being on the open records request, I don’t have a problem with it. Mark Dickson is not unfamiliar with the enemies’ tactics to keep pro-life ordinances from being passed. He has been working at passing pro-life ordinances for several years. The open records request could possibly give some understanding about what has been going on locally.”
Records Request
The open records request names Mayor Montgomery, Holson, City Secretary Kenisha Lucas, and council members Lynsi Perry, Austin Sherwood, and Don Taggart. It asks for emails, texts, social media messages, phone call summaries, and more — spanning several months and covering nearly all communications tied to the ordinance and local decision-making processes.
The request excludes records involving Councilmen Chris Beard and Lester Galbreath, along with several other individuals and groups closely associated with the ordinance effort, including attorneys Jonathan F. Mitchell and Jerad Najvar, Right to Life Across Texas, Texas Right to Life, Tammy Fogle, Rodney Casey and Mark Lee Dickson.
Legal Compliance
To comply with the request, the City of Albany has hired outside legal counsel. Holson confirmed that attorney Pat Chesser of Brownwood, who has advised the city on legal issues in the past, is reviewing all documents prior to release. The process involves searching personal and work accounts across multiple platforms, requiring time from nearly every department.
City leaders say the request is not simply about transparency.
“Again, we feel like the goal is to influence how council members vote or to undermine them in other ways,” said Montgomery.
Clarendon Details
According to information shared by newspaper editor Roger Estlack in Clarendon, a nearly identical sequence of events played out there last year. A Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance initially had support but was ultimately dropped after the council declined action.
Afterward, a wave of public records requests targeted council members and city officials. Some of those records were posted online or discussed on social media, fueling accusations and deepening political divisions. While the campaign initially energized some local supporters, many ultimately distanced themselves, according to Estlack, saying outside pressure had gone too far and diverted attention from real city needs.
Estlack said Clarendon’s council members subsequently rejected the ordinance, effectively ending the effort.
Second Filing
While researching this story, The Albany News reached out to Fogle with questions about her open records request. Editor in chief David Waller, who was preparing the article at the time, sent the inquiry. Fogle initially asked why Waller was seeking information.
Waller responded to Fogle that he was seeking clarification on both the scope and motivation behind the filing, including: Why were Councilmen Beard and Galbreath excluded while others were not? Had Rodney Casey agreed to be included? And why were names like Mark Lee Dickson, Jonathan F. Mitchell, Jerad Najvar, Rodney Casey, Right to Life Across Texas, Texas Right to Life, and Fogle herself specifically excluded?
Rather than responding to the questions, Fogle then accused Waller of acting as a vessel for the City of Albany and filed a second open records request naming him personally. She stated in writing that she would refrain from commenting on anything that “could negatively impact the retrieval of those documents,” even though the records are legally required to be released.
Waller, a private citizen and not a city employee, is not subject to the Texas Public Information Act.
Holding Pattern
The original Sanctuary City ordinance failed at the last city council meeting on Aug. 18 when no motion was voiced to bring it to a vote. “We did exactly what we were supposed to do,” Montgomery said. “The ordinance died because there was no motion. Now we’re being dragged through a costly process by people who don’t even live here.”
Some local residents who are actually in support of a Pro-Life ordinance at some level, seem to agree.
Many members of a large group of concerned local citizens who attended city council meetings in support of the ordinance have voiced disapproval of tactics coming from outside the community. In an Aug. 21 letter to the editor, supporters wrote: “The outcome of the [city council] meeting was not what we prayed for, but we accept the city council’s decision. Moving forward, we will be working locally, and strategies will come from within our community.”
This week, The Albany News contacted several members of that group for comment, but received no responses from specific individuals. In a separate advertisement on Page 9 of this edition, the group reiterated their position.
