Free Speech Under Attack in Kyle Texas...?

I had this transcribed from the November 15th issue of The Kyle-Buda Eagle. Big thanks to my transcriptionist! Unfortunately this paper is not online but, I felt that this story is important. I needed to do this so that I can give my readers some background on the comments that will follow in a few days. The next posting will be entitled Bloggers Bware: Kyle Texas Is Watching You

Gratias Tibi Ago Deus

Wonko's Bud

Texas Ethics Commission delves into ‘Kyle Klips’

By Mary Elizabeth Davis with the Eagle

Texas Ethics Commission officials are looking into allegations aimed at two Kyle residents and a Del Valle man of possible violating numerous sections of the state’s election laws.
The state agency requested sworn written statements, taken under oath, from Maxine Weatherford, Sherry Anderson, and Nolan Ward.
The ethics commission mailed out the Sept. 27 letters asking the trio to respond to the City of Kyle’s allegations they may have broken election laws. The commission gave them 25 business days to respond to allegations of failing to disclose statements in political advertising, misrepresenting their identity, failing to report financial campaign reports and not appointing a campaign treasurer at the time they reportedly wrote and published the anonymous Kyle Klips website and newsletters. The publications criticized city officials for allegedly wasting taxpayers’ dollars, supporting a candidate seeking the District 6 city council seat, and asking voters to vote on a city amendment to the city charter regarding the number of council votes needed to hire or fire the city manager.
“I decided it was important to share with other citizens in our community the information that I had gathered. My primary concern was that making these findings public could subject me and/or my family to retaliation by public officials who I believed were acting inappropriately. To avoid this retaliation I disseminated the information through an anonymously written newsletter, and later through an Internet blog, that I named Kyle Klips,” Weatherford said in a statement given to the district attorney. “I also did not want the issue to be about me, but about the public issues and public officials who I believe are harming our community. I wanted it to be about the message, not the messenger.
“My primary goal has been to share factual information with my neighbors so together we could improve our community. Though every fact in each publication of Kyle Klips was thoroughly checked before it was disseminated. I knew some articles contained facts that public officials would likely consider unflattering and controversial.
“I was not acting at the behest of anyone else in publishing this material. No one paid me to write or publish and issue of Kyle Klips. I was merely motivated by the desire to disseminate to my neighbors and other citizens of the community the information I had gathered.”
Kyle city council members began an investigation into who created the publications shortly after the May city election. They sent their results to the district attorney’s office.
Anderson responded to the commission’s request. She said she only edited the publication. She does not feel Kyle Klips violated election laws since they came from a private individual.
“This and the Kyle Thunderpalooza are just examples of the mismanagement and misguidance of the city council. It’s clearly an abuse of power,” said Anderson, who works as a tax policy analyst with the tax policy division of the State Comptroller’s Office. “I know I haven’t done anything wrong. We have (Texas) Supreme Court case laws that says that you don’t have to put your name on a publication that you disseminate to the public. It stifles Freedom of Speech.”
Council members removed Anderson from the city ethics commission in August upon learning her involvement in the publications.
Mayor Mike Gonzalez and City Manager Tom Mattis could not be reached for comment. Messages left for state ethics commission representatives were not returned by press time.
“What the city council never took into consideration was the fact that the Texas Ethics Commission should not hold an individual to the same standard that it hold a public official,” Anderson said. “If Todd (Webster) or Tom (Mattis) want to do something, they run to the district attorney. It’s not to be expected that a 70-year-old plus grandmother would be aware of the ethics statues.”
Assistant District Attorney Wes Mau, who handled the case when it went to the district attorney’s office, was unavailable for comment.
“I think it serves the public’s interest to ensure that elections are conducted in a fair and legal way,” said council member Todd Webster, who was re-elected to the District 6 seat last May. “I think there’s an obligation that the city has in making sure that elections are run fairly. The decision we made to deal with that issue was made prior to anyone knowing who was involved. The things were turned over to the appropriate authorities. If the ethics commission decided not to do anything with it, it’s their call.”
“If Todd Webster had a problem with the election he should have pursued a complaint.” Anderson said. “Instead he hid behind other city council members and had them do his dirty work.”
The election code requires candidates or their committees to report how much they raise and the amount of their expenditures if the figure is $500 or more. Candidates submit those reports in the city secretary’s office.
The account of the more than $800 in printing expenses from Kyle Klips or the $6.50 an hour reportedly paid to workers to hand deliver publications to voters’ doors never made found their way on any candidates’ financial reports.
The state ethics commission has jurisdiction over candidates and Political Action Committee’s actions.
“The City of Kyle City Council has spend $21,000 investigating Kyle Klips. It was … a newsletter that is nothing more than one exercising First Amendment rights,” Weatherford said. “This is not in the best interest of the taxpayers of Hays County.”
The exact amount the city spent on investigating Kyle Klips was not available at press time.