Putting Financial Disclosure Information Online

Thanks to Texas Watchdog, "an independent, nonpartisan entity [that] serves as a government watchdog and training center where reporters, bloggers and activists of any stripe learn how to uncover waste, fraud and corruption in state and local governments," the financial disclosure forms of Houston's council members are now available online.

This service was not provided by this city, nor is it provided by most local governments that require financial disclosure, itself one of the most controversial aspects of government ethics. Citizens who suspect a conflict generally need to go down to town hall, usually twice, during working hours to see if their hunches might be true.

The forms are presented in the form of a map of the council member's principal residences, an unfortunate decision, since although these can lead to conflicts, their business connections and other owned real estate are more likely to do this. And people are also more likely to sympathize with council members' home addresses be emphasized like this.

One detail worth noting:  according to another post on the Texas Watchdog site, the city's legal department insisted on redacting the names and addresses of members' spouses. Texas Watchdog sought an opinion from the Attorney General, which, it said, required this information to be disclosed.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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