LeakSprings:
The inept-stein Files

Texas House Bill 1522 became effective on September 1, 2025. Among other things, the bill amended provisions concerning budget discussions under the Texas Open Meetings Act, specifically Section 551.043(c). A three business day notice requirement replaced the 72-hour rule for these types of discussions, and the Legislature added specific disclosure requirements when a budget is discussed or adopted: “The notice of a meeting required to be posted under Subsection (a) at which

Apparently, ground beef is all it takes to make Marc Maxwell newsworthy again. Over the past week, the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram and Front Porch News have run the same story about Maxwell securing a donation of meat for the Hopkins County Community Chest, complete with a posed photo op. Here are those links if you haven't seen them yet: Sulphur Springs News-Telegram https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14nHwYcWzMQ/ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1J8qjTQR67/ Front Porch News

Every time I look into what City Leaders have done on this data center deal, I become even more convinced that they have no understanding of basic risk management practices. Whether it's legal risks (you know, basic laws like the Open Meetings Act), effective counterparty due diligence, reputation risk, or compliance risks, they seem to have no idea how to do anything here that isn't absurdly negligent. One example that everyone knows: Our illustrious City Manager never bothe

Y'all...this is like a person with no income asking to borrow against a mansion they haven't started building yet on land their mama gave them.

The budget confirms a lot of what we thought. Water, sewer, and property taxes are carrying the bulk of the payments on the new debt.

UPDATE: Please checkout part II when you're done. For cities, borrowing to fund investment in economic development is very common and smart—if done right. After all, the money has to come from somewhere to make those kinds of improvements, and it can't all come from the City's main accounts. It's like a business that borrows to expand and pays back the loan with increased revenue from the expansion. When it works, it's a good thing long term. Our city leaders were using some