EDIE ZUVANICH
Special to the Press
HUTTO – A policy vote to effectively exclude City Council members from Hutto Economic Development Corp. executive sessions came under fire because no policy actions were published in the EDC’s public notice of agenda items. Council member Dan Thornton brought the issue to the April 17 City Council meeting as a potential violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act.
“I am an educated member of the public who knows what to expect and that blindsided me, that agenda item and the way that item was made,” Thornton said.
The council member was referring to item 7.2 on the HEDC March 10 meeting agenda.
The action taken by the HEDC board was to temporarily prohibit anyone not on the board, the executive director or its legal counsel from attending executive sessions unless authorized by the board during open session. This is an amendment which the HEDC is proposing to make in its bylaws, but upon approval of the action, the policy became immediately effective until the amended bylaws could be considered and approved by City Council.
The item was posted to discuss and act on bylaw changes, not create new policies. Audrey Guthrie, an attorney for the HEDC asserted that the action was not in violation of TOMA because the policy change was in relation to a bylaw change.
Mayor Mike Snyder was concerned about the precedent of enacting a proposed amendment before it was officially approved. He said the practice gives HEDC power to make extreme changes and enact them without approval of the council, and having them be in effect for a period before the council has a chance to approve or reject them.
“I think that’s a completely rogue, crazy idea that a board can go out, make a motion, make immediate changes with the concept of, ‘we’re going to completely change what we’re doing today pending the city council ultimately approving it,’” Snyder said.
The issue stems from the tradition of council members being able to sit in on HEDC executive sessions, a practice the HEDC will halt with this new policy and the bylaw, if approved.
Mayor Pro Tem Peter Gordon agreed the way it was done did not follow protocol, but he clarified that there is nothing in the HEDC bylaws that specifically gives council members the right to attend those executive sessions, so the policy or bylaw was not changing an existing rule.
Guthrie confirmed this, saying the policy change didn’t go against any of the approved bylaws. Rather, it reinforces that approval was going to be needed until the HEDC could put that language into the bylaws for City Council approval.
City Attorney Dottie Palumbo clarified that the city was not accusing the HEDC of a clear TOMA violation.
“We’re saying, to put it simply, the agenda item was for bylaws. Making a motion for a policy change is inconsistent with the notice for an agenda item for bylaws. That’s all we’re saying. It’s just contrary and the council wants to point that out to the HEDC to make sure that they follow the Supreme Court, making sure that the public has sufficient opportunity to be apprised of what’s on the agenda,“ Palumbo said.
Hooky opening countdown
Hutto’s new theater, bowling and entertainment complex, Hooky Entertainment, is on schedule to open at the end of May and be ready for Memorial Day weekend events. Charlie Tiantawach and Chris Cline of Es Vedra, LLC, told City Council the facility’s new general manager is currently being trained at a Dallas Hooky Entertainment location and will live in Hutto.
In addition to other amenities, the 900-seat cinema will house the local area’s only IMAX theater which will seat 218 people. All theaters will have Dolby surround sound, which features speakers behind the audience, in the ceiling, on the sides of the audience as well as behind the screens so movie-goers are surrounded by sound.
