The Collin County Observer™

One of the basic rights of Americans is the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This right to watch, lobby and agitate was considered so precious to our liberties that it was enshrined in the very first of the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution.

Jack Lagos has been petitioning his government for several years - and he has a list of grievances.

He has consistently challenged the City of Plano, the Arts of Collin County, and the Plano Economic Development Board (PEDB).

His disagreements PEDB over spending and the public's right to know and his confrontations with the City have resulted in several written opinions by the Texas Attorney General that have forced the PEDB to publish agendas and to open its meetings and records to the public.

In a 2007 article, The Dallas Morning News' Theodore Kim wrote of Mr. Lagos' struggle over open meetings and records:

"To characterize Mr. Lagos as a gadfly would be an understatement. He's more like a gadwasp.

"For the past several years, the 65-year-old Plano resident has frequented council meetings and fervently scolded members over rising taxes, government largesse and other issues.

"His latest project? Making public the meetings and records of the Plano Economic Development Board, a city-funded nonprofit group that helps shepherd new businesses to Plano.

"At council meeting after meeting, Mr. Lagos has railed about unbolting the doings of the board. His strident rants – carried live on public access television – often prompt little more than blank stares from council members and city staff.

"But his persistent efforts actually bore fruit last month when the Texas attorney general's office ruled that the board should open its meetings and agendas to public scrutiny.

"The city has long argued that the board is private and not subject to open records laws. The attorney general decided otherwise."

Mr. Lagos is abrasive. His opinions are not always popular, especially with elected officials, but he is persistent and his persistence has allowed him to act as an effective check on government actions.

Typically, Plano and the PEDB have reacted to Mr. Lagos's activism by stonewalling requests for information. Their shortsighted, defensive reactions have only emboldened Lagos and resulted in more open records AG Opinions in his favor.

In a recent clash with the PEDB, Lagos called Mayor Phil Dyer to complain that the Board would not release yet another document. In his tirade with the Mayor, Lagos is reported to have made the comment that a "grenade was abut to go off in the boardroom" and that the "staff would not like his surprises".

The Mayor and the PEDB then acted like a recent hysterical school principal who suspended a first grader for bringing a 2" squirt gun to school. The PEDB went to court and filed a request for a restraining order against Lagos.

The Morning News reports that, "The order took effect Aug. 27 and forbids Lagos from interacting with board staff members, Bane and the seven-member board itself, which includes Dyer and City Manager Thomas Muehlenbeck. The plaintiffs are seeking a more permanent arrangement."

When will Plano learn that building walls of secrecy will not stifle protest? When will they learn that the public's right to know is more important than their agendas? That citizens don't have to be nice to be entitled to the whole truth?

Jack Lagos can be a jerk. But so was Thomas Paine.

Bill

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Plano's economic development board seeks restraining order against activist

Thursday, October 22, 2009
By THEODORE KIM / The Dallas Morning News

Plano's economic development board has filed a restraining order against a local gadfly, claiming harassment and physical threats.

Jack Lagos dismisses the accusations as a "political witch hunt" meant to smear his name and prevent him from examining city records.

And, in a twist, Lagos has hired one of Plano's best-known lawyers to represent him: Howard Shapiro, husband of state Sen. Florence Shapiro.

It is a case rife with intrigue. And it provides a window into a long-simmering row between Lagos, an assiduous city government critic, and the board, which tries to recruit and keep businesses in Plano.

The temporary restraining order, filed in a state district court, stems from a clash over a request for public documents at the board's office Aug. 20.

The board's executive director, Sally Bane, and administrative assistant Linda Thomason contend that Lagos became "abrasive and confrontational" after he was told to put in a records request for a certain document, according to court filings.

Lagos subsequently called Plano Mayor Phil Dyer to complain. What happened next is in dispute.

Bane and Thomason say in affidavits that Lagos told the mayor a grenade was about to go off in the boardroom and that staff "would not like his surprises."

The order took effect Aug. 27 and forbids Lagos from interacting with board staff members, Bane and the seven-member board itself, which includes Dyer and City Manager Thomas Muehlenbeck. The plaintiffs are seeking a more permanent arrangement.

The disputed exchange followed months of disagreements over the board's work in which Lagos' behavior grew erratic, said David Ovard, attorney for the board and Bane.

"Unfortunately, the steps that were taken were made necessary because of his actions," Ovard said. He added that Bane and Thomason feared for their safety and have since bolstered security at the board's offices.

Bane did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Dyer declined to comment and referred all questions to Ovard.

In interviews, Lagos and his attorney contend the "grenade" comment is being taken out of context. Rather, Lagos was using a figure of speech to express to the mayor that the documents Lagos was seeking would be damaging – the equivalent of a grenade going off in the boardroom.

Board staffers called police after the quarrel. Lagos said his house was searched by authorities. They found nothing and later apologized, said Shapiro, his attorney. Shapiro added that a grand jury decided not to indict Lagos on criminal charges.

"This is completely being blown out of proportion," Shapiro said. "It was a figure of speech. ... I think [Lagos is] just a thorn in their side. And he probably has agitated them. But that's no grounds for an injunction."

The legal sparring is far from over.

Ovard has moved to disqualify Shapiro from representing Lagos because Shapiro called Dyer after the incident – a potential conflict of interest. In that call, Shapiro said, the mayor admitted he did not feel in danger after the grenade comment.

read the full article in the Dallas Morning News.....