The folks at Texas Watchdog, who have recently run into resistance with City of Houston public information requests (as have the folks at KHOU-11 News), report that the Houston Airport System is playing the passenger safety card in refusing to release detailed salary information about its employees. The Texas Watchdog request comes on the heels of the mysterious departure of longtime airport system kingpin Richard Vacar, and the city’s refusal to discuss the matter substantively with passive Chron scribes.
We’re fans of transparent government, to be sure. But we’re also sympathetic to the notion that publishing a list of salaries, names, and addresses of personnel responsible for keeping the airport secure may not be a smart security move. Surely there is some compromise that can be reached, though, because there are still lots of questions about the Vacar resignation/firing and how he was running the Houston Airport System. The public deserves some answers, regardless of whether Mayor White would rather be campaigning for the U.S. Senate.
BLOGVERSATION: Hair Balls.
