Press Release-Open Records
Press Release-Open Records
Press Release-Open Records
com
EL PASO -- Armando Rodriguez, a candidate for the position of El Paso County Tax Assessor-Collector, will ask the Texas Attorney General to look into potential miscompliance of the Open Records Law by the o ce of Victor Flores, his opponent in the upcoming Democratic primary. Rodriguez claims Flores has denied the public access to information that should be readily available by imposing exuberant charges on open records requests. A request made by the Rodriguez campaign in December, which among other things asked for gures relating to revenue from vehicle registrations and title transfers yielded a bill for $437.10. "The information my campaign requested should be more than readily available. It should be posted online for the public to review," Rodriguez said. "Charging $430 to obtain information like this, doesnt convey the message of a clear and open government." Rodriguez said this charge, which he called "excessive," is proof that changes in the o ce of tax assessor-collector are needed to guarantee the taxpayer's right to know. In his open records request, the campaigned asked for: 1. Amounts of all moneys collected for title transfers and registration renewals by the El Paso County Tax Assessor-Collector for the past 5 years. 2. Amounts of all moneys collected for title transfers and registration renewals by all licensed full service title o ces for the past 5 years. Access to these gures, along with other information obtained from the tax-assessor-collector's o ce, could help draft a blue print that will make this o ce more customer friendly, e cient and accountable, Rodriguez said. "I am not asking Mr. Flores to go out of his way. I would hope that this information is ready for public consumption given its importance," he said. "I would hate to think that these gures are not being released because they could be politically harmful to his campaign." Rodriguez will ask the Attorney General to reduce the fee to an amount that would allow him and other ordinary El Pasoans to have access to their government records.