Hidalgo’s office appears to redact emails released to public by others

13 Investigates routinely makes public information requests to local officials’ offices and agencies to keep our viewers informed about what the government is doing. Sometimes we know what we can expect when asking government officials for information. But ultimately, we have to trust that the person fulfilling our request gives us everything we’ve asked for, and when they choose to redact something, we have to trust that it is for a legitimate legal reason. Rarely do we get a chance to verify that those things are happening, but after making similar requests to different government agencies, we received different responses. 13 Investigates sent multiple requests for emails related to Harris Health System’s plans to condemn nine acres of Hermann Park land next to Ben Taub Hospital to expand the hospital. The land was donated to the city by a Houstonian in 1914 and was supposed to go back to the family if it was no longer needed as parkland, per the deed. Sources told ABC13 that plans to condemn the land had been in the works for years, but the donor’s family says they only found out about it when ABC13 reported it this summer. 13 Investigates wanted to know who knew what and when, so we sent public records requests to all four Harris County commissioners and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s Office. Our requests asked for copies of emails with the county mentioning Hermann Park, the Taub family, and other keywords related to the plans. In response to our request, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia’s office sent us nine emails. “Taxpayers are paying for this work to be done. They should know what’s going on,” said Scott Spiegel, the executive director of communication at Garcia’s office. The emails included a message from the president and CEO of Harris Health canceling a press conference scheduled for June and replacing it with one at the end of July after the presumed approval to condemn the parkland. “Your participation in this press conference is essential to show community support for this important and historic expansion for needed health access for all residents of Harris County,” said an email Garcia’s office sent to ABC13. What appears to be the same email from the Harris Health CEO was also sent to Hidalgo and released to us, but several paragraphs of the email were redacted or blocked out. Hidalgo’s office cited “deliberative process,” which essentially means opinions, recommendations, or conversations that are part of making a policy or coming to a decision, were mentioned in the email. ABC13 wanted to know why the commissioner’s response was different than the judge’s office. “I do have a hard time believing that there was something that would be so particularly sensitive that would require this whole rigmarole, but we’re more of the opinion that we just put this stuff out there,” Spiegel said. Hidalgo’s office told us it follows guidance from its legal counsel. “The deliberative process privilege permits the redaction of internal communications that reflect opinions, advice, or recommendations made as part of decision-making. This is a standard legal protection to ensure open and candid internal discussions. We can only speak to our own office’s application of this privilege, not to how other Commissioners’ offices choose to apply or not apply it,” Hidalgo’s office said in an email to 13 Investigates. ABC13 asked Harris Health if they believed the information Hidalgo’s office redacted would be considered a deliberative process, but they did not respond to our question. We’ve also experienced discrepancies related to other requests to Hidalgo’s Office. Shortly after Hidalgo announced on ABC13 that she planned to propose a penny tax to keep a child care program running, we sent a public information request for emails with her office that mention the words “property, tax, taxes, childhood,” and “ARPA.” Hidalgo’s office initially released nearly 5, 500 pages of information but sent some of them to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, asking to withhold the documents. The AG ruled that more documents had to be released to 13 Investigates, and we received 95 additional pages of information. One of the additional documents we received included a briefing for an event on early childhood initiatives. A section of the briefing was titled, “Context of Event (External Affairs)” with the question, “What do people normally wear to this event?” That briefing was included multiple times in the documents we received. The first time it was mentioned, it showed two sentences that said, “Background information on how that was determined. Please ask ‘what do people wear,’ not ‘what should she wear’?” It also showed a third sentence that said, “Please notify the Judge of special attire 7-14 days in advance.” But the second time it was mentioned, those three lines were redacted, citing it was a “policy-making document. The materials were initially withheld under the deliberative process privilege,” Hidalgo’s office said in a statement. “Following the AG’s determination, we complied fully and released the information as directed.” ABC13 also asked for emails between Hidalgo, her top staffers, and BakerRipley, one of the partners in the early childhood program. Hidalgo’s office sent us almost 2, 000 pages worth of emails and attachments. We looked through them and didn’t find anything notable. They also asked the AG’s Office if they could withhold some of the documents we requested. Two months later, the AG said they have to release information. We received one email between staff at BakerRipley and Hidalgo’s office with phone numbers on it for two parents, but nothing else notable. We wanted to know why they didn’t just redact the phone numbers and release the email sooner. “Out of an abundance of caution, the Judge’s Office sought guidance from the Attorney General before releasing any personal information. The only detail in question was the phone numbers, which fall under Section 552. 101 of the Texas Government Code. Once the AG issued its opinion, we released the full, unredacted email,” Hidalgo’s office said in a statement. Contact 13 Investigates.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/hidalgos-office-appears-redact-emails-041058428.html

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