Question concerning Open Meeting Act

Texas

Our town is in turmoil ... 2 rival factions duking it out for control. One councilman directed the city manager to remove some no parking signs - only in one area where the councilman is siding with a local business. The other signs up and down the street were not removed. A citizen questioned what gave the councilman the authority to have the signs removed. She said no one could produce the traffic study that others said had been done. Citizen says, so you took it upon yourself to have the signs removed without consulting anyone else? She said she had met with 2 other council members and they agreed with her so she went to the city manager and had them removed. Citizen says isn't that a violation of the Open Meeting Act and she says no, I didn't meet with them, I just talked to them on the phone. One at a time. She did not attempt to contact the other council members.

Is this a violation of the open meeting act or would all of them have had to be present at one time to constitute a violation?

When any official business is conducted or decided constitutes a meeting. it could be when a quorum (or the required number of people for a meeting) of city council are eating dinner at a restaurant and they decide to paint main street pink. Or at a christmas party. Anytime official business is discussed with the number of people allowed to make a decision and a decision is made that deals with the job that is a meeting under the Open Meeting law.

So it does NOT make a difference if the persons were not in one place, at one time but contacted separately?

Texasgal said:

So it does NOT make a difference if the persons were not in one place, at one time but contacted separately?

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Was official business conducted and was a decision made that required the permission of the council? if so then apparently a vote was taken and as such the vote needed to be taken at a public meeting.

Thank you very much! I read it as such but needed a second pair of eyes. Thanks again!