Watchdog reveals secret land deal between Ross Perot Jr. company and TxDOT

Along a 35-mile proposed superhighway only one landowner has been able to sell right-of-way to TxDOT.

The seller is the biggest name in North Texas real estate. Ross Perot Jr.’s Hillwood Development.

Ross Perot Jr.

Ross Perot Jr.

The deal was never revealed to the public until this Dave Lieber Watchdog report in The Dallas Morning News appeared.

Read more Watchdog reports here.

Watch this video by Dallas Morning News Watchdog Desk Administrator Marina Trahan Martinez.

Read The Watchdog every Friday and Sunday in The Dallas Morning News and at DallasNews.com.

 

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The Watchdog: On DART paratransit rides, customers complain of drivers who demean them

“Client states that vehicle was very unclean. Seats were wet and client later realized that she sat in urine.”

“Patron states the driver was very unclean. Patron’s words were ‘That driver needs to take a bath.’”

“Driver smelled of beer. Was going in and out of traffic. No working seatbelts. Driver was extremely rude.”

dart paratransit

I don’t know the names of the people whose complaints are summarized in today’s Watchdog report. Their words follow a subhead labeled “Customer Comments” on complaint forms about Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s paratransit system for the disabled.

These nameless riders have had their identities blacked out on the forms for privacy reasons. This was ordered by the Texas attorney general, who ruled that DART had to give me the forms I requested from May until August — more than a thousand.

The Watchdog asked for the forms to examine the customer service culture of MV Transportation, which holds the year-old contract with DART to run the paratransit system. How severe are the paratransit troubles, as reported by my colleagues, reporters Tom Benning and Brandon Formby?

DART fought the release of the complaint forms, telling the state attorney general in a letter, “The release of the complaints to the general public is of no legitimate concern to the public.”

I beg to differ, and when you read my sampling, you’ll see why.

As Benning previously reported, MV Transportation, which relocated its corporate headquarters to Dallas, paid $238,000 in penalties to DART for program flaws.

MV Transportation released a statement in the name of chief executive R. Carter Pate saying that DART and his company review complaints every week.

“We continue to make progress every month in the passenger complaint area,” the statement said. Company officials declined to sit with me for an interview.

DART said the complaints are raw information taken by dispatchers and have not been verified.

 

Under paratransit rules, disabled riders, some who use wheelchairs or require vehicle lifts, are certified to travel in scheduled trips in vans and taxis for a $3 fee. The service gives 2,500 rides a day and serves 11,000 riders.

Comments in the forms I received are summaries taken by DART customer service representatives about the callers’ laments. Here, in their own words, are samples of what they say:

“Client’s mother states the van was covered in ants. Caller states her daughter has lots of bites.”

“The driver was distracted. Client states the driver kept asking her for her telephone number and asking for a date. Client states she doesn’t want this driver to pick her up anymore.”

“Mother states that her son is in vehicle for over three hours.”

“The operator ran two stop signs in Garland.”

“Driver had their pants unzipped and the client feels that the driver looked dirty, sloppy and crazy.”

“The bus did not show.”

“Driver on his cell phone.”

“Vehicle ran out of gas.”

“Customer rode the paratransit vehicle for about three hours and never made it to his destination.”

“Customer was scheduled to be picked up at 12:37 and didn’t get picked up until three hours later.”

“Client states that operator asked her if she went to bed with all her boyfriends and continued to make comments on her body and made her feel very uncomfortable.”

“Operator was driving unsafe and client fell out of her seat. … Operator offered no assistance.”

“The destination was two miles away and instead was driven around for two hours due to overbooking.”

“The taxi was very overcrowded. About six people. Client states she called dispatch and was placed on hold for 30 minutes.”

“Driver stated, ‘I do not get enough money to help you get into the cab.’ Husband’s blood pressure went up to 200.”

“Driver was speeding over bumps and would not respond to her when she asked him to slow down because she has a bad back. Customer states driver was very rude and was driving very reckless while talking on the phone the whole time.”

“Operator arrived at location with pants sagging and appeared to be drunk. … Operator drove over cones in main entrance driveway and drove over speed bumps speeding.”

Doug Douglas, a DART vice president, says paratransit drivers have taken two mandatory “refresher” courses since MV Transportation won the contract with a bid of $186 million for seven years.

“Things are getting better every day,” he says. “We have not had any regression. The complaints you have are raw. They have not been validated. We have commendations regarding service as well.”

To be fair, I found this in the stack of a thousand pages: “Driver very kind. Helps customer with lift. He pulled the strap behind customer and secured her. Very timely. Customer got to church in good time. He is real nice.”

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The Watchdog: Get ready! Corporate super PACs now allowed in all Texas elections

So Watchdog Man, what do you have for us this Friday the 13th?

Sit down.

Why?

Because when I tell you the subject, you might want to run away. It’s unlucky, a major development in what’s perhaps the root of all evil.

Go ahead.

business-buildings-1-1035540-m

The Watchdog wants you to know how Texas government and politics are about to change in a fundamental way.

OK, you have my attention.

A little-noticed lawsuit has cleared the way for a historic switch. For the first time, corporations can make direct contributions to super PACs to influence state, county, local and school board elections in Texas.

You mean like that U.S. Supreme Court Citizens United decision that did the same for federal races?

Exactly. In lawyer talk, this aligns Texas with the federal ruling.

Cut the lawyer talk. What does this mean for the average voter?

In the darkest scenario, a millionaire donor from out-of-state could chuck gobs of money into a school board race and overthrow a board. Woe to a town mayor who upsets a big company. Small-town races could suddenly see a massive influx of corporate money handled through what state officials call “direct campaign expenditure only committees.”

I don’t get it.

Corporations were not allowed to donate to Texas elections through committees or any other way. Now they can pool their money with individual donors in these new political action committees. And these super PACs, although not allowed to make direct contributions to candidates, can spend unlimited amounts to campaign for one side or another. They will supposedly operate independent of the candidates.

How did this happen?

A group called Texans for Free Enterprise filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas Ethics Commission. The state lost. Dallas lawyer Chris Gober is the winning lawyer.

What does he say?

He says, “It’s very controversial. Some people certainly take the position that the more money in politics, the worse. What this particular decision represents is us requiring the state of Texas to recognize the bounds of the First Amendment that have been established by the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Corporations still cannot donate directly to candidates, Gober says. “What the law still does is prevent corporations from actively engaging with candidates and giving direct money to candidates in ways that create the danger of quid pro quo corruption.”

Do you think that’s true, Watchdog Man?

We’ll see. What we do know is that corporations will have more power to influence Texas elections than ever, and they were no shrinking violet before this. Gober says, “A lot of people believe that corporations are affected by government policies more so than individuals, that they have the right to engage in the debate to determine how the people are going to be governed.”

Are there limits to the donations?

No limits.

What does the losing party, the Texas Ethics Commission, say?

Officials are changing state election law. TEC general counsel Natalia Ashley says, “It’s hard to know how it’s going to impact races since this is the first time it will be allowed.”

Watchdog, did you talk to a political expert?

I did. Cal Jillson, the SMU political science professor, says that since individuals could already donate unlimited amounts to Texas races, this won’t have a dramatic effect. He suggests that some corporations will be hesitant to get involved in races: “Their customers are on both sides of divisive issues.”

What about Allan Saxe, over at the University of Texas at Arlington?

Saxe tells The Watchdog: “I’m for free speech. It may be unfair, but the First Amendment doesn’t talk about fairness. It talks about freedom, and that’s what the case is based on. In our society, everybody is trying to be fair and make everybody equal. … Money is not fair. But as long as people earn their money honestly and legally, I have no quarrel with it.”

What can the rest of us do, Watchdog?

My suggestion: Voters must pay attention to where political money comes from, why donors are giving and what they hope to get out of it. Contributor information and PAC registration will be available for free viewing on the Texas Ethics Commission website.

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The Watchdog: Are discounted cash prices for gas a violation of Texas law?

State regulators told Dallas Morning News Watchdog columnist Dave Lieber that gas stations offering discounted prices for cash purchases aren’t violating a Texas law that prohibits surcharges for debit- and credit-card purchase.

*

Tom Thumb changed its gas pricing policy recently, and some Texans say they question whether the new system violates a strengthened state law that prohibits surcharges for purchases made with debit or credit cards.

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File 2011/The Associated Press

Robert Gellman of Mansfield alerted me that “Tom Thumb has recently started to charge 10 cents more per gallon for gas that is paid with a credit card.”

He wonders if that’s a credit card surcharge — and a violation. But what Gellman and I learned is that Tom Thumb says it charges 10 cents less for customers who pay with cash or a debit card, so it’s a cash discount downward, rather than a credit card surcharge upward. So it’s not a violation, according to state regulators.

Confusing, right?

Typically, Tom Thumb gas stations advertise the lower cash/debit price on its big monument signs, but once you pull up to the pumps, the listed price is the higher credit card price. Many stores have added smaller signs that show both cash and credit prices. When a debit card is inserted or cash is paid, the price on the pump drops.

Tom Thumb appears to be complying with the state laws about cash, debit and credit card pricing, much to the dismay of some customers who don’t like the pricing system. After several consumer complaints, state regulators gave official approval to Tom Thumb’s pricing plan. Theirs is the only opinion that counts.

Ever since The Watchdog reported that state law was beefed up to place real penalties on merchants who add surcharges for credit or debit card spending, I’ve received complaints about apparent violators. Folks complained about a country club, a dentist’s office and an apartment complex, to cite a few.

There is one huge exception to the law: Governments are exempt. They can add surcharges for using a plastic card to pay tax bills, fees, fines and other charges.

Some businesses try to get away with added fees for credit card use by insisting that the surcharge is a convenience fee for extra services. An apartment complex charges tenants $49.95 a month to pay rent with a credit card and explains that covers the cost of the payment software. At another business, a customer was told that the convenience fee covers the protection of the customer’s personal credit card information.

The state regulator is the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner. The office has ruled that cash discounts are acceptable but convenience fees are not.

An OCCC official wrote in a letter to a consumer, “A convenience fee may be considered the same as a surcharge when using the credit card. If the club is accepting this ‘convenience fee’ it appears to be the same as a surcharge.”

A law passed last year gave the consumer credit office enforcement powers. In the first four months, no one has been fined. Regulators see themselves as instructional in the beginning, director Rudy Aguilar says. Violators get warning letters now rather than fines. Stay tuned for further action. “Some people have been a little resistant,” Aguilar says.

Tom Thumb’s changes irked some loyal customers. Peggy Taylor of Arlington says, “By charging 10 cents more per gallon for credit cards, you are basically canceling out benefits of earning points.”

Customers lose some protection against fraud when they pay with a debit card rather than a credit card.

Tom Thumb officials told state regulators in a letter I viewed that there are signs posted at the pumps explaining its pricing. Tom Thumb staffers also explained to consumers in letters I saw that the company changed its pricing to ensure that customers who pay with cash or debit cards get the lowest price. The price displayed in front of its stations is the lower cash/debit price. The price on the pump is the credit card price, which is 10 cents higher.

The company allows customers to get the lower cash price by paying with a corporate charge card or Tom Thumb gift card.

Because the higher price shown at the pump is the credit card price and the price then drops, it counts as a cash discount, Tom Thumb officials have written in letters to regulators and customers. Under federal Truth in Lending regulations, cash discounts are allowed. A state can’t change that.

Some Exxon stations display similar pricing but they advertise two prices on the monument signs — a “Regular Cash” price and underneath a higher “Regular Credit” price.

Bottom line: If a business, other than a government, charges more money for using a debit or credit card, that could be a violation. If a business lowers a credit card price when there’s a cash purchase, that’s OK.

Confused? Me too.
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The Watchdog: With your phone, you carry a spy in your pocket

Have you heard about mobile device tracking? That’s where your phone unwittingly gives away your location, even your personal information, without your permission. You don’t even know it’s happening.

Some say it’s an invasion of privacy. Of course it is. Why should you care?

Mobile device tracking is powerful enough that it can get you killed. Think terrorists who are tracked by their cell phones. Soon enough, bombs come flying through the air. Darn those pesky phones.

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But what about you? You’re not a terrorist. Why would companies or the government track you? Answer: Because it can. Laws that protect our privacy for this don’t yet exist.

Turns out that when you walk through a mall, for example, you leave a digital footprint. Some retail stores are tracking your location through your cell phone’s unique identifying numbers — even if you don’t enter the store.

Ostensibly, the retailer wants to know which paths you take through its store, how long you stand at various displays and your wait time at a cash register.

One company that sells store sensors is Euclid, a self-described retail analytics company in San Francisco.

“Our plug-and-play sensor installs in two minutes,” the company explains in its marketing materials. “Just connect power and Internet. Each sensor is the size of a deck of cards and covers up to 24,000 square feet.”

The company says it does not receive information about your name, address, email or phone numbers — only anonymous identifiers that go to the retailer for analysis.

Still, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., wrote Euclid and asked this question: If police ask Euclid what stores someone has walked past, would the company be able to provide the answer?

Euclid answered yes, if the police supplied the phone’s information and all necessary legal processes were followed.

Franken said last year, “It’s one thing to track someone’s shopping habits through a loyalty card or credit card purchase. Folks understand that their information may be collected. It’s another thing entirely to track consumers’ movements without their permission as they shop, especially when someone doesn’t buy anything or even enter a store.”

There’s a second type of dangerous mobile device tracking. McAfee announced this month that a new survey shows that mobile phone apps that invade a user’s privacy “are dominating the landscape.”

McAfee collected data from thousands of apps and found that 82 percent track a user and collect location information. Some of the apps contain malware that gains access to personal information.

Why are they doing it? To target ads.

Which apps cause the most trouble? Games.

How does the malware come in? Usually under “Tools” or “System Tools.”

The phrase that pops up on the phone is harmless enough: “Would you like to use your current location?” Choices are Don’t Allow or OK. Guess which one protects you?

At a privacy seminar this week at the Federal Trade Commission’s headquarters, tracking expert Ashkan Soltani reported that popular iPhone music app Pandora sends information to eight trackers, including unique location data to seven, a unique phone ID to three and demographic data to two.

What do trackers collect? Access to user names and passwords, contacts, age and gender, location, phone ID and phone number.

And you thought the music was free? (Pandora also sells ad-free subscriptions for $36 a year or $3.99 a month.)

Before downloading an app, consider doing Internet research on the app’s privacy policy. Be careful when giving permissions to the app to access other parts of your phone such as photos or contacts. Remember that your contacts include the personal information of your friends who probably don’t want their secrets shared with unknown companies.

Another new technology project that’s coming along quickly is iBeacon. It’s an Apple product that can be placed in public and picks up signals from all Apple and Android phones in its vicinity. iBeacon can send messages or videos to a phone, too. Hey, shopper, welcome. Here’s a video about our sale!

Customers could use the system to pay for items, too. So far, the system has been tested at baseball stadiums and malls. You’ll start to see more use of iBeacons.

As I mentioned, this new technology is largely unregulated. Sen. Franken and others seek a national privacy law: “People have a fundamental right to privacy,” he said last year. “And I think neglecting to ask consumers for their permission to track them violates that right.”

The industry’s proposal is to create a special sign with a recognizable icon so that when you walk into a store and see it, you know you’re being tracked.

Privacy experts want people to opt in to tracking rather than opt out. Creating a blacklist of Americans who don’t want to be tracked — a Do Not Call for tracking — is considered a logistics nightmare.

Another problem, for most people, is that it’s difficult to turn off tracking on a phone.

The only good news: Americans now switch out their cell phones with upgrades faster than ever. When you get a new phone, you start with a clean slate.

Nobody knows who you are. Until you turn it on.

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The Watchdog: Future Dallas judge Staci Williams accused of failing client so she could campaign

An unusual sight occurred in a Dallas courtroom. A woman stood before a judge and fired her lawyer. Right there, on the spot.

She accused the lawyer of abandoning her case, leaving her high and dry without a defense. She said the lawyer had ignored her requests for information, failed to show up at a hearing and didn’t file legal papers when she should have.

That alone was unusual, but what makes it more so is that the lawyer she fired is not going to be a lawyer much longer. She has a new and better job.

The lawyer, Staci Williams, is set to become the next state district judge for the 101st Judicial District in Dallas County. Supported by Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, she defeated incumbent Judge Marty Lowy in the March 4, 2014 Democratic primary. No Republican is slated to run against her in November 2014.

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Williams’ client, now former client, is Barbara Carr, a longtime DART bus driver. Carr told the court that she wanted to relieve Williams of her duties because Williams was so busy campaigning she didn’t have time to represent her. Williams, hearing that, announced that she wanted to withdraw from the case.

In the courthouse corridor afterward, I asked Williams what happened.

“You know, I’m trying to figure it out right now,” Williams answered. “I have no comment at the time until I figure it out.”

I asked, “Did you abandon your client?”

“No, no,” Williams replied. “I don’t have a copy of her letter, so in order for me to be fair to you to give you an adequate response, I don’t know what the accusations are.”

She was referring to a letter that Carr wrote The Watchdog seeking help.

Later in the week, I called the future judge for more comment, but she didn’t return The Watchdog’s call.

Williams will learn her former client’s gripes soon enough. Carr filed a complaint last week against Williams with the State Bar of Texas. Williams has no previous public disciplinary record with the state bar.

The State Bar says the No. 1 complaint against lawyers is not returning phone calls, and also high on the list are lawyers who don’t pay attention to their cases.

In her complaint to the bar, Carr writes that Williams failed to keep her informed of her case, missed a hearing, didn’t file paperwork on time, accepted nearly $5,000 in fees but never provided a receipt and didn’t bring case files to the final hearing where Carr fired her.

She also writes that “Williams threatened me with $20,000 in legal fees if I exposed her misconduct of my case.” (That conversation supposedly took place after Williams shooed me away so she could talk to Carr privately in the courthouse hallway.)

Williams served as a judge once before, and her tenure was so rocky that she lost her job and filed a federal lawsuit. In 2006, the Dallas City Council appointed her to a municipal judge position. During the next four years she got into a series of scrapes with other judges and the court administrator, whom she accused of sexual harassment. The charge was never sustained.

She was also reprimanded for snooping around the desks of other judges on the court, according to court records obtained several years ago by Steve Thompson of The Dallas Morning News. At one point, she was reprimanded for entering a judge’s office and then a week later, she was accused of doing it again.

The City Council failed to reappoint her in 2010, and she sued the city, saying she was the victim of harassment and discrimination and her loss of the reappointment amounted to a retaliatory action. The federal lawsuit ended in 2013 when both parties agreed to a dismissal.

Carr hired Williams a year ago to represent her as a $250-an-hour lawyer. Williams represented Carr in a hearing last year in Carr’s lawsuit, which is against her employer, DART, and involves her need to get a medical certificate from a doctor.

At first, Williams stayed close to her client, according to records Carr provided me. Carr was pleased. In August, Carr wrote Williams in an email: “If it had not been for you, I’d be jobless. … Staci, you are a genuine person without a doubt, and I know you have my best interest.”

But around December, Carr said, she lost touch with her when Williams stopped answering her emails.

Yet while Carr couldn’t get hold of her lawyer, her lawyer still managed to contact her. Williams sent Carr several emails promoting her campaign. In one, she asked her to volunteer. In another, she asked her to attend a candidate forum to cheer her on.

In February, Carr, worried because she heard nothing about her case, called the court on her own and asked about her next hearing. Told the date, Carr showed up. Her lawyer didn’t.

Then before last week’s hearing, Carr filed her own legal papers asking for a postponement. She didn’t get it, which meant the hearing would go on with or without a lawyer. And because Williams had shown up and was familiar with the facts, a second lawyer whom Carr has asked to attend the hearing convinced Carr that Williams should handle her case at the hearing.

Carr reluctantly agreed to let Williams argue why her case should not be dismissed.

Williams complained in court that she was having difficulty communicating with Carr because Carr was rolling her eyes and refused to discuss the case with her. Williams went ahead and argued on Carr’s behalf.

Williams lost the argument. Carr’s case was dismissed.

Out in the hallway, Carr told me, “She wasn’t prepared.”

All of this could have been avoided, Carr said, if Williams, while busy as a candidate, had simply told her she was hard at work campaigning and didn’t have time for her anymore.

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More Watchdog Nation News:

Watchdog Nation Partners with Mike Holmes

America meets Watchdog Nation/Listen to Fun Radio Interview

Watchdog Nation Debuts New e-Book and Multi-CD Audio Book

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The Watchdog: Open government in Texas is getting more open thanks to new state laws

Don’t fall off your chair when you hear this, but the Texas Legislature has enacted major changes in how Texans can monitor their local, county and state governments. These changes are for the better for both officials and the public.

Texas is the first state in the nation to create a new way to monitor the work and deliberations of government officials. Each government, whether it be city council, school district, county commissioners court or a state agency, is now allowed to create an Internet message board where officials, both elected and appointed, can publicly discuss government business away from officially called meetings.

But there’s one caveat. The public now has a right to listen in, or rather read, what’s being said.

 

open government

In the past, it was illegal for government officials to discuss either in person, by phone or electronically the people’s business outside of a posted public meeting. Not to say that they didn’t do it, but they weren’t supposed to.

The new law that takes effect Sept. 1 states that governments can create a message board and place it prominently on their website. Officials can write back and forth, even deliberate with one another.

In another change that has already taken effect, any official who can’t be present for a public meeting can now video conference in and be considered part of a quorum — as long as the public can watch, too.

Picture this: Councilwoman A is away on business during the night of a council meeting. So she sets up her iPad in her hotel room and still participates. The government shows her image on a big screen in the meeting room. Councilwoman A is there, virtually.

A third big change coming Sept. 1 is that text messages, emails and other electronic messaging from either public or private accounts between elected officials will officially be part of the public record.

If two school board members text each other during a meeting about how they intend to vote, anyone has the right to request access to those messages. If they’re not handed over, that’s a violation of the state public information act.

As part of this new law, when governments outsource government services to outside vendors, communications with those vendors are now public, too.

“This was a really good session for transparency,” says Donnis Baggett of the Texas Press Association. “Transparency was a buzzword for the session. For the most part, it was a breath of fresh air compared to past sessions.”

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More Watchdog Nation News:

Watchdog Nation Partners with Mike Holmes

America meets Watchdog Nation/Listen to Fun Radio Interview

Watchdog Nation Debuts New e-Book and Multi-CD Audio Book

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The idea for the first-in-the-nation message board came from Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott and Democratic state Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin.

How public officials use the message board, if they create one, remains to be seen. Will they actually engage in frank discussions electronically in front of the public, or will they use the message board for propaganda purposes?

These new laws take the state’s open records and open meetings requirements into the 21st century, says Kelley Shannon, executive director of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

“The clear understanding is, if you’re performing governmental functions, no matter the device, it’s subject to the Texas Public Information Act,” says Laura Lee Prather, an Austin attorney who specializes in First Amendment issues and worked closely with lawmakers and open government advocates to get these bills passed.

Remember that to get this information, all you have to do is write a letter to a government body requesting it. There are a few exceptions for what’s available, but most government documents are yours for the asking. Sometimes you have to pay, depending on the request and the governmental body, and sometimes you don’t.

The state’s public information act is clear about who owns these records: you do. The preamble to the Texas Public Information Act states that public servants do not have “the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

It’s our job to remind them of that. Now it’s a whole lot easier.

 The new laws

Read the new open government laws at the Texas Legislature Online website, www.capitol.state.tx.us/. Search “Legislation” by bill number and use 83R, for the 83rd regular session.

SB 1368: Declares that electronic messages on public or private accounts are available through open records requests. Takes effect Sept. 1.

SB 1297: Allows governments to create an Internet message board for public officials to deliberate away from public meetings. Takes effect Sept. 1.

HB 2414: Permits video conferencing by officials unable to be physically present at a publicly called meeting. Has become law.

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Unlike airlines, cruise ships have little federal regulation

Anyone flying on a U.S. airline who experiences a problem can complain to the Transportation Department, which keeps statistics on airline safety and service issues and releases them to the public. The government also tries to help resolve billing disputes.

The same doesn’t go for cruise lines. No government agency has real oversight of consumer issues. A passenger with a problem is largely at the mercy of the cruise line.

 

Bruce Slocum found that out the hard way. The 78-year-old Grapevine resident booked a trip on Princess Cruises, but 17 days before the launch last month, Princess e-mailed him that he had to board between 2:30 and 3 p.m. That meant a four-hour wait in the terminal. Slocum has low blood sugar and must eat every three hours to maintain his insulin level and avoid health problems.

He asked someone in customer service for permission to board earlier because of his medical problem. The answer was no. Canceling so late meant he wouldn’t get a full refund. But he believed he had no choice and canceled.

He asked The Watchdog, “Is there a federal agency who regulates the cruise industry to whom I could direct a complaint?”

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More Watchdog Nation News:

Watchdog Nation Partners with Mike Holmes

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The answer is yes and no. The Federal Maritime Commission would take his complaint, but any action by a cruise line is purely voluntary. The commission has no legal clout the way government agencies do in other industries.

In the past decade, the number of passengers on North American cruise lines has doubled, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry group. But as cruise ship accidents continue to draw public attention, no one source offers information about accidents and safety records.

Anyone wanting to learn about a ship’s record would have to do an Internet search on the name, said Rene Henry, a travel industry expert.

“Nobody is keeping a database where you can easily find that,” he said. The Coast Guard conducts periodic safety checks.

The reason for the relative lack of oversight is that cruise ships commonly fly foreign flags. Yet the biggest cruise lines — Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. — are based in Miami. Both are publicly traded in the U.S. But by registering offshore, the cruise lines avoid U.S. taxes, regulations and labor laws.

There’s no movement in Congress to create a “passenger bill of rights” similar to one passed for airline passengers. Ross Klein, a Canadian sociologist who has studied the cruise industry, said last month at a U.S. Senate hearing focused on cruise line safety that legislation needs to address passenger and crew member rights.

Cruise tickets contain language that favors company owners. Victims of cruise accidents can file legal claims only in foreign jurisdictions, not in the U.S. That’s one reason the industry pays far fewer claims than others, making it very profitable.

Henry says travelers need an official agency to gather and report information on safety, health, security, environmental and customer service issues.

“Nearly 13 million Americans took a cruise last year, and not all of them had a Love Boat experience,” Henry said.

The public has a right, he said, to learn about ships with a history of engine and mechanical problems, about fires and explosions, about virus outbreaks, about crimes committed, about passengers falling overboard and even about billing disputes.

He’d like to see a Transportation Department website that collects and releases this information.

One problem: Last year, the cruise line association spent more than $3 million on lobbying Congress, Henry said. That excludes campaign contributions.

So all that’s left for American consumers is the maritime commission’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Dispute Resolution Services, an obscure government agency that tries to get cruise lines to voluntarily work out customer disputes, sometimes through mediation, sometimes through informal communication, Commission Deputy Director Jennifer Gartlan said.

The service is free to consumers, but the commission’s website makes no promises, saying it “cannot order a cruise line to reimburse passengers for cruise cancellations, or to pay claims for injuries or fatal accidents. However, to the extent they are able, commission staff will try to assist individual consumers who are having trouble obtaining financial settlements in these areas.”

Slocum’s story has a happy ending. He bought travel insurance through Princess. After he submitted a doctor’s note, he received the rest of his refund. Princess did not comment for this report.

Henry says that without government oversight to provide protections, cruise passengers should always consider travel insurance. He recommends buying it from an outside company, though, since cruise line insurance covers nothing before or after a cruise, such as mishaps on flights and travel to and from the ship’s terminal.

# # #

Learn more about cruises before you sign up for one by visiting these websites: CruiseJunkie.com and CruiseLawNews.com.

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The Watchdog: Should Dallas council members answer every email from constituents?

Do you think an elected public official should respond to constituents’ email?

Bill Wilson of Far North Dallas does. So much so that he writes The Watchdog to complain that his City Council member, Sandy Greyson, does not answer his sporadic notes to her.

That strikes a nerve with The Watchdog because, as Wilson says, when he writes to his council member and she doesn’t acknowledge it, “For all I know it drops into a black hole.”

Dallas City Councilwoman Sandy Greyson

Dallas City Councilwoman Sandy Greyson

“It makes me feel unimportant,” he says. “It makes me feel like I don’t have a voice in City Hall. And that makes me furious.”

Wilson describes himself as a Greyson supporter. He estimates that in the past three years he has sent her fewer than a dozen brief emails. He showed several to The Watchdog. His previous council member, Ron Natinsky, always wrote back, he recalls.

In a telephone conversation with The Watchdog, Greyson, who represents District 12, said: “I would like to give you a different perspective, Dave. He is one of 89,000 people I have in my district. He sent me emails about large issues like plastic bags or oil and gas drilling. We get hundreds of emails like that. I read them all and take them into account when I vote.”

But she doesn’t answer them all.

“Not everybody expects a reply,” she said. “When people say, ‘I specifically ask that you respond to me,’ I do respond to those.”

In the age of social media, email, like other forms of e-communication, is part of a dialogue, a two-way conversation. The Watchdog believes that officials should answer their email, or at least acknowledge that a message has arrived. If nothing else, it builds relationships with voters. And it makes sense. Politicians are in the relationship business.

Greyson says her small office staff is already stretched. Whether a public official answers her email should not be a determining factor in whether she does a good job, Greyson said.

“This doesn’t make the sum total of how good or bad a public servant is,” she said. What matters are “the hundreds of people I’ve helped over the years and the dozens of people who I have helped this year.”

After Wilson’s complaint, The Watchdog tested Greyson and other Dallas council members on their responsiveness to an email.

First, I wrote to Greyson, now in her 11th year on council, to introduce myself as a Dallas Morning Newscolumnist who hopes “to write some about the Dallas City Council. It’s an exciting time for the city. Do you answer emails? Please write back.”

After a full business day came and went with no answer, I wrote a second message that asked if she received the first one. Apparently, an assistant added to the subject line “*****He needs a response******” and forwarded the message to Greyson’s Yahoo email account.

Greyson emailed back and asked me to call her. That’s when I interviewed her. Later she released a written statement: “I get hundreds of emails every month. I read all of them but I’m not able to reply to all of them. I sincerely apologize to anyone I have disappointed or offended by not answering your email.”

Then I sent a similar email to the other 14 council members including the mayor. I did hear within a day from Philip Kingston, Jennifer Staubach Gates, Lee Kleinman, Jerry Allen, Dwaine Caraway, Adam Medrano, Scott Griggs, Rick Callahan and Sheffie Kadane.

After four business days I had not heard from Mayor Mike Rawlings, Tennell Atkins, Carolyn Davis, Monica Alonzo and Vonciel Jones Hill.

I asked those who responded whether they answered all emails.

Griggs: “We receive office calls, cellphone calls, emails, texts, Facebook posts, tweets, traditional mail, courier deliveries, etc. My staff and I work hard to respond to all inquiries.”

Kingston: “I’m sure we don’t answer every constituent email because some don’t call for a response, but when there’s some form of request, we respond. We get an awful lot of email, but it’s not currently too many to handle.”

Kadane, through an aide: “We respond to all emails, either to acknowledge or answer questions.”

Gates: “Yes, I attempt to answer all emails from my constituents. Occasionally, I will have my assistant get back with them if it is something she can help them with directly. I do not respond to all the mass or form emails I receive.”

Kleinman, through an aide: “We have a 1-day response policy in our office and intend to at least acknowledge receipt of the request even though we may not have an answer yet.”

Allen: “Can’t say I do 100 percent, but do get most of them. Hard to get re-elected if you ignored the folks that put you in office.”

Final note: When Greyson was asked if she considered using an auto-reply acknowledgment when a constituent email arrived, she answered, “I would never do that. Send an auto reply? People hate auto replies.”

Wilson said he wouldn’t mind: “At least when you get an auto-reply you know that it went to the right address and that somebody might read it.”

Staff writer Marina Trahan Martinez contributed to this report.

Follow Dave Lieber on Twitter at @Dave Lieber.

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More Watchdog Nation News:

Watchdog Nation Partners with Mike Holmes

America meets Watchdog Nation/Listen to Fun Radio Interview

Watchdog Nation Debuts New e-Book and Multi-CD Audio Book

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Watchdog Tip of the Day: Getting government records

What do you do when you have a hard time getting government records. Here are some ideas on open records, public information, sunshine laws from The Dallas Morning News Watchdog desk administrator Marina Trahan Martinez. In our Watchdog Video Tip of the Day, we try to solve problems in under a minute.
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More Watchdog Nation News:

Watchdog Nation Partners with Mike Holmes

America meets Watchdog Nation/Listen to Fun Radio Interview

Watchdog Nation Debuts New e-Book and Multi-CD Audio Book

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Dave Lieber book that won two national awards for social change.\

Still here? Visit Dave Lieber’s other fun websites:

Personal: YankeeCowboy.com

Hipster site: DaveLieber.org