Hawk Cove, Texas, September 22, 2026. Transparency was on the agenda tonight, even where it wasn’t. During the budget item at this special session, a council member said: “I had made several requests over the last four years now for bank statements” (0:30:37), and asked that “the bank statements be distributed to each individual council member” (0:33:20).
Mayor Darren Evans clarified that “the bank statement does not give you all the information you need a statement of cash flow the P&L and balance sheet give you the entire picture” (0:38:44), and that “if you care to dwell on bank statements then you are going to get erroneous data and erroneous information” (0:39:15).
There is a method
A month later, at the October 20 regular meeting, the Council was told that the Council “voted in an ordinance that says how the City Council members get information regarding the city finances,” and: “I have not seen any city council member use the method that is ordained by ordinance to acquire any of that information” (meeting video). The method is Ordinance No. 2023-05-31.5, and it is very complete:
- Ask in one of three ways only: a signed letter handed in during business hours, certified mail, or the dedicated e-mail account (§10).
- Say what you want, why, and “every use for which the requesting Council member will use each item” (§11).
- Sign “original, ‘wet’ signature, signed confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements” first (§13).
- “One Council member at a time may have supervised access to City’s information and records, for up to one hour at a time” (§12).
- “Surrender all recording devices of any kind or nature,” and surrender your notes “for photocopying” (§14).
- At the next meeting, staff report “all particulars that occurred during supervision of each such access” to the full Council (§15).
An e-mail request sent after hours “shall result in that staff member receiving thirty (30) minutes overtime pay” (§10), so please write during the day. Section 18 says council members may still file public information requests “solely and only in their individual capacities as citizens” (§18). Residents, who are covered by state law rather than this ordinance, may keep their phones.
The session ended after a member asked to adjourn because “this has become a hostile environment,” and the Mayor said, “I will unilaterally adjourn this meeting, as is my right and presiding officer” (0:49:52, 0:50:09).