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Foes of Farmers Branch illegal-immigrant efforts cite 'secrecy'

12:04 AM CST on Friday, December 19, 2008
By STEPHANIE SANDOVAL / The Dallas Morning News

Accusations and conspiracy theories are flying in Farmers Branch these days.

Attorneys who have filed numerous lawsuits against the city over its anti-illegal immigrant efforts say the city is engaged in a pattern of possibly illegal attempts to keep information about the litigation out of the public eye.

But just a day after yet another suit was filed, city officials said Thursday that they have and will continue to follow the state's open meetings and public information laws.

And they, in turn, accuse the Bickel & Brewer Storefront of making false and inflammatory accusations; using residents to circumvent the courts and get confidential information on the city's legal strategy; and trying to drain the city's coffers.

"We believe there is an ongoing pattern of secrecy and attempts to hide information from the people who have a right to receive that information – the citizens of Farmers Branch," plaintiffs attorney Bill Brewer said.

That pattern, he said, started with back-room discussions on ordinances seeking to ban most illegal immigrants from renting property in the city. And it continues with delays in turning over bills showing how much the legal battle is costing the city, he said.

"How dare they continue to pursue this pattern and course of conduct," Mr. Brewer said.

City officials said they have abided by the law.

"There is no veil of secrecy," City Council member Harold Froehlich said, adding that the city would prove as much in court.

City Manager Gary Greer agreed.

"We're giving out everything that we're required to by law," he said.


Lawsuits criticized

Mr. Greer accuses the plaintiffs and their attorneys of filing frivolous lawsuits, including one entered Wednesday in which former council member Carol Dingman seeks to compel the city to produce invoices from Strasburger & Price, the law firm representing the city in illegal immigration issues.

"I've been told they plan to drain our resources to the point where we can't operate," he said.

Mr. Brewer called that assertion "absurd."

Charles Cox, city finance director, said that since 2006, the city has paid out more than $1 million in legal fees related to the immigration ordinances and the associated lawsuits. The city is still negotiating, and has therefore not paid, fees that the judge awarded the plaintiff's attorneys in the lawsuit over Ordinance 2903, an early anti-illegal-immigrant measure. Those attorneys have asked for about $924,000.

Mr. Greer also said Bickel & Brewer is trying to mislead residents.

"Most of the time when you see a quote from that law firm, it's inflammatory and it's inaccurate," he said. "This is a purposeful public relations campaign. ... The court of public opinion is where they're trying to win this case."


Frustrations rise

The mounting legal challenges frustrate city officials.

The Bickel & Brewer Storefront also represents resident Guillermo Ramos in a lawsuit alleging that the city violated Texas open-meetings laws by deliberating behind closed doors on each of the three illegal immigration-related ordinances.

The firm, along with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, also represents plaintiffs in a pending lawsuit seeking to have the latest measure, Ordinance 2952, declared unconstitutional. The city has been barred by court from implementing the ordinance until the lawsuit is resolved.

The same attorneys represented the same plaintiffs in the lawsuit over Ordinance 2903, which was declared unconstitutional by federal District Court Judge Sam Lindsay in August.

"When you're trying to do the right thing and be honest and have integrity, it's really hard to sit here and get hit with a ball bat on a daily basis, and you know there's nothing behind it." Mr. Greer said.

Because of the open-meetings lawsuits, the city is pushing for legislative change to the state's open-meetings laws.

Mr. Greer said the Texas Municipal League has put the matter on its legislative agenda. Frank Sturzl, the league's executive director, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Mr. Greer said the state's open-meetings laws put the burden of proof on the defendant.

"You are guilty until you can prove you are innocent," he said. "We understand the responsibility we have to be open, and we welcome that. It's just that when an unfair burden is put on us and our citizens, where frivolous lawsuits can be brought over and over again costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's time for someone to say, 'This just isn't right.' "

The latest lawsuit alleges that Ms. Dingman submitted eight requests for legal bills showing how much the city is spending on its anti-illegal immigrant efforts. In seven of those cases, the city asked the state attorney general's office for an opinion on whether the information fell under attorney-client privilege.


AG's ruling

Most of the information, the attorney general ruled, should be turned over. In one case, the city filed a suit in Travis County asking a judge to decide the matter, the standard course of appeal.

Michael Jung, one of the city's attorneys, said the invoices should be considered protected under attorney-client privilege because they reveal information about the city's strategy in handling the litigation.

Mr. Greer said the invoices are detailed, showing whom the attorneys talked to, what was discussed, and for what potential purpose.

"What's going on here is the law firm that's against us wants to find out our legal strategy and our plan to defend ourselves in court against them," Mr. Greer said. "They want an unfair advantage. They can get that through detailed billing reports, which they can't get in the court system but they can get through a resident with the Texas Public Information Act."

Mr. Brewer said plaintiffs are simply trying to get information.

"Mrs. Dingman is entitled to the information she seeks," and the attorney general has repeatedly agreed, he said. "It's obvious they've got something to hide, and they're trying to hide it."

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