Perry’s Veto of SB488…..ACT III

To bring you up to date, the Press was all over Perry’s veto, and my open records acquisition findings.  The story made front page headlines in the San Antonio Express, and front page Metro in the Statesman, and Houston Chronicle.  The blogs like austinontwowheels.com, and ATXBS.com are still buzzing.

One of the opposition emails quoted in the SATX article was written by Kenneth Bain of Duncanville:

The proposed law to fine drivers passing too close to bicyclists is absurd.  I bike all the time and I am smart enough to stay off the streets.  Roads are for vehicles not slow bikes.  I want more bike trails.  This law will drive a larger wedge between motorists &bikers.  You will have radical bikers taking license numbers of cars and reporting them because they thought they passed too close.  If you sign this bill you are letting a small minority rule the voting masses and it will not sit well at election time I can assure you.  Let the bill die.

Kenneth Bain’s son is out on bond for plowing down two cyclists in Grand Prairie a year ago.  Both cyclists were killed on impact.  According to news reports, Kenneth Bain Jr. told the police he was up all night at a Bachelor party (the accident occured at 8:15 a.m.).  Police reported that he  failed a field sobriety test at the scene.  By the looks of his daddy’s SUV,  Kenneth Bain probably didn’t even slow, or brake.  Both cyclists were killed on impact.  He was arrested on two counts of intoxication manslaughter, but was out on 50K bond the very next day.  The original intoxication manslaughter charges have now been reduced to manslaughter.

Where is the outrage ?  I hope that the Dallas/Ft. Worth cycling community is watching this case closely.

Another Open Records Request

So I started my Monday at the Office of Perry’s General Counsel.  Once again they seemed stunned that a constituent would hand deliver such a thing.  Again, they tried to get me to mail it, or email it.  Again I had to insist they take it and give me a dated receipt to prove it.  Come on Perry!  This is something your constituents can legally do.

I am filing this second request for public information under the Texas Public Information Act.  On June 22, 2009 I requested among other things: “….logs of phone calls….regarding any objections and or opposition to SB488-the “safe Passing” legislation recently approved by the Texas Legislation by overwhelming margins.  The phone records received from your office on July 7, 2009 are incomplete.  There are major gaps in the chronological numbering of the phone calls in the logs.

1. Please provide all logs, or documentation of phone calls and office visits regarding any objections and or opposition to SB488.
2. Please indicate how many emails and phone calls received by Gov. Perry’s office in support of SB488.
3. Please indicate how support and opposition for SB488 were recorded.

Included in the records I received were several papers with tick marks (see attached copies).

1. Please explain/indicate if these tick marks were also recorded in the previously submitted phone logs (see attached), or if they were only in regard to the calls immediately prior to the Governor’s veto (as noted on one of the sheets)

It is my understanding that state law requires the reproduction of these records within 10 business days.  Thank you for processing this request for these public documents.  If you have any questions, please contact me at:

The reason for this second request was due to the fact that there are a substantial number of records missing from the Call Logs that they provided.  The only reason I noticed this was because the Governor’s office threw a smokescreen challenging my numbers when the Press descended  upon them.  I went back and scrutinized every single email, and calls, when I noticed that 7 of the opposition emails were regarding another bill entirely, 1 opposition email was counted 4 times, and 1 was actually a proponent.  That brought their total of opposing emails down to a whopping 38!  That is when I discovered the break in the numeric chronology on their call logs.

Stay tuned for ACT IV and please sign the Bike Texas petition here.  We’re not done with you yet Perry…..

Leslie Luciano