On August 7th, the Bastrop City Council conducted official workshops1 not in Bastrop (where one might reasonably expect), but more than one hundred miles away in Fredericksburg. The posted agenda2 lists the location as the John Wm. Klein Meeting Room at 115 N. Crockett Street in Fredericksburg, roughly a two-hour drive from the city those officials were elected to serve.
And no, these were not informal “retreats” for city council members to relax and blow off steam. These were formal City Council workshops covering the very decisions that hit taxpayer’s wallets and daily lives hardest: the city budget, setting the tax rate, Hotel Occupancy Taxes, capital projects, the Master Transportation Plan (including an East/West connection north of Highway 71), water and wastewater planning, street projects, and “Future Goals” that include a recreation center, expanded fire and police service, data center policies, and Legislative “advocacy.” An extensive list of hot-button issues all to be discussed far away from their constituents.
State Rep. Stan Gerdes3 (R-Smithville), whose district includes Bastrop, correctly called out the problem: “The City of Bastrop is holding a City Council meeting hours away in Fredericksburg, making it nearly impossible for the people they represent to attend and participate.”4 He noted the agenda’s weight on budget, tax rate, data centers, and surveillance technology and announced plans to file legislation requiring city council meetings to be held inside the city they serve so residents can actually show up, speak, and hold officials accountable.
For a working parent, a senior on a fixed income, or any taxpayer without the time or money for a four-hour round trip plus potential lodging, participation becomes incredibly difficult.
Bastrop’s own website5 proclaims a commitment to “open, transparent, and accountable government” and stresses that the business of city government “should be open to public review.” Holding some of the most consequential discussions of the year two hours away hollows-out that claim.
The issues discussed by the council in Fredericksburg are exactly the types of subjects that should have maximum public participation. When those conversations happen outside the city limits, the cost is measured not only in the taxpayer-funded expenses of these types of meetings, but in the eroded trust that our system of government is built on. Taxpayers already fund the city; they shouldn’t have to pay for an out-of-town venue that makes oversight even harder.
Rep. Gerdes’ proposed fix is long overdue: require city council meetings to occur within the boundaries of the city they govern. Clear statutory boundaries would protect the principle that local government exists to serve the people who live there, not to convene far away from the watchful eye of their constituents.
Rep. Cody Vasut6 (R-Angleton) echoed Rep. Gerdes’ concern on X, stating that “All governing board meetings should take place inside the boundaries of the political subdivision or, for MUDs only, the closest meeting room.” He has since added a review7 of the Texas Open Meetings Act to the agenda of the August 26 interim hearing8 of the Governmental Oversight Select Committee.
Bastrop residents deserve better. They deserve meetings they can actually attend without a full day off of work and a tank of gas. And they deserve a city government that practices the very transparency it advertises on its website. Holding the budget and tax workshop more than 100 miles away fails that test.
State lawmakers should close the loophole, and local officials should bring the people’s business back home where it belongs.
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- https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/bastroptx-pubu/MEET-Agenda-d3cbc58c5f4c4f02b380071897cabed2.pdf ↩︎
- https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/bastroptx-pubu/MEET-Agenda-d3cbc58c5f4c4f02b380071897cabed2.pdf ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/legislators/stan-gerdes/2025-index ↩︎
- https://x.com/stangerdesfortx/status/2085770472982245473?s=46 ↩︎
- https://www.cityofbastrop.org/ ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/legislators/cody-vasut/2025-index ↩︎
- https://x.com/bradj_TX/status/2086891109653827841?s=20 ↩︎
- https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/schedules/pdf/C0752026082610001.PDF ↩︎
