If you are a new reader, The Purge is a meandering series on open government -- on state government email retention policies, in particular. I haven't updated The Purge since January, so here's a brief recap:

The Purge started in the early days of this blog, when I read that Missouri Governor Matt Blunt took a bunch of heat for his office's policy of deleting emails every two weeks. Which led me to start a journey on this platform, asking questions about the Texas retention policy. What did we learn? Texas state agencies each get to set their own retention policies, so long as they follow the Texas Public Information Act.

What is the Texas governor's policy? Emails get purged every seven days. But -- employees of the office are asked to save the emails they think are considered public records.

The Purge has more recently become a chronicle of the odyssey of John Washburn.

Wisconsin computer whiz/open records advocate John Washburn read the first Purge entry, and began a quest for all the emails in the office of Governor Rick Perry starting in November, when he programmed a twice-weekly request for emails from four-day periods. But he was priced out -- the emails cost thousands of dollars to process, according to the Governor's office.

Washburn did receive four days worth of emails, which led to a few stories. But he also retained notable First Amendment attorney Joe Larsen, who helped filed a complaint to Travis County DA Ronnie Earle's office. Today, the AP's April Castro learns Earle's office has rejected Washburn's complaint. Excerpted:

Larsen, who argues that the e-mail deletion policy is in violation of Texas public information laws, said he'll take the complaint and request for an injunction to Attorney General Greg Abbott for review.

In a letter to Larsen on Tuesday, Greg Cantrell, Travis County assistant district attorney in the Public Integrity Unit, said the office will not move forward with an injunction against Perry "based on our review of information we received from the Governor's Office."

Larsen complained that the prosecutors appeared to have "accepted everything the governor's office told them" with no independent investigation.

Calls to Cantrell and District Attorney Ronnie Earle were not immediately returned.

"Cantrell agreed that the preservation of this information was important," Larsen said. "But in my conversation with him, the gravity of loss of information does not appear to have been matched by any gravity at the D.A.'s office."

Perry's e-mail policy requires that individual staffers determine which e-mails should be considered public records and print or save them within seven days before they can be deleted. Under the law, only correspondence considered "transitory" -- that with no public interest, such as someone making plans for lunch -- are not considered public records.

"There's no way these people, who have daily responsibilities, also have time to be printing these e-mails and making sure they're being stored properly," Larsen said.

Categories: Open Government | Travis County DA |
Posted by Elise Hu at 6:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a look at how the candidates fared on April 8th versus March 4th, via Google Docs. Our Rocky-metaphor-loving poli-sci guy, Brian Smith, had a little extra time and put the Travis County DA race numbers into excel so we could take a closer look at what happened last night.

What the numbers show:
Turnout in the runoff was only 5% of registered voters, compared to a quarter of registered voters who made a pick in the DA race on March 4th.

The numbers that gave Montford hope heading into the runoff are the election day totals in the primary. (Again, see the spreadsheet.)There, she beat Lehmberg by about four hundred votes. But combine that with the early vote total in the primary, and the head-to-head shows Lehmberg was up on Montford by six points.

Assuming zero drop-off in primary turnout to the runoff, Montford already had to make up ground. But we all expected there would be A LOT of dropoff. That dropoff would widen Lehmberg's lead by math alone (fewer total voters, larger percentage difference).

So without dramatically expanding the runoff electorate or changing a bunch of hardcore Democrats minds about Lehmberg, Montford would lose. The margin, however, was surprising. I thought Montford would fare better because of her personality, skills on the stump and television ad blitz. Smith points to three keys to Lehmberg's victory:

1.) Small electorate, dominated by "solid" Lehmberg supporters versus Montford's election day "casual voters"

2.) Endorsements of Lehmberg by outgoing DA Ronnie Earle and third place finisher Gary Cobb.

3.) Accusations about Montford's ties to GOP special interests hurt bad in a Democratic runoff.

A fellow reporter observed this morning that the margin of victory proves any link to the Republican lobby is "radioactive" among Travis County Democrats. While the anonymous-blog-flap muddled the clarity of that line of attack, I guess it happened too late and didn't do enough to change voters minds.

Lehmberg says now that it's all over, she and Montford "are still friends". Montford said last night she's taking a look at what's next for her professionally, but that she "loves being a prosecutor".

Your thoughts?

Categories: Travis County DA |
Posted by Elise Hu at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, this isn't KVUE quality video, it's just shot from the little camera I keep with me at all times. It's the end of Rosemary Lehmberg's thank you speech after it was clear she won the runoff race for Travis County DA.

Lehmberg doesn't officially start her new job until January of 2009. Mindy Montford, meanwhile, says she's going to take some time before deciding what's next for her professionally.

"I've devoted my whole professional career to being a prosecutor so I'd like to continue that but we'll see at the end of the day. Tomorrow we'll re-evaluate," Montford said.

BTW, the sweetest moment caught on our lapel microphone was one with her little boy, right after she conceded the race.

"Mommy, I'm proud of you," said Montford's four-year old son, Ford.

Categories: People and Places | Travis County DA | Video |
Posted by Elise Hu at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

9:23pm: I'm gonna shut this thing down for now. The dog total at the Montford party has dwindled to two. There haven't been any dogs here at the Lehmberg party, but Lehmberg did mention that one of the first things she's going to do now that she's won is hang out with her puppy.

9:21pm: Crowd at the Lehmberg party is still strong. We're in line for a Lehmberg interview but it may have to be after our live hit on the Nightbeat.

9:16pm: Lehmberg's campaign manager said Mindy called, but the two candidates haven't actually spoken to each other yet. Lehmberg has been tied up with back-to-back press interviews.

9:12pm: Mindy Montford has called Rosemary Lehmberg to concede the race and wished Lehmberg well. Our photog Justin reports this from Montford HQ, via text message:

"Crowd thinning. Chips almost gone. Campaign signs falling down. Strange amount of stuffed jalapenos left."

9:03pm:"One of the things this campaign has really done for me, is it has really built my trust in people like you, who get out and work for what you care about," Lehmberg said. "The people in Austin want their district attorney to have Austin values."

8:46pm: Montford has not officially conceded yet, but Lehmberg has turned off the music and is about to speak to the crowd now.

"It's been an adventure," Lehmberg said.

8:37pm: 41% of precincts are in. Lehmberg has actually increased her lead to 65% over Montford's 35%.

8:2pm: About 150 to 200 people are at the Montford party, and partygoers decided not to wait for results to pop open the champagne. There's free champagne all around at the Montford HQ. The candidate is reportedly in the back room talking to some campaign folks. One more dog just showed, so the dog total is back at four. Here's a shot from the Montford party, and what looks like the side/back of Montford's head:

8:17pm: At the Montford party, there's a nice selection of snacks - fajitas, rice, beans, chips and salsa, and a keg. Our crew reports no one has hit the keg yet. Only three dogs left at the party now.

8:15pm: OK now we have a little music kicking on the back deck. It's "Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones. Here's a look at the scene at Joe's.

8:09pm: Things are hoppin' here at the Lehmberg party, but it's a lot of sit around and wait until more results come in. Her campaign manager, David Butts, is
here, but no sign of Kelly Fero.

7:48pm: Our crew on the scene reports a total of four dogs are at Mindy Montford's election night party. Not sure if that includes Montford's own beagle and mix, which were featured in a campaign commercial.

7:47pm: Former DA candidate Gary Cobb arrives.

7:43pm: Earle, on Lehmberg's likely ascension to his post: "She's smart. She can read and write, add and subtract. All that."

7:41pm: Outgoing DA Ronnie Earle walks in as I am in a dark part of the bar.

Me: Hi Ronnie!
Him: Hi Jennifer! (This is the fifth time someone has confused me for Austin City Councilmember Jennifer Kim.)
Him: Oh wait, you aren't Jennifer!
Me: I'm Elise.
Him: Of course!

7:30pm: Lots of pantsuits at this Lehmberg party.

7:25pm: Lehmberg just arrived to cheers. She looks like she's crying (happy tears). I would have pictures had I not loaned my camera out to another reporter to take pictures of the Montford party for me.

"We may have done it," I heard Lehmberg say to someone she was hugging.

7:23pm: Our photographer at the Mindy Montford party reports there's a healthy but subdued crowd at her campaign party... lots of people inside, not a lot of people outside. Just like the Lehmberg party, the candidate is not there yet.

7:18pm: Early vote totals show Lehmberg dominated 64% to Montford's 36%. That's early vote only.

7:17pm: It took nearly an hour to drive from Far West Blvd to the Lehmberg party here at Joe's, but I'm here... the candidate, however, is not.

Categories: Liveblogs | Travis County DA |
Posted by Elise Hu at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

OK, so he didn't inspire anywhere near the kind of fascination (and vitriol) as Clinton strategist Mark Penn, but Penn and Austin strategist Kelly Fero share something in common this weekend - they were both asked to leave by the female candidates they were working for.

DA candidate Rosemary Lehmberg announced Friday she dismissed Fero from the campaign, after we learned that yes, the rumors were true, he is the man behind Austin Political Report and doh, the Lehmberg campaign with which he was employed cited questionable information from the then-anonymous blog he owned. House Parliamentarian Terry Keel is none too pleased, since the questionable information was that Keel is working for Lehmberg opponent Mindy Montford. (He says he definitely isn't, and has filed a criminal complaint over this.)

Statesman: Kolwood Penn spinning after the Austin debate

Penn, meanwhile, has been the object of much negative attention because I guess he doesn't really get along with the rest of the staffers and he may or may not be responsible for squandering Clinton's invincibility in the race for the White House. He also refused to give up his outside contracts, like one with Colombia which was in direct opposition to Clinton's interests. This is just what I read from other people's original reporting. When I got up close to him at the Texas debate my only observation was that he was a sweater. (Not like the clothing, but like the perspiration.)

Back to Fero. What happens to APR now? I think the blog should stick around and Fero should really OWN it, especially now that the secret's out. I think it helps the blog's credibility because when you know who's writing it you can calibrate your expectations accordingly, not to mention the fact that anonymity is usually anathema to credibility. Change the name to Fero Vision, perhaps. No, wait, now that I am thinking about it, he should have a naming contest so readers can submit ideas for blog titles. It's all about interactivity, ya know?

Categories: 2008 Presidential Race | People and Places | Travis County DA |
Posted by Elise Hu at 9:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Weird. Right after I posted about the latest in the topsy-turvy runoff race to replace Ronnie Earle, I saw a piece on The Huffington Post called "Whatever happened to Tom DeLay?"

Retiring Travis County DA Ronnie Earle famously prosecuted former House Majority Leader DeLay for his involvement in TRMPAC... but if you've already forgotten, this piece looks back, and looks ahead. Excerpted:

DeLay asked for a quick trial. But he hasn't gotten one, in part because of appeals. Texas courts threw out the charge that he and two associates conspired to violate state election law. But the courts are still considering appeals from the other two indicted with him for money laundering. The next decision on their appeals will almost certainly affect his case, and could be appealed further.

And even if they ultimately lose those appeals, the courts will then have to rule on motions by DeLay and the others accusing DA Earle of misconduct and asking for a change of venue from Austin, where, a defense lawyer says, people hate DeLay and other Republicans.

The time-consuming appeals process makes it unlikely that DeLay's case will come to trial this year. So it's likely that he will outlast his accuser, since the 65-year-old Earle has announced he'll step down next January after 32 years on the job. His successor will be one of his assistant DAs who's been on DeLay's case for a long time. But whether that successor will pursue DeLay as vigorously as Earle has, remains to be seen.

P.S. Too bad you can't pick your own nicknames. I, too, would like to be called "The Hammer". But it just doesn't stick.

Categories: People and Places | Travis County DA |
Posted by Elise Hu at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)