Texting and Open Meetings

The legislatures of local and other small governments are subject to the Open Meetings Act which is meant to ensure that all meetings, and potential meetings -- such as cases when a quorum is likely to occur by happenstance -- are open to the public. Backroom deals, say made when a majority of a seven member city council somehow finds themselves alone on an elevator, are banned. But might enhanced communications, social networking and texting, also provide opportunities for these secret meetings and subsequent deal making? The Texas Legislature is set to consider this question in its next session.