Missing in Trinidad: A Business Day, an Audit, and a City Reply

Trinidad posted the notice for Tuesday's city council meeting on Thursday, November 12, "before 5 p.m."^[1] Since September 1, 2025, Texas law has required that notice to be up for at least three business days before the date of the meeting.^[2][3] Counted the way the Texas Municipal League tells cities to count, Thursday's posting leaves two: Friday and Monday.^[4]

That meeting is the one where the Council will canvass the November 3 election, swear in the newly elected members, choose a Mayor Pro Tem, and take up the 2026-27 budget.^[1] Under the Election Code, Tuesday is also the last day the canvass can legally happen.^[5]

The Missing Business Day

House Bill 1522 changed the Open Meetings Act in 2025. A meeting notice used to need 72 hours. Now Government Code §551.043(a) says it "must be posted in a place readily accessible to the general public at all times for at least three business days before the scheduled date of the meeting."^[2][3]

The Act doesn't say how to count those days. The Texas Municipal League's 2025 guide for cities applies the Code Construction Act, which leaves out the first day and counts the last, and gives an example: a notice posted on a Friday supports a meeting the following Thursday, with Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday as the three business days.^[4]

Trinidad's notice for Tuesday, November 17, carries this certification from the City Secretary: it was posted "on Thursday, November 12, 2026 before 5 p.m., and said Notice remained so posted continuously for at least three (3) business days preceding the scheduled date of said meeting."^[1] By TML's method, Thursday doesn't count. That leaves Friday, November 13, and Monday, November 16. Three business days would have meant posting by Wednesday, November 11, which was Veterans Day.

Right Every Time Except the Two Budget Votes

I went through the posting certification on every agenda the City has posted since August 18.^[6] Seven of them left three business days by the same count:

The two exceptions are the two called meetings to adopt the budget, and both certify "at least three (3) business days."^[7][1]

The City knows how to post a meeting in time. Why does it keep coming up a day short on the budget?

Tuesday Is the Last Legal Day to Canvass

For an election held on the same day as the general election for state and county officers, Election Code §67.003(c) allows the local canvass to be set "not later than the 14th day after election day."^[5] The 14th day after November 3 is Tuesday, November 17.

That leaves the City no room. A fresh notice posted today or Monday would support a meeting no earlier than Thursday, November 19, or Friday, November 20, past the canvass deadline. The one-hour emergency notice in §551.045 is limited to an imminent threat to public health and safety or "a reasonably unforeseeable situation."^[3] A canvass date set by statute is hard to call unforeseeable.

Everything on Tuesday's agenda rests on the same notice: the canvass, the certificates of election, the oaths of office, the seating of the new members, the Mayor Pro Tem vote, the budget hearing and adoption, a utility billing ordinance, two police vehicle dispositions, a grant application that commits $7,500 in local match, and four sets of minutes.^[1] Government Code §551.141 is one sentence long: "An action taken by a governmental body in violation of this chapter is voidable."^[3]

Residents have already noticed. Overnight, a comment under the City's own post about the meeting said the notice gives "only 2 business day notice" where "the law REQUIRES 3." As of Saturday afternoon, the City had not answered it.^[8][9]

The Missing Impact Statement

HB 1522 also changed what a budget meeting's notice has to contain. Under §551.043(c), the notice of a meeting where a city will discuss or adopt its budget "must include" a copy of the proposed budget, unless the budget is "clearly accessible on the home page" of the city's website, and a taxpayer impact statement for the median-valued homestead.^[2][3] Section 551.056(b) separately requires a city with a website to "concurrently post notice of a meeting and the agenda for the meeting" there.^[3] The notice on the website is a required notice, so it has to carry the statement too.

Tuesday's notice says the proposed budget "is available on the home page of the City's website" and that "A taxpayer impact statement for the median-valued homestead is attached to this notice."^[1] The notice on the City's website is four pages long and has no impact statement attached. When I checked on Saturday, neither the home page nor the agendas page linked the proposed budget or a statement. The budget is posted under the City Finance page in the site menu.^[1][10]

This is the second time. The October 27 notice used the same words, and the notice on the City Hall doors and on the website had no attachment and no budget. I found no impact statement anywhere on the City's website, and I handed the Mayor a written sheet at that meeting citing §551.043(c) and what it means for any action taken under the notice.^[11][7]

The Missing Audit, the Missing Budget, and the Missing Bills

Trinidad's fiscal year began Thursday, October 1, with no adopted budget, and Tuesday's agenda lists the budget for adoption again.^[1] The audit of fiscal 2025 was already more than seven months past due when I wrote about it on November 1, and the Attorney General's office listed Trinidad in August among cities sent late-audit violation letters.^[11][12]

On Friday evening I texted Mayor Dennis Haws, "Any updates on the audit?" He replied, "Not yet."^[13]

The bills are missing from the agendas, too. The August 18 agenda listed the monthly bills for approval, as the Council's meetings had earlier in the year. None of the agendas posted since then lists them: not August 27, not the four September meetings, not October 15, October 27, or Tuesday.^[6][1]

Local Government Code §102.009(b) says that "after final approval of the budget, the governing body may spend municipal funds only in strict compliance with the budget."^[14] That rule assumes a budget exists. Six weeks into a fiscal year without one, who is approving the City's payments, and on what authority?

The Vanishing Reply

The meeting notice reached most residents through Facebook. At 4:31 p.m. on Friday, the City's official page, "Trinidad Tx City Hall," posted: "City Council Meeting / Tuesday, November 17, 2026 @6pm / We will discuss the 2026-2027 budget, the sell [sic] of some police vehicles, and certify the recent election. It's your town. You're [sic] opinion is welcome. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have as well." The images with it are photos of the agenda on a laptop screen.^[8]

Twelve minutes later, at 4:43 p.m., Jennifer Combs shared it: "I was asked by soon to be sworn in council member Jason Tatom to pass on the page Trinidad Tx City Hall . For updates and community information. He says he will work on keeping it all updated for the citizens of Trinidad."^[15] Combs is suing the City and Marie Bannister, among others, in federal court.^[16]

Jason Tatom finished third of four candidates for three at-large seats on November 3, according to the county's final unofficial results.^[17] He won't be sworn in until Tuesday's meeting, the same meeting whose notice appears to be a day short.^[1]

At 4:58 p.m., Renee Weaver asked under Combs's post, "Who are the admins on that page?"^[15]

The City's page answered her there. Facebook notified her that "Trinidad Tx City Hall mentioned you in a comment," and showed the comment: "Renee Weaver myself and Marie Bannister." Renee Weaver provided the screenshot to me; it was taken at 5:34 p.m., when the reply was 16 minutes old.^[18]

The reply no longer appears on the post. By Saturday afternoon the City's page had posted no correction and no other answer, and the comments under Combs's post were her own pinned link, Weaver's question, and one other resident's.^[15][9]

Marie Bannister is a sitting council member and the Mayor Pro Tem.^[19] Combs wrote that Tatom "will work on keeping it all updated." The page's own answer named "myself" and Bannister. Is "myself" Jason Tatom? If it isn't, who wrote that reply, and why does the post sharing the City's notice say Tatom will keep the page updated? Why answer a resident's question on a private person's post instead of the City's own, and why is the answer gone with nothing in its place?

The page's own information adds a question to the timeline. At 1:39 p.m. Saturday, Facebook showed "Profile updated: 21 hours ago," which puts the update at about 4:39 p.m. Friday, between the City's 4:31 post and Combs's 4:43 share. Facebook doesn't say what changed. The Page transparency panel lists when the page was created and that it runs no ads; it lists no one who manages it.^[20]

Where Is the Mayor?

Mayor Haws speaks on this page in his own name. On July 19 he opened a post, "Good afternoon, Trinidad, this is Dennis Haws," and closed it with "I take full responsibility for this appointment."^[21] On November 3 and November 4 he signed his posts "Dennis Haws."^[20] The page calls itself "the official Facebook page for City Hall of Trinidad, Texas," used to share "public notices."^[20]

The November 13 notice is unsigned. No post on the page tells residents who manages it now, or that anything changed.^[20] In my opinion, a public notice of the meeting that canvasses an election and adopts a budget should come from the face of the City, with the care a public notice deserves. Instead it came with photos of a laptop screen, "the sell [sic] of some police vehicles," and "You're [sic] opinion is welcome," from whoever this is. A resident commented "*Your opinion" early Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon the post still read "You're [sic] opinion."^[8][9]

Where is the Mayor, and where is the announcement of this change?

What I Believe the City Should Do Now

In my opinion, this is the fastest way to keep Tuesday from producing decisions anyone can challenge:

1. The Mayor should say publicly, before Tuesday and in his own name, whether the City believes the notice met the three-business-day rule, and why.
2. The City should get written advice before Tuesday from the City Attorney and the Secretary of State's Elections Division on holding the canvass on its last legal day under a notice that appears to be short.
3. If the canvass goes forward on Tuesday, the meeting should be limited to what the Election Code requires that day: the canvass, the certificates, the oaths, and the seating.
4. Everything else should move to a meeting posted with three full business days and a budget notice that actually includes the impact statement, with the budget on the home page itself: the budget hearing and adoption, the Mayor Pro Tem vote, the utility billing ordinance, both vehicle items, the grant match, and the minutes.
5. Anything done Tuesday should be taken up again at a properly noticed meeting, so no action rests only on this notice.
6. The monthly bills should go back on the agenda, and the City should say who has been approving payments since October 1.
7. The City's Facebook page should be in staff hands under a written policy, with the people who manage it named publicly, and City notices should come from staff and the Mayor until the new members are sworn in.

What to Watch For Before Tuesday

If the City doesn't address any of this before the meeting, these are the things to watch for as Tuesday gets closer:

1. A statement from the City or the Mayor about whether the notice met the three-business-day rule.
2. A corrected notice, or an agenda limited to the canvass, the certificates, the oaths, and the seating.
3. The notice on the City Hall board. If you pass by, look for the taxpayer impact statement it says is attached.
4. A link to the proposed budget on the home page of the City's website.
5. Word from the City on the FY2025 audit.
6. A post on the City's Facebook page saying who manages it, and whether the reply that named "myself and Marie Bannister" comes back or gets explained.

Where I Stand

Government Code §551.142(a) gives "an interested person, including a member of the news media" the right to bring "an action by mandamus or injunction to stop, prevent, or reverse a violation or threatened violation" of the Open Meetings Act.^[3]

I put the City on written notice about its budget notice on October 27, and the same gap is back on the notice for Tuesday. I do not intend to let the City keep working around the Open Meetings Act. Every action it takes under a notice that appears to fall short will be questioned through every appropriate avenue available to me.

Getting this to residents before Tuesday came first. A written notice goes to the Mayor directly as soon as this is published, and I will be filing a public information request for the records behind the City's Facebook page: who holds which role on it and since when, who granted that access, what changed on the page Friday afternoon and by whom, the reply that no longer appears, and any City policy on its social media.

The meeting is Tuesday, November 17, at 6 p.m. at Trinidad City Hall, and Visitors / Citizens Inquiry comes right after the canvass and the oaths.^[1] If you want to ask about the notice, the audit, the bills, or the page, that is the place to ask it on the record.