415,000 Reasons To Cry Foul At Texas Tech
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$415,000.
That is what Texas Tech has tried to charge Dolcefino Consulting just to look at the public records all Red Raider fans, students, parents, donors and taxpayers deserve to see.
That isn’t counting the records they refuse to turn over. We already know that Tech is hiding records surrounding the firing of Mike Leach, the winningest football coach in school history; fired in the middle of an investigation that Tech never finished.
“We believe the records will provide further evidence to prove Texas Tech owes $2.5 million to Coach Leach,” says Wayne Dolcefino, President of the Dolcefino Consulting. Dolcefino Consulting is the Houston based investigative media consulting firm suing the Tech for the records. “We also know they have destroyed some of the evidence already. We just don’t know if they did it after we asked to see it. The Lubbock DA should care but she doesn’t,” Dolcefino continued.
Tech has tried to charge ridiculous amounts of money to look at records; clearly an attempt to scare us off. Tech is fighting to even keep records of sexual misconduct on campus a secret from parents. That’s just plain wrong
The latest example: Board of Regents phone records.
Tech has finally agreed to turn over phone records belonging to the Texas Tech Board of Regents after being told three times by the Attorney General’s Office they had to do it. All we want to see are calls about school business. Texas Tech wants to charge us $8,000 dollars, claiming it will take employees 462 hours to redact the personal calls for just nine regents. That’s nearly 58 days. Really?
Here is part of the problem: “The regents are the only ones who know which phone calls have to be handed over and they should turn them over immediately. Texas Tech is operating in bad faith, playing games and getting away with it because the Texas Attorney General is their lawyer,” says Dolcefino.
Last week, the new judge in the Texas Tech secrecy case set a trial date of December 9, 2019 and we will soon put people under oath. But Judge John B. Board did something else that Texas legislators should pay attention to.
In Texas, when the government tries to impose ridiculous fees to keep their records secret there is only place to complain – the Texas Attorney General.
However, in this case, the Attorney General is also the lawyers representing Texas Tech. Folks, if that’s not a conflict of interest, what is?
A member of Dolcefino Consulting’s legal team, Dallas attorney Michael Hurst, noted, “They are judge, jury, and executioner.”
Judge Board noted the process doesn’t seem fair. He’s right.
“In my view the law is a violation of our civil rights,” says Dolcefino. “It’s
a joke. We all pay taxes so that Texas
Tech administrators can keep secrets and that is absurd. Every donor should
pressure Tech to tell the truth and finally clean up the Leach fiasco.”
Today, Dolcefino Consulting filed a formal complaint with the Attorney General about Tech’s pricing scam. We think the Attorney General should respond immediately.
“The Texas Attorney General should recuse himself from this case if he can’t be the people’s lawyer. Remember Mr. Paxton, this case is about the public’s right to know,” says Dolcefino.
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