Behind closed doors (sport)

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is fighting a records request for a draft agenda reportedly showing plans to discuss, behind closed doors, the disposition of over 1,000 acres of Cameron County land including Boca Chica State Park, near SpaceX's Starbase operations. The item was pulled from the final November meeting agenda after reporting surfaced, and the agency asked the Texas Attorney General to block release of the draft, citing deliberative-process exemptions. Gov. Greg Abbott, who appoints commissioners and has received major donations from Elon Musk, said a sale vote isn't imminent. Environmental groups, the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe, and local lawmakers oppose any transfer of the park, long called "the people's beach."

The city of Kalamazoo, Michigan has resumed private "small group" meetings between the city manager and city commissioners, a practice the Commission had unanimously ended in 2021 over transparency concerns, replacing it with public Committee of the Whole sessions. The meetings restarted in November 2025 under interim City Manager Patsy Moore and continued under current City Manager Malcolm Hankins, reportedly kept below the four-member quorum required by Michigan's Open Meetings Act. Topics have included budget, utility rates, zoning and call-in public comment rules. Legal observers note the practice, while not clearly illegal, raises "round-the-horn" deliberation concerns. Commissioners are divided, with some defending the sessions as informational and others questioning their transparency and public trust implications.

Incumbent Mayor Craig Greenberg and Metro Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright met Sept. 30 in their first debate since advancing from a nine-candidate May primary, where Greenberg took 53% of the vote to Parrish-Wright's 26%. Greenberg also holds a large fundraising lead heading into the nonpartisan general election, the first under a 2024 state law removing party labels from Louisville mayoral and Metro Council ballots.

Data centers dominated the opening exchange, with Parrish-Wright criticizing a large southwest Louisville project approved before the city's recent 180-day moratorium and calling for stricter rules than those Metro Council is weighing. Greenberg defended his administration's proposed regulations, including a size cap and ratepayer protections, and backed the moratorium.

On public safety, Greenberg pointed to continued gun violence despite declining shootings and homicides, while Parrish-Wright called for balancing policing with mental health and housing investments. On transit, Parrish-Wright backed raising TARC's decades-old tax rate; Greenberg touted TARC's improved finances while acknowledging funding needs a broader community discussion. Three write-in candidates are also on the race but didn't participate.

The ACLU of South Carolina has filed a lawsuit against the state Election Commission alleging its September 2025 firing of executive director Howard Knapp violated the state's Freedom of Information Act. The suit claims commissioners entered closed session without a sufficiently specific stated purpose, denied Knapp his right to request a public hearing, illegally polled members privately, and that former chair Dennis Shedd held one-on-one talks with colleagues to build support for removing Knapp, circumventing FOIA's intent. The ACLU is not challenging the firing itself but seeks a court order compelling disclosure of records from the closed portion of the meeting and a declaration that the law was broken. A hearing is scheduled for September 28 in Richland County, though it may be postponed.

Knapp's dismissal came amid a separate dispute over the Justice Department's push for South Carolina voter data. Shedd later accused Knapp of fostering a hostile workplace and falsifying voting-machine purchase records, claims Knapp's attorney disputes. Knapp and his former deputy, Margaret Paige Salonich, were later arrested on unrelated charges; both cases remain pending, as does Salonich's separate lawsuit against the commission.

The Pickens, South Carolina, City Council voted 4-3 on Aug. 27 to terminate City Administrator Tim O'Briant "for cause," a designation that voids any severance under his employment contract. The vote came after the council first rejected a negotiated severance agreement in a separate, closer vote. Councilmember Allie Winter, joining by phone, cast the deciding vote both times.

O'Briant, hired in January 2024, disputes that there was any legitimate cause for his firing and says he had offered to accept half of his contractually owed severance before the council instead chose to deny him any payout — a decision he warns will prove costly and embarrassing for the city. He has characterized the conflict as rooted in personality and management-style clashes, not misconduct or financial wrongdoing. The dispute traces partly to tension with Councilmember Jonathan Baker, who has accused O'Briant of retaliating against employees and residents who crossed him, including over the city's 2024 decision to leave a regional water system amid disputes with Greenville Water.