Public records Archives | John Tedesco

Perry’s perks, tax protests, and bad PR

John Tedesco — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:56:05 +0000

Today’s front page of the San Antonio Express-News was dominated by stories that all relied on public records:

Karisa King analyzed a public database that tracks property tax disputes in Bexar County. “Everybody wants lower property taxes. But those with the least ability to pay rarely protest their appraised values, while owners of upscale homes are far more inclined to fight their bills.”

Melissa Ludwigg used public records found at the courthouse and through an open records request to uncover “an embarrassing public relations problem” at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

R.G. Ratcliffe at the Houston Chronicle examined Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s disclosure statements. “On the dollars of taxpayers and wealthy donors, Gov. Rick Perry — reared amid the cotton fields of West Texas — gets to live the life of the rich and famous, traveling the world meeting captains of industry, sports stars and royalty.”

These stories are a shining example of the value of public records — they help reporters, bloggers and the public discover new information.

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A primer on Michael Fontana, a nurse accused of killing three patients

John Tedesco — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:21:08 +0000

Last week military reporter Scott Huddleston and I covered the story of Capt. Michael Fontana, a nurse who has been charged by the Air Force of killing three patients at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio.

This is Military City, USA, and there’s lots of interest in the case and concern about it. Here are links to official sources, and stories by the San Antonio Express-News and other media:

The Air Force issued a press release announcing the charges against Fontana. At this point, this is the only document about the case that has been released by the military.

This is our first story about the patient deaths and the charges against Fontana. “As far as we can tell, he’s been an exemplary nurse,” said Dave Smith, public affairs chief for the Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB.

This story by the Austin American-Statesman detailed the case and disclosed Fontana’s past job as a paramedic in Austin, where he didn’t generate any complaints.

Our follow-up story identified one of the likely patients who had been treated by Fontana. Her name was Dorothy Gray, a 74-year-old stroke victim from Natalia, Texas. According to an autopsy report, Gray died from “intoxication” of morphine, a painkiller, and lorazepam, a sleep-aid, which caused complications to Gray’s health and led to her death.

The story was based on an autopsy report and an investigation report by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office. Gray’s death was ruled a homicide.

Gray’s family declined to be interviewed. Her obituary described her as a charming woman who wasn’t originally from Texas, but who often said she got here as fast as she could.

A story by WOAI followed up our article by interviewing residents in Natalia who knew Dorothy Gray.

A story by the Austin American-Statesman delved deeper into Fontana’s work history and found numerous commendations for his past efforts to save his patients.

I’ll post more links in the coming weeks. Feel free to contact me if you have information about the case.

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Is your apartment building safe? How to check Code Enforcement Records

John Tedesco — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:18:44 +0000

A fire that engulfed the San Pedro Apartments on Tuesday was probably caused by an overloaded electrical outlet. But tenants complained the old building wasn’t well maintained, which raised questions about any past Code Compliance violations issued by city inspectors.

San Antonio’s Code Compliance Department has a Web site where you can plug in the address of a property and check its track record. It will show you the date of the violation, the type of violation, a case number, and whether the case is still open. At the apartment building, which is located at 502 San Pedro Avenue, there weren’t many violations.

The site only produces bare-bones information about each case, so if you want to know more details about a violation you have to contact the city. But it might be a good first step for people who, for example, want to know if a vacant property in their neighborhood is unsafe. You can check the address and see if it has a history of violations. That’s good information to have if you complain about the property to your city council member — it helps you make your case that there’s a problem.

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