Hats off to reporter Lowell Brown and the Denton Record-Chronicle for a very revealing piece City paid employees for silence; relatively common practice cost Denton $200K in recent years” http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/drc/localnews/stories/DRC_City...

One of the most telling statements in the article is that this is a “relatively common practice.”

We have often heard that school district superintendents and city managers receive pink slips, big fat checks and are moved on to the next unsuspecting public entity.

Case in point: Killeen’s city manager was let go – and given a check for $750,000 to go away. Taxpayer advocates are recalling the city council for the action and we appreciate the work of citizen watchdog Johnathan Okray: http://www.estateofdenial.com/2011/04/11/killeen-city-council-faces-reca...

In Williamson County, commissioners are less than transparent in their dealings hiring a law firm who then hires lobbyists to represent the county: http://www.estateofdenial.com/2011/07/16/williamson-county-lobbygate-sco...

Houston ISD has been under the microscope for illicit practices thanks to the good work of Texas Watchdog: http://www.texaswatchdog.org/2011/07/houston-superintendent-calls-for-1-...

Citizen watchdogs, government workers and citizen journalists/bloggers are often at the forefront uncovering cronyism and corruption.

How often does this happen? Local officials don’t publicize it and we appreciate the work of investigative reporters and taxpayer watchdogs who expose the practice.

This practice needs to be revealed and ended.

NOTE: A good source for investigative reporting in Texas is the Texas Watchdog - www.TexasWatchdog.com