Send a tip
Know something a local government should explain? Tell us.
Many of our stories start with a resident who noticed something. Send us a tip about a vote, a contract, a bill, or a decision, or the records you got from a public information request. A person reads every one.
Where to send it
Email your tip and any records to tips@lagovistawatchdog.com. If you would rather not use your usual email, a new free account works fine. Please use your own phone or computer, not a city or work one.
If something in one of our stories is wrong, write to corrections@lagovistawatchdog.com instead, so we can fix it quickly.
What to send
- What you saw or heard, and when and where. A meeting date, an agenda item, a contract, or a bill helps us find the record.
- The records the city released to you, as you received them. PDFs, spreadsheets, and emails are all fine.
- Your request, including the request number and the date you filed it.
- The city's response letter or email, so we can confirm the records came from the city.
- Any Texas Attorney General ruling on your request.
- A few sentences on why it matters to you and to other taxpayers.
Please send only records the city released under the Texas Public Information Act. Do not send anything you were told is confidential or that you obtained without permission.
How we protect you
- We never publish your name, email, address, or anything else that identifies you unless you ask us to.
- Before we publish a record, we remove the requester's name and contact details and other private information, such as home addresses and account numbers.
- We do not share your identity with the city, officials, or anyone else.
- Your messages are kept private and used only to report the story.
- We never say how we got a document.
What happens next
We report from the records, not from the tip alone. Not every tip becomes a story, but every one is read. Every record goes through the same checks as the rest of our reporting.
- We confirm the record is real, using the city's response, the request number, or our own request for the same record.
- We check every claim in the story against the document and cite the page.
- We publish the record itself next to the story, with your private details removed, so readers can check our work.
- We tell you before your records appear in a story.
New to public information requests? The Texas Attorney General explains how to request public information, and the city takes requests through its open records request page.