The City of Galena Park boasts on its website that “it has had efficient government administration through the years.”
In reality, it’s unlikely the town’s 10,000-plus residents know how their tax dollars are being spent.
That’s because the city has not posted any documents or details of its current $15.8 million budget on its website. In fact, the city just north of the Houston Ship Channel outside the East 610 Loop, has not posted any budget documents on its website in more than six years, a violation of state law.
Nor does its website include any third-party audits of the city’s finances, or even minutes from its city commission meetings this year.
Galena Park residents are frustrated.
“I’m going to keep fighting because there’s got to be somebody that’s going to pay attention,” said Jackie Gonzales, a resident of Galena Park for 45 years and president of the town’s civic club.
EARLIER: Houston-area cities and counties want you to go to their websites. How useful are they?
Galena Park, incorporated in 1935, celebrates its many city departments: “An excellent Police force and a very capable Fire Department. The City owns and maintains it’s (sic) own water and sewage disposal facilities. It has an olympic size swimming pool, two recreational facilities, a public library and numerous parks.
“You all of a sudden get this notice in the water bill that your taxes got up, but you don’t have no transparency about any of it,” Gonzales said. “You don’t know if there’s been a meeting and things like that. So, that’s why I’m getting involved, because I feel like she’s (Mayor Esmeralda Moya) got to provide us with this information so we can know about what’s going on.”
Earlier this year, the Houston Landing reviewed the websites of a dozen local cities and Harris County. Galena Park, by far, had the least informative website.
While Houston and the other cities published detailed line-item budgets going back years – in some cases, the materials were presented in multiple languages and in spreadsheets – Galena Park’s website only includes its budget for fiscal year 2018.
That is a violation of Texas’ Local Government Code, which requires cities to post their most recently approved budgets online if they have a website. While that law does not include any penalties against offenders, residents can seek a court order at a county court which could result in contempt of court if the city doesn’t comply.
The Landing filed an open records request with Galena Park for its most recent budgets. After 22 days and an $18 payment, the city provided budget documents for each of the past six years: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The documents list revenues and spending amounts for various services and offices, but include no narrative or descriptions explaining how taxpayer money is being used.
Earlier this year, Gonzales submitted a public information request for the city’s most recent audit of its finances. About three weeks later, City Secretary Mayra Gonzales (no relation) responded with a short letter saying, “There are no responsive documents.”
State law requires taxing units to post their most recent audits online.
Additionally, there are no minutes on the city’s website for any of this year’s city commissioner meetings despite the corresponding agendas being available.
The latest minutes available are from January 2024 through September 2024.
A Landing review of those shows most meetings lasted less than five minutes, with the longest reaching 16 minutes. None of the minutes detail any exchanges between officials or the public. When someone from the public makes a comment, it’s noted in the minutes simply as “(Person’s name) addressed city council.”
The city canceled its two most recent scheduled public city commission meetings, the last meeting having occurred on April 15.
The webpage listing the current city commissioners is outdated and displays the names of former members. No contact information for any member is listed.
TRANSPARENCY: Harris County’s routinely long Commissioners Court agendas are often short on details
“Basic financial documents, audits and budgets, are almost universally easily available by any government body I know of,” said Austin attorney Bill Aleshire, who for more than a decade has focused on open government practices. “Hiding something as important as how much money is being collected and being spent, that is extremely undemocratic, as well as illegal.”
Texas Southern University political scientist and public affairs professor Michael Adams agreed.
“It undermines civic engagement. … It’s a violation of the basic tenets of democratic principles,” Adams said. “The budget explains everything about the policymaking process, the priorities of the government.”
Neither Gonzales, the city secretary, nor Mayor Esmeralda Moya, who has been in office since 2014 and was reelected last year by just 157 votes, responded to repeated emails and calls requesting comment on this story.
One way to seek accountability, Aleshire said, would be for residents to petition a court for a writ of mandamus requiring the city to comply with its legal duties.
“If they didn’t obey that court order, then they could be held in contempt of court and they could suffer a fine or go to jail for contempt of court,” said attorney Aleshire.
Galena Park resident Mark Groba tried that five years ago, after the city failed to respond to open records requests for copies of an ordinance in the required time, despite a ruling by the Texas Attorney General’s office. An appeals court eventually ruled two years later that Groba raised legitimate questions about the city’s potential violation of public records law and sent the case back to district court. The lawsuit later was dismissed after both parties opted not to move forward with it.
“It would just seem to me that if they wake up and realize when they’ve made a mistake, the law clearly requires them to put that on their website. Their attorney ought to be giving them good advice about going ahead and getting that done right away,” Aleshire said.
The city attorney for Galena Park, Robert Collins, did not respond to requests for comment.
Other residents have resorted to running for office to try to spark some change.
Martha Cantu Perez is a decades-long resident of Galena Park. She was part of the team that founded the town’s civic club and has unsuccessfully run for city commission. Perez said she is concerned about the city’s lack of financial transparency.
“This is a very small town. We need the money,” said Perez, who wants additional law enforcement and infrastructure improvements in the city.
Oscar Mireles, another decades-long resident of Galena Park who ran for mayor in the May 2024 elections, has been gathering government records through public information requests.
“A lot of the people in this community are here because they don’t have anywhere else. This is what they have. This is where they were born and where they’re gonna die. And they deserve better,” Mireles said.
Mireles is currently being sued by four city employees who have accused him of harassment, assault and defamation after they say he posted signs around town with their photos and text saying it is a felony to influence voters at the polls. Trial is scheduled for early 2026.
“It’s just harassment,” Mireles said. “They’re going around the city, anybody that talks back, they go after them.”
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
