MAUD, Texas -- Mayoral candidate John Hershell Robinson presented 130 signatures on a petition Tuesday morning [April 20} at Maud City Hall asking city officials to hold a municipal election regarding a proposed water agency. The petition requests city officials hold a referendum for Maud residents to vote on whether to allow the city to participate in establishing the Wright Patman Regional Water Supply Agency.

"We asked that the city follow the appropriate law and take the appropriate action under the law in allowing for a referendum to be held regarding the formation of the ... agency," Robinson said as he presented the signatures and petition to Maud City Secretary Betty Hamilton. The request is provided for under the same Texas local government code, Chapter 422, that provides for the agency's creation. It is found under the subchapter that provides petition and referendum.

"The main focus of this petition is to make sure all the cards are being laid on the table," said George Frost, a member of the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District's Region D. "The thing I believe in most is that government should be operated openly and honestly and not operated in secret."

Robinson agreed. "We would like the participation of the citizens of Maud in an important decision like this," he said. "I want to help ensure open government for Maud. Secrecy has no place in a democracy."

Earlier this month, seven cities gave public notice that they would be joining five other Texas cities Thursday [April 22] in forming the WPRWSA. The five cities that initially voted on Feb. 5 to establish the agency include New Boston, De Kalb, Hooks, Avery and Annona. The additional seven cities seeking to join include Wake Village, Nash, Redwater, Clarksville, Atlanta, Queen City and Maud.

During that same Feb. 5 vote, Maud was actually the sixth city to vote but the council turned the proposal down because Maud Mayor Robert Wells declined to answer many of their questions regarding the agency. During that Feb. 5 meeting, Wells sternly warned the council that he was under a judicial gag order and couldn't comment much on the proposed agency. Wells, who arrived at Maud City Hall shortly after Robinson, Frost and two petition witnesses left Tuesday, said he hadn't seen the petition and declined to comment on it until he spoke to his attorney.

Last year, 75th State District Judge Jim White implemented the gag order to help ensure than an impartial jury hear evidence in a pending civil lawsuit filed by Maud and six other cities, including New Boston, Wake Village, Hooks, De Kalb, Avery and Annona. The lawsuit was filed against Texarkana, Texas, and the Texarkana Water Utilities in March 2002, claiming that the seven cities are being overcharged for water by TWU.

Frost said he believes the gag order actually impairs his right as a citizen of Maud to obtain information about the agency. "I have real trouble with the gag order the judge implemented because it actually disenfranchises me from public participation," Frost said.

However, White, who was contacted Tuesday, stood by his gag order decision. "The reason I put the gag order in place was to make sure this lawsuit doesn't get tried in public ... preventing potential jurors from forming opinions about the case before hearing the evidence," he said. "The reason I implemented the gag order was to make sure the cities didn't make comments about the reasons they want the agency in so far as it relates to the lawsuit."

White went on to say that the cities are perfectly entitled to move forward with their plans to establish a water agency as long as the gag order isn't violated. White said that he believes the gag order has to impair citizens rights to information in order to ensure an impartial jury.