I presume we’ll get some more details in the morning, but for now I wanted to highlight one aspect of the story of Metro’s settlement agreement with Lloyd Kelley.
The suit accused Metro and several of its top officials, including then-President Frank J. Wilson, of destroying documents Kelley requested under the Texas Public Information Act.
The final judgment approved by state District Judge Al Bennett states that the parties agree that all investigations revealed no evidence that the transit agency engaged in any improper destruction of documents.
It recognizes that the Metro Transit Authority Board adopted a new document retention policy on May 18.
Emphasis mine. Now, an agreement of no wrongdoing is common in settlements like this, and there is still that ongoing criminal investigation, which could turn up anything, not to mention to Pauline Higgins lawsuit. But admit it: You were expecting Kelley to find something, especially after the hanky panky allegations were made. From where I sit, this doesn’t look all that much different from a dismissal. Maybe Kelley will have something to say about it tomorrow, maybe his still-unnamed client will speak up about why the suit was filed and what they thought they might find, and maybe that will change my mind. But right now, as I type this, it looks like it was a whole lot of nothing.