Investigative Report – How the City Hides Their Real Agenda.
Fate, TX – For a city government that claims to value transparency, the City of Fate under City Manager Michael Kovacs and its rubber-stamp City Council sure have an odd way of showing it. Despite repeated assurances that Fate’s taxpayers have a say in how their hard-earned money is spent, the city’s leadership has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep citizens from knowing the full details of their financial decisions—especially when it comes to the $20 million Fate DPS bond approved in November 2024.
Ahead of the election, the Fate Tribune submitted an Open Records Act request seeking documentation of the city’s deliberations on how those bond funds would be allocated. Instead of responding with full transparency, the city handed over a heavily redacted document, blacking out nearly all meaningful information. To further shield itself from public scrutiny, the city simultaneously requested an exemption from the Texas Attorney General’s office to avoid full disclosure.
Fast forward four months, long after voters unwittingly approved the bond without full access to the facts. Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office has finally issued a ruling—one that grants the city exemptions on certain redactions but also mandates disclosure on others. Unfortunately, the key details of how Fate’s leadership actually intends to use this $20 million remain obscured. What little has been forced into public view barely scratches the surface, leaving Fate’s residents in the dark about where their money is truly going.
The lack of transparency isn’t just an accident or bureaucratic oversight—it’s a choice. The city isn’t required to redact this information; it is deliberately choosing to do so. This is the work of a city administration that believes its citizens should be taxed, and ignored.
Shutting Out Public Participation
To illustrate the city’s blatant disregard for citizen input, consider the 2024 Budget Workshop Presentation. The document, which was prepared by city staff and presented to the council, serves as a perfect example of Fate’s leadership operating behind closed doors while keeping residents at arm’s length.
Despite being an opportunity to educate the public and foster discussion, the budget workshop instead reinforced the city’s long-standing attitude that public involvement is unnecessary and unwelcome. It was not designed to genuinely solicit input; rather, it was a carefully curated slideshow meant to pacify those who dared to ask questions, while the real decisions had already been made behind closed doors.
This has become a troubling pattern under City Manager Kovacs, whose administration has time and again demonstrated a preference for opacity over openness. And the City Council? They do little more than nod along, approving decisions without pushback, effectively serving as an extension of the city bureaucracy rather than a check on it.
Citizens Deserve Better
The question residents of Fate should be asking is simple: Why is our city government so desperate to keep us from knowing how our money is being spent? If the bond funds are being allocated appropriately, why the secrecy? Why the blacked-out documents, the legal maneuvering, the delays, and the obstruction?
Voters beware.
In the upcoming May 3, 2025 election, those candidates who are endorsed and supported by Mayor David Billings, Councilmen Robbins, Megyesi, and Kelly, as well as city officials … will be selected to continue the secrecy and maintain the status quo. Be sure to vet your chosen candidate carefully and reject those who will not vow to remain open and transparent.
The images below are the Budget Workshop files received by the Fate Tribune by the attorney, hired by the City of Fate to do their bidding. This is their idea of “transparency”:
