Charles Blain, president of Urban Reform, said that their organization frequently uses public information requests to inform the public about local government activities, particularly in Harris County and Houston. Urban Reform promotes free market solutions to urban issues to encourage community engagement and change. Blain was a guest on a recent episode of the Texas Talks Podcast.

“Public information requests are something that we do a lot at Urban Reform because the goal is to get more people more information about what's happening in local government," said Blain on a recent edition of the Texas Talks Podcast. “A large part of what we do is put out information about what's happening in city councils, commissioners court, and school districts, mainly in the Harris County-Houston area. We try to get people more informed about what's happening so that they can get engaged in the process.”

“We promote free market solutions to urban issues," said Blain. “There are plenty of urban issues in a lot of our major cities, and we try to look for free market solutions that either other cities are doing or that maybe they're not doing but that we can promote. Included in that are a lot of Texas Public Information Act requests because to affect change, you have to know what's going on."

Blain, President of Urban Reform and Urban Reform Institute, focuses on free market solutions to urban issues and expanding opportunities in metropolitan areas across America. He has been published in major outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Forbes and regularly appears as a political commentator on Fox 26 Houston's What’s Your Point. He also discusses local issues on iHeartRadio programs, including Pursuit of Happiness.

Texas Talks podcast is hosted by Brad Swail. The weekly show is focused on public policy in the state of Texas, with insights from the people and organizations that influence it.

The podcast is available on Simple Cast and YouTube.