Council convenes executive session on complaint against council member, reconvenes with no action

Public speakers raised a complaint at the April 15 Universal City Council meeting and the council then entered an executive session to discuss a complaint against a councilmember under the Texas Government Code. After closed deliberations the council reconvened and announced no action would be taken.

During public comment, Catherine Buck described an incident at a recent event where, she said, a councilmember identified another attendee as serving on council and urged support for that candidate; she said she filed a complaint with a federal entity (the IRS) and intended the item to be discussed under the meeting’s executive-session agenda item. The mayor explained that once a federal filing exists the city cannot act on that federal agency’s process; councilmembers and members of the public also urged adherence to Open Meetings Act guidance and that the executive session be limited to the agenda item listed (complaint discussion under Section 551.074).

The council then convened in executive session pursuant to Texas Government Code Section 551.074 to discuss the complaint. The council reconvened at 8:10 p.m. and the mayor stated that no action was taken during executive session. The public comments and council statements emphasized that the executive session topic focused on a complaint against a councilmember and reminded the public that city officials could not discuss matters under federal agency review.

Because the council stated no action was taken, there is no formal disciplinary or remedial outcome recorded in the meeting minutes for this item.