Council declines to place Sweetwater Road gas station probe on next agenda after heated public debate

Council Member Rodriguez asked the City Council to place a Policy 105 request on a future agenda to create an ad hoc committee to “investigate the facts and circumstances of the Sweetwater Road gas station project,” saying community members had raised concerns about staff and elected‑office interactions during the project review. The request drew more than an hour of public comment and counterarguments from supporters of the mayor before the motion died for lack of a second.

Rodriguez said the ad hoc would examine how the project moved from planning commission denial to a council agenda and called for scrutiny because a Public Records Act request and subsequent lawsuit had been filed by opponents. “This ad hoc oversight committee would be comprised of 2 council members,” Rodriguez told the council as he outlined the item.

Mayor Ron Morrison and others pushed…