Council splits on staffing-transparency ordinance; approves immediate sharing of weekly HR reports and tables ordinance

Lago Vista city council on Feb. 6 split over an ordinance that would require the city manager to prepare quarterly vacancy and recruitment reports for all city positions. Councilors debated whether to publicize all vacancies — including seasonal or high-turnover part-time positions — and whether the requirement would create extra staff burden.

Development and HR staff told council the city already posts open positions on the hiring board and that staff produces weekly and monthly reports; Human Resources Director Tiffany said the full, all-positions dataset is a constantly moving record and can be labor intensive to compile. Tiffany said she provides a weekly summary to the city manager and can expand that report’s detail but was concerned about the workload of an all-vacancy public dashboard.

Councilors expressed differing priorities. Proponents argued a regular, consistent staffing report would improve transparency and show hiring progress for critical positions; opponents said an all-inclusive public requirement would be burdensome and include high-turnover, part‑time roles (for example seasonal golf-course hires) that add noise but not policy value.

The ordinance failed on a 3–3 vote. After the vote, council reconsidered and approved a motion to immediately provide the unredacted weekly HR report to council members and to table the ordinance; staff will return to the council’s Feb. 20 meeting with a revised proposal that narrows scope and clarifies frequency and format.