Council approves ordinance limiting council members from serving on Windcrest Economic Development Corporation

The Windcrest City Council voted at its Nov. 4 meeting to adopt an ordinance amending Chapter 2, Section 2.7 to add restrictions on appointing city council members to the Windcrest Economic Development Corporation.

The ordinance was the focus of an extended debate in which residents and council members weighed competing priorities. Resident Narquis Cervantes urged the council to "stay in your lane," arguing that when council members sit on advisory boards or commissions it can create a conflict of interest and reduce opportunities for non‑council volunteers. Cervantes said council participation on advisory boards can make it difficult for those bodies to maintain autonomous decisionmaking and can chill community participation.

Council members divided over the policy. Supporters of the ordinance said it would bring Windcrest into alignment with other boards and commissions and maintain volunteer opportunities for residents; opponents said Texas law allows council appointments to EDCs, that some cities successfully use council liaisons, and that a restriction would limit qualified volunteers. Several speakers suggested compromises such as a non‑voting liaison role.

Council discussed procedural concerns about how the draft ordinance reached the agenda and whether the item had been circulated with adequate notice; the mayor stated the item followed the standard process and supplied the memo for discuss-and-act. After discussion the council conducted a second-reading vote and the ordinance passed on second reading. The transcript records voice/hand voting but does not include a roll-call tally by name in the minutes excerpt.

Next steps: The ordinance replaces the previous silence in the EDC bylaws by explicitly restricting council members from serving on the EDC. The transcript does not record an implementation date or ordinance number in the spoken record included here.