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Pearland outlines stricter ethics and procurement rules for council members
Summary
City Attorney Darren Coker summarized Pearland’s ethics ordinance and state law: council members must disclose substantial financial interests (about 10% ownership or 10% of income), file affidavits, remove themselves from related deliberations, and the city ordinance requires a three‑quarters vote to approve contracts when a member is disqualified.
City Attorney Darren Coker told viewers that Pearland enforces a three‑tier approach to conduct for elected officials — council rules, state law and a local ethics ordinance — and that the local rules in some respects are stricter than the state baseline.
Coker said state law (Texas Local Government Code chapter 171) treats a "substantial interest" as, for example, owning 10% of a company or deriving 10% of one’s gross income from it. "If that substantial interest exists, it's the responsibility of that…
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