Council members accuse city attorney and colleagues of 'orchestrating' ambush via targeted email; item to be placed on next agenda

During council comments the meeting turned confrontational after a council member described an email and text messages that apparently instructed council members how to question the mayor. The complaint said the city attorney circulated legal analysis about a motion being pursued by Councilmember Dan, and that the Idaho Fidelity Alliance surfaced the correspondence through public-records requests.

Mr. Sheckler objected to discussing the matter without prior notice and read portions of an April 16 email in which, he said, the city attorney cited Bunt v. Garden City, State v. Whan, Idaho Code 50-204 and 1967 Idaho session laws section 68, concluding the mayor "cannot do this." He said he had only just pulled up the email during the meeting and objected to being ambushed at a public meeting. Other council members said the communication looked like a targeted "sandbagging" of the mayor and asked that the matter and any potential personnel review be placed on a future agenda so the public would have notice and the full council could consider the city attorney’s role and distribution of legal advice.

The mayor said the item would be placed on the next agenda for discussion; no disciplinary action or formal review of the city attorney’s employment was taken that night. The council moved on to the consent calendar after heated back-and-forth about process and respect for the mayor's office.

Next steps: Council instructed staff to add the discussion about the city attorney's communication and the council president role to the next meeting agenda, allowing formal notice and public comment before further action.