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Whistleblower calls on Mount Pleasant council to reopen ethics complaints, seek independent review after AG rulings
Summary
A Mount Vernon resident told the council he is a federal whistleblower who says the city withheld records related to a vendor impersonation theft exceeding $1 million and that the Texas Attorney General ordered the release of some records; he asked council to place formal complaints back on the agenda and to authorize an independent investigator.
At the start of public comment on July 7, Kyle Morring identified himself as "the primary complainant in an ongoing federal whistleblower investigation" and urged the Mount Pleasant City Council to act on a set of transparency and records concerns.
Morring told the council he has been pursuing whether "the city's own records and processes can be trusted," saying the city acknowledged a vendor impersonation theft of more than $1,000,000 and that the city withheld police records he requested. "When I requested police records about that theft, the city withheld them," he said, adding that on June 30 the Texas Attorney General "ruled the city failed to submit them for review as the law requires," and ordered the records released.
Morring also described difficulties when inspecting internal documents: he said the city told him he would have to pay $72 to view an internal-controls letter and that other requesters were told the city had no record of an auditor communication that appears in the city's audit presentation and annual comprehensive financial report. He said an October 2025 email from MPFD Deputy Chief Richelio Rodriguez was among records the AG ordered released and that Rodriguez's name appears in inspection discrepancy materials Morring has documented.
Morring asked the council to take two actions on the record: "1st, place my formal ethics complaints and these public information concerns back on the council agenda in the open. 2nd, authorize an independent auditor or outside investigator to review the city's public information practices, how records are searched, produced, preserved, and charged for, and how the city has handled attorney general rulings." He framed the request as a matter of public trust: "Transparency is not a favor to me. It is the foundation of public trust. I am asking you to act on it."
The council did not take immediate action during the public-comment period; staff and council proceeded with the regular agenda.
