Aldermen raise conflict-of-interest concerns over PFAS litigation; board moves into executive session

Aldermen used the forum portion of the meeting to press the council on transparency and potential conflicts of interest arising from recent attorney proposals tied to PFAS litigation.

What was said: Alderman Kenton said the board must be transparent and that he had checked facts before speaking; he said proposals related to PFAS litigation included options in which an attorney stood to benefit and called that a "big red flag." Alderman Stennis echoed those concerns and said a city attorney should not profit from a contract the city must act on: "An attorney cannot benefit from a contract that the city has to act on," Stennis said.

Board action: The board voted to go into executive session to discuss potential litigation involving PFAS, an update on the Fisher litigation, and contract negotiation. The chair recited that the motion to enter executive session was made by Alderman Pfeiffer, seconded by Alderman Hinton, and passed unanimously.

Context and next steps: The remarks came during aldermen forum and followed earlier work on attorney proposals. No substantive public rebuttal or response from the attorney was recorded in open session; the board moved to discuss the matters in closed session per the meeting's motion. The transcript does not record the contents or outcomes of the executive session.