Lakeway council issues formal censure for councilmember over anti'lobbying violations

The Lakeway City Council voted on July 13 to issue a formal letter of censure to Councilmember O'Brien following an investigation into communications during solicitation 26-1004. The mayor summarized the investigation'which council staff and the city attorney had conducted and then made available under a waiver of attorney'client privilege'and said the purchasing manager determined one bidder (Austin Engineering) had violated anti'lobbying rules and was disqualified from the resubmission. The mayor read the proposed letter, which states the investigation found multiple violations of the city's anti'lobbying policy and that those communications "undermine the public's trust in local government."

The mayor recounted that councilmember O'Brien had acknowledged an error and earlier signed a conflict'of'interest form and recused himself from the bid vote; the mayor said that cleared him from ethics violation but not from council discipline. After allowing public comment, including a request from a newly retained outside counsel for time to review legal issues, Councilmember (11) moved to approve the letter of censure and the council approved the motion unanimously (6'0, with O'Brien excluded as an adversarial/recused party). The mayor said copies of the investigative report and related purchasing-manager letters will be posted to the city website and made available at the meeting for public inspection.

A council censure is an official reprimand recorded in the minutes; the action does not remove the member from office but is recorded as the council's formal disapproval of the member's conduct. The council emphasized it values O'Brien's service and technical contributions but said the conduct met the threshold for public reprimand.