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Attorney, bond counsel to review PAC materials; council urged to refer residents to city website
Summary
Council emphasized neutrality for PAC education materials and asked the city attorney and bond counsel to vet FAQs and collateral to avoid prohibited advocacy; council members were advised to point residents to the website for impartial information.
Council and staff discussed the legal boundary between education and advocacy for the PAC bond materials. Greer said staff would work with the city attorney and bond counsel to keep wording neutral: "I'm going to do my best to make them neutral questions and then work with legal with the city attorney as well as bond counsel to make sure we're not crossing the line from education to advocacy," Greer said.
Council members and the attorney repeatedly advised colleagues to direct specific resident questions to the city's FAQ webpage rather than offer personal opinions at meetings. One participant warned that a council member speaking as an individual can face ethics or liability risks: "It's very difficult to take off your council member hat, put on your city citizen hat," the legal adviser said, noting the risk of ethics complaints and personal liability if officials explicitly advocate from their elected positions. The city will route drafts to legal counsel before any public distribution.
