Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ethics Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council debates investigator'9s findings and moves to undo newly adopted council conduct resolution
Summary
Council reviewed an outside investigator'9s report alleging disruptive conduct at a Jan. 15 meeting and debated repealing a council relations/code-of-ethics resolution adopted last December; discussion included allegations supporting formal action against a council member and objections that the policy was overly broad.
Gunter Mayor opened a public discussion of an independent investigation into conduct at the Jan. 15 council meeting and read excerpts of the investigator'9s findings, including witness corroboration that a council member'9s behavior "interrupted and delayed the proceeding." Mayor said the investigator concluded "sufficient evidence exists to support formal action against Baldwin Stevens." The mayor also read a text the investigator attributed to Stevens: "And even if the complaints were true, so what?" and noted the city followed the adopted complaint procedure by hiring outside counsel when the city attorney had a conflict.
Councilmember (speaker 2) moved to repeal the recently adopted council relations policy, arguing the document contained material that should have been debated in public and that portions were unnecessary. Opponents said the policy established needed standards of conduct. Several council members described the January incident as escalatory and said the episode illustrated why a code of conduct might be needed. The transcript shows the repeal motion was made and seconded and that council proceeded with repeal-related action during the meeting; the explicit roll-call tallies for the repeal were not recorded clearly in the public transcript.
The mayor cited legal precedent and local policy in explaining why the city could lawfully hire independent counsel and why a verbal censure is within the council'9s historical powers. He emphasized that censure is speech by elected officials responding to speech and does not by itself strip officeholder powers. Council members who supported repeal said they would prefer debate in public and that parts of the resolution reflected internal overreach. Others said the policy'9s purpose was to restore public confidence and provide expectations for decorum.
The council did not adopt a final punitive measure during the discussion; the investigator'9s report and the question of formal action were the subject of public review during the meeting and the mayor said the full five-page report would be available for members to read.
