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Council withdraws proposal to hire outside counsel for ethics‑process review after procedural objections
Summary
Councilmember S2 moved to ratify retention of independent outside legal counsel to review the city's ethics complaint process but retracted the motion after members and the city attorney said the item was not properly on the special‑call agenda; no retention or contract was authorized July 28.
Councilmember S2 proposed that the council ratify retention of independent outside legal counsel and direct the city manager to undertake an independent review of the city's ethics complaint process, including compliance with the city charter, code of ethics, council policies, due‑process principles and Texas law. S4 seconded the motion, and the council opened discussion.
Several members said they were uncomfortable acting on the proposal at a special‑call meeting because the item was not listed on the published agenda. The city attorney (S5) advised that hiring outside counsel to evaluate the city's structure "is not on the agenda for tonight" and recommended placing the item on the next regular agenda (for example Aug. 4) so the council could properly authorize such action. After the procedural objections, S2 retracted the motion and no formal retention or contract was approved at the July 28 meeting.
