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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJudge Reprimands City Council; newspaper article (10-19-2005)ereprimands Jud g CS council Says if officials violate meetings act again, it could mean jail City leaders promise to change procedure By APRIL AVISON Eagle Staff Writer College Station City Council members were reprimanded Tues- day by a district judge and told they could spend up to six months in jail if they violate the Texas Open Meetings Act again while in office. Following a brief court proceed- ing, the seven elected officials signed a statement agreeing to make changes to the way their meetings are posted and conducted. The changes were outlined in an injunction filed by Brazos County District Attorney Bill Turner, who said he recommended to a grand jury investigating a July violation by the council that the case not be pursued criminally. "It was a close call," Turner said.. "[The grand jury] wanted to make sure that I expressed that they deliberated close to an hour, gave it serious consideration, and it was not an easy decision. "After speaking with [each of the City Council members] and looking them in the eye, I believe this response is sufficient to guarantee future compliance." The violation occurred when the council discussed the employment of City Manager Tom Brymer on July 14 and into the early hours of July 15. The discussion was not specifi- cally posted on the council's agen- da. But a Texas Supreme Court rul- ing, a Texas attorney general's opinion and other case law have shown that a specific posting must be made before discussion on city employees and officials of "special significance" — such as any coun- cil- appointed official. After the July meeting, the coun- cil voted 4 -3 to terminate Brymer. "I remember the night this hap- pened," Judge J.D. Langley told the See COUNCIL, Page A4 orazos teounty uistrict Attorney Bill Turner appeared in the 85th District Court on Tuesday with a settle- cil's July violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act. From left are Councilwoman Susan Lancaster, Tumer, ment agreement that requires the College Station City Council to make policy changes based on the coup- and council members Ron Gay, Chris Scott!, Nancy Berry, John Happ, Mayor Ron Silvia and Ben White. iurner (center) presents an agreement before District Judge J.D. Langley that coun- cil members Susan Lancaster (left) and Ron Gay signed along with other members of the College Sta±'on City Council. Council Fro Al council members as they stood before him in the 85th District Court on Tuesday. "I heard it on the radio. The very moment it happened, I knew it ain't right. I hope all of you have learned some- thing from this experience, and I'm sorry if it's an embar- rassment to you." If council members violate the Open Meetings Act again, they can be found in con- tempt of court and sentenced to up to 180 days in the Brazos County Jail, Langley said. Council members also could be assessed a fine of up to $500, and the violation could be pursued criminally. "I'll grant the injunction and hope I don't have to do anything to enforce it," Lang- ley said. The injunction, signed by all seven council members Tuesday, includes an agree- ment to not discuss any coun- cil- appointed city officials unless they are specifically listed on a meeting agenda. The council also must refrain from participating in a meeting if proper notice has not been given, and closed sessions must be audio - recorded in the presence of the city attorney or a repre- sentative of his office. Coun- cil members also agreed to attend one hour per year of mandatory training on the Open Meetings Act. Mayor Ron Silvia said each council member already has had some sort of training on the law this year. The court proceeding was scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, a half -hour before closing arguments began in the same courtroom for the capital murder trial of Timothy Lewis. Council members Susan Lancaster and Chris Scotti arrived separately a few minutes late, and the judge agreed to postpone the hearing until they arrived. Silvia did not offer a state- ment in open court but said after the hearing that he was glad it was over. The council apologized to the community in a press release issued by the city. The mayor said he was pleased that the district attor- ney had enough interest in the council's business to take on the difficult task of inves- tigating the violation. "That's government in action," Silvia said. "A lot of people are happy with the checks and balances we have in place." An `obvious' violation Turner said his investiga- tion was prompted by two let- ters and a phone call request- ing that he pursue the matter. "We were trying to achieve two purposes — to find out factually what happened and gauge their resistance to the open meetings law," he said. "After meeting with them, I concluded the majority of them had no intention of let- ting it happen again." Turner said he was both- ered by comments made by Councilman Ron Gay that appeared Tuesday in The Eagle. Gay said in an inter- view that signing Turner's injunction in court was not an admission of guilt but a promise to do a better job of adhering to the Open Meet- ings Act. Gay said "most reasonable people" would believe that the council legally was able to discuss Brymer because discussion of personnel mat- ters was listed on the agenda. He went on to say that if the council had committed a criminal violation, the mem- bers would have been indict- ed by the grand jury, which didn't happen. "When I read that in the paper today, it was disturb- ing," Turner said. "There was an obvious Open Meet- ings violation. "When you deal with seven council members, each has their own personality and response to this. The reason I proceeded with injunctive relief as opposed to criminal charges was because the majority of the council was embarrassed by their actions, and it was obvious they intended to follow the Open Meetings Act in the future. If this action is not sufficient, it will be obvious, and we will respond appropriately." Gay said after the hearing that he did not want to com- ment on what he'd said in the previous interview or whether he still felt that way. "[The court proceeding] got my attention," Gay said. "We all need to commit to doing things better. We pledge to do it better in the future. It is my sincere desire that nothing like this will happen in the future." Cause for concern Turner said he's not con- cerned that the council decid- ed to fire the city manager, but rather that it didn't let the public know the official was going to be discussed. "Underlying this, there is a great deal of energy in the community concerning the city manager and the actions of the council," Turner said. "My charge was not to deter- mine whether the city man- ager should be in office but whether the public got specif- ic notice. "The public has the right to know what the City Council is talking about so they can have input and observe the City Council making an important decision. That's the purpose of the open meet- ings law." The decision to fire Brymer, which was proposed by Gay and also approved by council members Nancy Berry, John Happ and Scotti, is "none of the criminal jus- tice system's business," Turner said. "The City Council is free to make whatever decisions they think are appropriate," he said. "It is when they vio- late open meetings that they're accountable. We're not for or against the manag- er." Brymer challenged the council's decision to termi- nate him and threatened a lawsuit, citing the open meet- ings violation. He was imme- diately reinstated and, after about two weeks of negotia- tions between his attorney and the city, Brymer agreed to resign and accept a sever- ance package amounting to about $177,585. Council members have said they did not seek their attor- ney's advice on whether the meeting was properly posted before they began to discuss Brymer. "My investigation reveals that some members of the council wanted [ Brymer's] name on the agenda, and oth- ers weren't in a hurry to dis- cuss the city manager," Turn- er said. "The primary con- cern of keeping the public notified took second place. They felt very deeply about the issue and, in the depth of their commitment to that, they lost sight of their com- mitment to the public in keeping them informed." Officials respond Lancaster, who voted against Brymer's termina- tion with the mayor and Councilman Ben White, has apologized for her involve- ment but said she believes the blame for the controversy lies with the four council members who pushed for Brymer's firing. "I'm pretty upset that the actions of the four have come to this," she said after the hearing Tuesday. "I'm cer- tainly not happy about it." The district attorney's investigation found that all the council members violated the Open Meetings Act by participating in the meeting. Councilwoman Berry said Turner's action was appro- priate, and the council mem- bers "learned their lesson." "If something is being dis- cussed that was not on the agenda, I'm walking out of the room," Berry said. "The likelihood of this happening again, with this council, is See COURT, Page A5