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Newly released public records provide a detailed look at why the Farmers Branch City Council voted June 23 to dismiss an ethics complaint against City Council Member Tina Bennett-Burton instead of ordering an independent investigation.
The complaint, filed June 9 by resident Steven Morrison, alleged Bennett-Burton violated the city's Code of Ethics by using her city email account for political purposes when she endorsed then-mayoral candidate Jaime Rivas in a newsletter distributed during the June runoff election.
After reviewing the complaint, City Attorney David Berman recommended the council reject it, concluding it did not contain sufficient detail to allege a violation of the city's ethics code. The City Council later voted to dismiss the complaint.
Under the city's ethics ordinance, the city attorney's initial responsibility is not to determine whether an ethics violation occurred, but to determine whether a complaint meets procedural requirements and contains enough factual detail to warrant an independent investigation.
The complaint centered on a newsletter Bennett-Burton sent following the May municipal election.
Most of the newsletter informed residents about city services, volunteer opportunities and community events. Near the end, however, Bennett-Burton included a personal endorsement of Rivas in the mayoral runoff.
"As we head into the mayoral runoff, I want to make clear that, on a personal level, I fully support Jaime Rivas and encourage everyone to stay engaged and involved in the process," the newsletter stated.
Morrison alleged the endorsement violated the ethics code because the newsletter displayed Bennett-Burton's official Farmers Branch email address, arguing that city resources had been used for campaign purposes.
In her written response, Bennett-Burton said the newsletter was created and distributed through a privately owned Mailchimp account connected to her personal business account, not through any city communication system.
"The newsletter in question was not sent through a City email account, a City communication platform, or any City-managed system," Bennett-Burton wrote. "No City funds were used. No City staff were involved. No City resources were requested. No taxpayer dollars paid for the communication."
Her response included screenshots from her Mailchimp account and an email from City Manager Ben Williamson stating that a search of the city's email system found no record of the newsletter being sent through a city email account.
In his legal analysis, Berman acknowledged that Bennett-Burton's newsletter advocated for a mayoral candidate. However, he concluded the complaint did not establish that city resources were used to distribute it.
The complaint relied primarily on the appearance of Bennett-Burton's city email address in the newsletter's reply-to line. Berman wrote that the available information did not establish whether the newsletter had actually been sent from the city email account or whether the address had simply been included as a contact for constituents.
Berman's memo also explains why elected officials often forward city-related communications to their official email accounts to comply with the Texas Public Information Act and preserve government records. He noted that using a private email platform does not, by itself, violate the city's ethics code and that simply including a city email address as a reply-to contact in a privately distributed newsletter is not sufficient evidence that city resources were used for campaign purposes.
Berman concluded that while the newsletter contained political advocacy, the complaint did not provide enough evidence to show the city's ethics code had been violated.
"The complaint does not contain sufficient detail to allege a violation of the Code of Ethics," he wrote.
The memo noted, however, that the council retained the authority to order an independent investigation despite his recommendation. Instead, the council voted to dismiss the complaint during its June 23 meeting.
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