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A special-called Farmers Branch City Council meeting posted for a closed-door discussion about council member interactions remained in open session June 11 after council member Lupe Gonzalez asked that the council discuss communication, disagreements and district representation publicly.
By the end of the meeting, Mayor Terry Lynne had asked City Manager Ben Williamson and City Attorney David Berman to return with recommendations for an outside facilitator or conflict-resolution training. No formal action was taken.
The agenda listed a closed executive session under Texas Government Code section 551.071. Before the council left the dais, Gonzalez asked that the discussion be held publicly “for transparency purposes.” The council approved the request, and the discussion remained in open session.
Berman told council members the public discussion would limit the legal advice he could provide because his comments would not be protected by attorney-client privilege. He also said the meeting was not meant to decide who was right or wrong about events after the June 2 council meeting or to resolve a pending ethics complaint.
Instead, Berman said, the purpose was to see whether the council could find “some common ground” and move forward in a workable environment.
Two residents spoke before council members began. Rick Johnson urged the council to “get to the bottom of it” and said the city should consider an outside investigation. Al Mahesh urged council members to move past “personalities, politics and past conflict.”
Gonzalez said her difficulties with council member Elizabeth Villafranca did not begin with the June 2 incident. She said statements had been made in the community about the incident that she believed were untrue. Gonzalez also said she had been excluded from communications involving District 1, including resident concerns and city matters.
“As members of this council know, we have adopted a practice of notifying the council member whose district is affected,” Gonzalez said. “This is a simple matter of professional courtesy and respect.”
Gonzalez said she wants council members to communicate honestly, include one another on district matters and address disagreements directly.
Villafranca said she could not respond to many comments because of what she described as an active police investigation and other pending legal matters. She said she wanted the process to be fair and impartial.
On district communication, Villafranca said her usual practice is to email Williamson and let him decide who should be included.
“If there’s been a misunderstanding about that, that’s just what I do,” Villafranca said. “I always email Ben, and Ben figures out who he needs to get involved in the email.”
Villafranca also criticized public discussion of the June 2 incident on social media. She said it was difficult to see “a judge, jury and conviction all on Facebook before anybody has any idea what the facts are.”
Council member Tina Bennett-Burton said council members need to stop directing personal comments at one another.
“The jabs, personal attacks, snarky comments, name calling directed to council members needs to stop or we’re not going to move forward as a community,” Bennett-Burton said.
Council member David Reid said disagreements are expected when council members care about city issues, but those disagreements should not become personal.
“Just because someone voted a way that is in conflict with the way you voted does not mean they’re a bad person,” Reid said.
Reid said he and council member Roger Neal have often voted differently on major issues but have been able to discuss their views and move on.
“You don’t have to like each other, to be honest, but you have to respect the position,” Reid said.
Neal said council members will make mistakes and should be more understanding of one another.
“We need to rise above a lot of this seemingly childish or junior high school-level attacks and activities,” Neal said. “It doesn’t do any good for this city.”
At Gonzalez’s request, the council discussed whether to play a video connected to the June 2 incident. Berman said the video was public information and said he did not believe playing it would affect the council’s ability to later consider the ethics complaint. The video was played after a brief discussion. No vote was taken.
Lynne suggested bringing in a professional to help council members with leadership and communication. Reid said he supported the idea but thought the training should focus on conflict resolution.
“That’s where the crux of the issues lie,” Reid said.
Lynne asked Williamson and Berman to bring back recommendations for a facilitator or training option.
The meeting ended without formal action. Williamson said staff would bring back options for training or outside facilitation as soon as they were ready.
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