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It seemed innocent enough; the Lubbock city Council would recess their specially called council meeting held on January 31st, 2006 and enter into executive session to discuss a personnel matter. The item listed on the agenda read as follows:
Executive Session- City Council will recess to executive session in the Executive Conference Room.
2.1 Hold an executive session in accordance with V.T.C.A. Government code, Section 551.074 (a) (1), to discuss personnel matters (City Attorney, City Manager, City Secretary) and take appropriate action.
According to the Texas Open Meetings Act which governs all Texas governmental entities, as to the procedures and protocol of meetings, a city council is within the boundaries of the law if they meet in executive session to discuss routine personnel matters. That they do it in executive session is mostly done to protect the privacy of the individuals which may be involved in the discussions.
But according to Councilwoman Linda DeLeon, the action taken by the majority of the council who participated in the executive session on January 31st violated the Texas Open Meetings laws.
In an exclusive interview with El Editor, Ms. DeLeon said, “I’m clearly convinced, and I was from the very beginning that what the council was doing, and I’m talking about the majority of the council, was in violation and it started with executive session.”
According to her, no city staff was present and neither was the city manager or city attorney. That in itself is odd, since usually, when personnel matters are to be discussed, city management staff is present; they after all are the ones managing city personnel. And their position titles had been clearly listed on the agenda item 2.1.
The item in question, revolved around a city ordinance passed in 2004 which gave the city secretary, in this case, Becky Garza, management oversight over city council management staff. According to the city’s organization chart, posted on the city’s website, Ms. Garza is listed as having direct management oversight over the City Secretary’s office, the council’s Chief of Staff, city council office, legislation and Public Information.
The intention of the council was to move the oversight of these positions out from under Ms. Garza and shift them over to city manager, Lee Ann Dumbauld. The question as to why still remains unclear.
But while state law allows personnel matters to be discussed in
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