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Editor's Note: This is one of two stories about these ethics complaints.
City Council Member Tina Bennett-Burton filed the two ethics violations complaints against Mayor Terry Lynne on Oct. 14.
The Farmers Branch City Council rejected both of these and another complaint by Loretta Almanza following a Sunday evening executive session, Oct. 19, without stating who the subject or subjects were of the complaints or why the complaints were filed.
The first complaint refers to Lynne’s comments at a Sept. 25, 2025, Metrocrest Leadership Academy meeting and the associated memorandum from the City of Farmers Branch director of human resources regarding the internal investigation. The complaint does not say what the internal investigation is about.
The second complaint refers to the mayor’s interactions with staff members and the associated memorandum from the City of Farmers Branch director of human resources regarding the internal investigation. The complaint does not say what this internal investigation is about or if there is one internal investigation or two being referenced.
The city has sought a ruling from the Texas Attorney General's Office on whether certain complaint-related records are subject to public disclosure. In the letter to the attorney general’s office, the city’s attorneys, Wyatt Hamilton Findlay, cite “informer’s privilege” and “common law right to privacy.”
The Branch Herald has attached documents and related correspondence to this article for readers to review, which were provided by the City of Farmers Branch through Open Records requests.
Visit this link to see KERA's coverage of this story.
Following city code, non-implicated council members reviewed the complaints in executive session and rejected both complaints with votes of 3-2 with Council Members Omar Roman and Tina Bennett-Burton voting against rejecting them. Not rejecting the findings would have invoked an outside investigation of the complaints.
"We did not vote on guilt or not guilt. We voted simply to go to an outside investigation for a non-biased opinion," said Council Member Tina Bennett-Burton.
Lynne decline to comment on these complaints or the KERA story.
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