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City Council unanimously rejected two ethics complaints against Mayor Terry Lynne on April 23, with Councilmember Elizabeth Villafranca questioning why the filings arrived days before early voting began in a municipal election in which Lynne is seeking reelection.
The complaints, filed April 8 under Section 2-284 of the city's code of ethics, came after the council had already conducted two prior reviews involving the mayor. The council voted to reject the October complaints on Oct. 19, and members described a subsequent review during an April 7 executive session. Council members said the new filings contained no information that would change the earlier findings.
"These were issues that had been addressed in October that were addressed last year and had already been resolved," Villafranca said. "And then we received these complaints three days before early voting started. So I think that the timing is very unusual."
Councilmember Tina Bennett-Burton explained her reasoning before the first vote. "In October, I voted to go to outside counsel. The reason I'm about to vote the way I am is because it was reviewed again on the seventh, and we did take action. That is done, and so we are not going to do this twice or technically three times."
City Attorney David Berman cautioned council members that timing concerns, while noted, were not central to the legal question. "Those issues really don't affect the council's decision on the merits," Berman said. "It may just be speculation."
Lynne read the executive session notice into the record at the April 21 study session, citing "complaints alleging a violation of the city's code of ethics pursuant to Section 2-284 of the city's code filed April 8th, 2026." The council then discussed the matter in closed session before returning to vote in public two days later.
Villafranca, who served on a council task force whose work appeared to be at issue in at least one of the complaints, defended the mayor's conduct. "I was at all of the meetings, and I can tell you that there was no intent of deceiving anybody," Villafranca said. "We really thought that we were doing what the right thing was based on previous precedents that had been set."
Councilmember Roger Neal rejected the idea that Lynne had acted dishonestly. "I don't think there was any intentional statement of facts by the mayor, and I hope that my fellow council agrees to that. I don't think that he intentionally did anything factually incorrect. I don't think there was any lying done by the mayor."
Councilmember David Reid drew a distinction between honest error and misconduct. "Misunderstanding of fact and presenting what you feel to be what the situation is is not a lie, nor is it intentional. From what we can determine, there was no intentional misinformation provided."
Councilmember Lupe Gonzalez, who joined the council after the October review, said she did her own work before voting. "Because I wasn't here in October, I did take the time to review and ask the questions I needed to make my personal decision." On the second complaint, Gonzalez added: "I didn't feel like any of the information that was presented to us was enough to really determine where there was a lie in any of the information we received."
The first motion to reject passed unanimously. A second motion, covering a separate complaint, followed immediately and also passed without opposition.
"After thorough review of the complaint received, we found that the complaint did not have merit," Reid said in support of the second motion.
Under Section 2-284, ethics complaints against city officers must be filed in writing, sworn before a notary, and submitted to the city secretary. Anonymous complaints are not considered. The city attorney conducts an initial review to determine whether the complaint contains sufficient detail and alleges an actual violation. An investigating attorney then produces a report for the council, which considers the findings at a meeting where the accused officer has the right to a full hearing, to call witnesses, and to present evidence. Under the code, any final action must be taken in an open meeting. In this case, the council met in closed executive session with Berman under Section 551.071 of the Texas Government Code, which permits governmental bodies to consult privately with their attorney on legal matters, before returning to vote in open session.
Lynne faces two challengers on the May 2 ballot: Rinkesh Desai and Jaime Rivas. Bennett-Burton is also on the ballot, facing challenger Brenda Broderick for the District 2 City Council seat in a rematch of a prior race. Early voting is underway and concludes before Election Day on Saturday, May 2.
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