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The City Council delayed two proposals that could change the city’s legal services Sept. 1 and instead directed City Manager Ben Williamson to set expectations for City Attorney David Berman and report back in October.
The decision followed a lengthy debate over Berman’s responsiveness, concerns raised by some council members and disagreements over how those concerns had been shared. Council members also discussed Berman twice in closed session before taking three 4-1 votes near the end of the meeting.
After the second closed session, council member Tina Bennett-Burton moved to have Williamson establish expectations for Berman and return to the council in October.
“I’m directing the city manager to set expectations for the city attorney with the timeline to come back to City Council in October,” Bennett-Burton said.
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Roger Neal seconded the motion. It passed 4-1, with council member Lupe Gonzalez opposed.
The council then voted 4-1 to delay consideration of seeking qualifications from other firms for city legal services. Members also voted 4-1 to postpone until January a proposal to add an in-house staff attorney. Gonzalez cast the lone dissenting vote on both.
The two proposals represented different approaches to changing the city’s legal structure. One would have started a process to solicit qualifications from other firms interested in providing the city’s legal services. The other would have added an attorney to city staff to handle day-to-day legal matters.
Farmers Branch currently receives city attorney services through Nichols Jackson LLP, where Berman serves as city attorney.
Earlier in the meeting, Gonzalez opposed an initial effort to postpone the two legal-services items for four months.
“I would like to keep it on the agenda and discuss it,” Gonzalez said.
The council recessed for 10 minutes before returning to the issue.
Neal said concerns discussed earlier in closed session needed more time to be addressed before the city made a significant change to its legal representation.
“If they’re not resolved in a three- or four-month period, then I think we should reconsider this item,” Neal said.
The discussion also exposed disagreement over how concerns about Berman had been developed and circulated.
Council member Elizabeth Villafranca said Bennett-Burton had sent an email containing 15 points related to the city attorney and that Villafranca, Neal and Mayor Terry Lynne had not seen it until the night of the meeting. She objected to what she described as a council majority developing concerns without the rest of the council being aware of them.
Villafranca called the situation “another instance of the power of three,” referring to the council’s voting majority.
Mayor Pro Tem David Reid pushed back, saying the concerns had developed over time rather than from a single incident and had not appeared suddenly.
Berman’s communication with council members was another central point of disagreement. Members raised concerns about unanswered calls and emails and whether everyone on the council was receiving the same level of access to the city attorney.
Gonzalez said Berman had answered calls and emails from other council members while failing to respond to some of hers. She argued that the city attorney should be available to the entire council, not only certain members.
Villafranca acknowledged that Berman also had not returned a recent call from her but said that alone was not a reason to remove him.
“I made a call to Mr. Berman last week. He hasn’t returned my call yet, but he doesn’t serve just me,” Villafranca said. “And that’s not a reason to fire somebody. We have to give people grace.”
Lynne cautioned against moving too quickly to replace Berman, pointing to his experience and the institutional knowledge held by his firm. He also said the dispute reflected broader problems in the council’s working relationships.
“There is dysfunction on the council,” Lynne said.
He urged members to give the situation more time, saying a “cooling-off period” would benefit the city while the council worked through its concerns.
“You don’t just replace a city attorney overnight,” Lynne said.
He said council members should work toward more constructive discussions and reduce the infighting that has affected their ability to conduct city business.
The initial effort to postpone the legal-services proposals for four months failed. The council moved on to other agenda items before returning to closed session later in the evening.
When members returned shortly before adjournment, they settled on a different course. Bennett-Burton’s motion left Berman in place while Williamson develops the expectations council members want addressed. The council also delayed consideration of other law firms and pushed discussion of an in-house attorney to January.
Williamson is expected to return in October with an update on whether the concerns that prompted the legal-services debate have been addressed.
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