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After hours of testimony, disputed evidence, arguments over procedure and an unexpected return to City Hall by a former council member, the Farmers Branch City Council ended a historic ethics hearing early Wednesday morning without formally reprimanding City Council Member Lupe Gonzalez.
Instead, Gonzalez agreed to publicly apologize for a June 2 confrontation with City Council Member Elizabeth Villafranca and complete three Texas Municipal League training courses within 90 days.
Villafranca filed the ethics complaint against Gonzalez following the confrontation, which occurred after the June 2 City Council meeting and a council vote selecting the mayor pro tem and deputy mayor pro tem.
The council approved the agreement 4-0, with Gonzalez recused from the vote. The agreement did not constitute a formal reprimand, admonition or finding that Gonzalez was responsible for an ethics violation, City Attorney David Berman said during the meeting.
The vote brought an end, at least procedurally, to a marathon public hearing that stretched into the early morning hours and examined not only what happened between Gonzalez and Villafranca after the June 2 meeting, but also the deteriorating relationships among members of the Farmers Branch City Council.
It was also an unusual test of the city's ethics ordinance, possibly the first time a Farmers Branch council member had requested a public hearing under the city's ethics process. Council had met in executive session multiple times before the open meeting to discuss procedures for the hearing.
The surprise was not where Gonzalez sat, but who showed up to speak for her. Gonzalez remained in her usual seat on the dais and said little during most of the hearing as former City Council Member Omar Roman took the lead in questioning witnesses and challenging the investigation.
Roman previously represented District 1 before leaving the council to attend law school and had recommended Gonzalez as his successor. His appearance was particularly notable given his often-contentious relationship with Mayor Terry Lynne while the two served together.
Now Roman sat on the other side of the dais, questioning witnesses, challenging the city's investigation and arguing that Gonzalez had been targeted.
What happened June 2
The confrontation occurred immediately after the June 2 council meeting.
What happened during those few minutes became the central factual dispute of the night.
Outside investigator Ashley McSwain of Pace & McSwain PLLC of Wylie said during Roman's questioning that she reviewed two police reports, six written statements, five audio recordings and 13 video files.
McSwain concluded Gonzalez's conduct violated provisions of the city's ethics code requiring officials to treat others with respect and strive for relationships free from intimidation, hostility or adversity. She said repeated profanity, the close proximity of the two council members and witness descriptions of Gonzalez's body language contributed to her conclusion.
Six witnesses, according to McSwain, reported hearing Gonzalez use language that included an alleged threat to "f--- you up." None of those six were police officers.
That alleged statement became one of the most important disputed facts of the hearing.
Villafranca said Gonzalez screamed profanity at her and threatened her after Villafranca made a comment following the council meeting. Villafranca said she believed she was moments away from being hit.
Lynne offered a similar account, saying he saw Gonzalez "bow up or square up" and believed she was preparing to punch Villafranca.
But Farmers Branch Police Officer Cervantes, who was in the room, testified he did not hear Gonzalez make the alleged threat. He said he moved between the women to separate them and could not recall grabbing Gonzalez by both arms in the way other witnesses described.
The evidence also did not conclusively answer another basic question: Who approached whom?
McSwain acknowledged the evidence pointed toward Villafranca walking toward the middle of the room while Gonzalez was already standing there but said it did not establish how the women ultimately ended up face-to-face.
That uncertainty became central to Gonzalez's defense.
Roman challenges the investigation
Roman's role was striking from the hearing's opening minutes.
The former council member asked that council members put away cellphones and other communication devices and that witnesses be placed under oath. Lynne declined the cellphone request, saying it was a public meeting and council policy did not require it. Participants also established that state and federal rules of evidence did not apply because the ethics hearing was an administrative proceeding rather than a court case.
Roman then went directly at the investigation.
He argued Gonzalez had not been the aggressor but instead had been targeted, both in the June 2 confrontation and the investigation that followed. He said the case against her was constructed from "omissions, assumptions and unsupported conclusions" and he sought to put the confrontation into the context of months of tension between Gonzalez and Villafranca.
For hours, the hearing exposed fractures that have become increasingly visible on the City Council.
Witnesses, including council members, members of the public and Gonzalez's husband, Cesar Gonzalez, discussed previous comments between council members, disagreements over votes and accusations that Gonzalez was being controlled or directed by other people.
Villafranca and Cesar Gonzalez both said the relationship between the two council members started off badly from their first meeting before Lupe Gonzalez was elected to City Council in November 2025.
City Council Member Tina Bennett-Burton testified about what she considered repeated remarks from Villafranca suggesting Gonzalez was doing what others told her to do. City Council Member David Reid described the relationship between Gonzalez and Villafranca as cold and almost adversarial.
Roman argued those interactions provided important context for June 2. Lynne repeatedly pushed him back toward witnesses with direct knowledge of the confrontation.
The investigation itself also came under scrutiny.
McSwain said she was retained as an independent third party with a narrow assignment: determine whether Gonzalez's conduct following the June 2 meeting violated specified provisions of the ethics code. She emphasized she had received a complaint against Gonzalez, not Villafranca, so Gonzalez was the person whose conduct she investigated.
Reid questioned how the investigation could be considered thorough when McSwain had not personally interviewed Gonzalez.
McSwain initially discussed Gonzalez's interaction with police investigators and said Gonzalez had retained an attorney, making direct contact inappropriate because McSwain also had a role as special prosecutor in a potential municipal court case against Gonzalez.
Later, McSwain corrected part of her earlier testimony and said Gonzalez had spoken with a different police officer on another day and she had considered that information.
McSwain said a separate criminal matter could eventually involve disorderly conduct for vulgar language but repeatedly distinguished that possibility from the issue before the council. She said she had not yet filed a criminal complaint.
Recordings raise questions
Audio and video presented during the hearing further complicated the testimony.
Roman presented the same sound-free video council had previously shown publicly and provided an audio recording with no reference given during the hearing as to its origin.
Roman argued the recordings did not support claims that Gonzalez charged at Villafranca or made the alleged threat. He also pointed out Gonzalez was holding a purse and cheesecake during the confrontation, arguing that undermined claims she was preparing to strike Villafranca.
Council members disagreed over what the recordings established.
Reid said he did not hear the alleged threat and believed the video showed Villafranca approaching Gonzalez rather than Gonzalez charging at Villafranca.
Bennett-Burton likewise said she did not hear the alleged threatening words or see Gonzalez move forward. She said Gonzalez should not have used profanity but did not believe Gonzalez threatened Villafranca.
City Council Member Roger Neal pointed to witness descriptions of Gonzalez's tone, agitation and body language and the intervention of police as evidence the confrontation appeared close to becoming physical. However, he also questioned the origin and authenticity of the audio recording.
Villafranca asks council to remove Gonzalez
Villafranca wanted considerably stronger action.
She told the council the June 2 confrontation was not an isolated lapse in judgment but the culmination of escalating behavior and asked the council to remove Gonzalez from office.
Villafranca also criticized the absence of some city employees and police officers as witnesses, arguing people who were present should have been required to testify.
Bennett-Burton and Reid said employees had not been prohibited from testifying, but the council chose not to compel them.
Berman said an open criminal investigation created law-enforcement privilege concerns and city employees were put in a difficult position when asked to become involved in disputes among elected officials.
Divisions visible before hearing
The division surrounding the council was evident before the ethics hearing began.
During public comments at the City Council meeting preceding the hearing, resident Tim Ramsey described the series of ethics complaints among council members as "ping pong" that could erode public trust.
Vicki Harrison criticized the number of ethics complaints between council members while defending Villafranca.
Al Mahesh, who said he financially supported Gonzalez during the District 1 election while also considering Villafranca a person of integrity, asked council members to rely on evidence and firsthand testimony rather than assumptions, emotion or political loyalty.
The council also debated spending up to $50,000 for Hyde Kelly LLP to provide independent advice on ethics, governance and due-process issues. City Manager Ben Williamson said three council members had requested independent guidance.
Villafranca objected to the process, saying she and Neal had been excluded.
The debate previewed questions that ran throughout the hearing: who was making decisions, whether the city's ethics procedures were adequate and how a divided council could judge a complaint involving one of its own members.
Council searches for an ending
When testimony ended, council members remained divided over what happened June 2.
Reid said he did not hear the alleged threat and believed the video showed Villafranca approaching Gonzalez. Villafranca maintained Gonzalez violated the ethics code and warned that failing to impose meaningful consequences could lead to another incident.
Neal said elected officials are held to a higher standard but criticized conduct on both sides of the larger council conflict. Bennett-Burton said the incident rose to the level of an ethics issue but she did not believe Gonzalez threatened Villafranca.
Lynne defended McSwain's investigation and rejected Roman's characterization of the confrontation.
But as deliberations continued past 2 a.m., the discussion moved from determining whose version of every disputed moment was correct toward what might allow the council to function afterward.
Lynne described the situation as a possible "teachable moment" and proposed Gonzalez make a public apology, complete Texas Municipal League training within 90 days and prepare a report on council dynamics.
Reid objected to requiring Gonzalez alone to prepare the report, saying improving council relationships should be a responsibility shared by the entire council. The proposal was narrowed to an apology and three training courses.
Then came an important legal distinction.
Berman advised the council that the ethics code did not allow the apology-and-training package to simply be imposed as a formal sanction. The ordinance's formal options included an admonition for an unintentional violation, a reprimand for a knowing or intentional violation, or no sanction.
The alternative could work if Gonzalez voluntarily agreed.
Gonzalez asked whether accepting the proposal meant she was admitting responsibility for an ethics violation.
Berman said it did not amount to a formal reprimand, admonition or determination of responsibility or liability.
Gonzalez agreed.
The council voted 4-0, with Gonzalez recused. Bennett-Burton, Neal, Reid and Villafranca voted in favor.
Gonzalez must publicly apologize at the next City Council meeting and complete three Texas Municipal League courses within 90 days.
What the agreement did not do may be just as important.
It did not resolve every factual dispute aired during the hours-long hearing. It did not settle what can be heard on the disputed audio recording or establish that Gonzalez made the alleged threat. According to Berman's explanation, the agreement was not itself a formal finding that Gonzalez was responsible for an ethics violation.
For a council that spent much of the night debating who said what, who approached whom and who was responsible for the breakdown in relationships, the final action represented something different: an agreement about what Gonzalez would do next.
Whether that begins to repair the larger divisions exposed during Farmers Branch's unusual first public ethics hearing remains unanswered.
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