About Last Night

Near the conclusion of our meeting last night, during Mayor and Council comments, my colleague from Ward 4 attempted to make a motion to hold a hearing to determine whether the Ward 3 BIDA representative should be removed from the BIDA board for cause in light of the Keller Williams matter. The concerns behind this motion are serious, and they involve significant costs to the City.

Earlier in the evening, between the Workshop Session and the Regular Session, my colleague from Ward 4 called me and asked for my vote on this matter. I told him I would support having a hearing.

After that conversation, I called the Ward 3 BIDA representative. I told him I would support a hearing and planned to vote in favor of the motion if it was brought forward. I also told him I believed the votes were there for it to pass. I had nothing to hide about my anticipated actions, and I wanted to be direct about my thought process, especially considering more than a year had elapsed since these issues were initially brought to light and he was censured by the BIDA board. If the tables had been turned, I believe I would have had the same conversation with my colleague from Ward 4.

I did not speak with my colleagues from Ward 2 or Ward 3 about this matter, and I did not know they planned to leave. Their departure deprived the governing body of a quorum. We have been through this before, both immediately after the 2023 election and when a previous city manager was terminated. We were elected to do the work of this community, and I do not support leaving before the work is done. Walking out does nothing more than delay action. Because of the lack of a quorum, we were also unable to address an item in Executive Session, which will now have to be handled at a later date.

If the motion my colleague attempted to bring forward last night is on the agenda for the November 2 meeting, I will vote in favor of a hearing, just as I was prepared to do last night. My colleague from Ward 4 and I agree that this matter should have a hearing. It deserves consideration by Mayor and Council so we can determine the proper path forward.

My position has not changed.