[00:00:04]
[CALL TO ORDER ]
ROSS HUMPHREY, CHAIR OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN ETHICS REVIEW COMMISSION.I CALL THE ETHICS REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING TO ORDER.
IT IS JANUARY 28TH, 2026, AND IT IS 6:27 PM WE ARE AUSTIN CITY HALL IN THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
ROOM 1, 1 0 1 AT 3 0 1 WEST SECOND STREET, AUSTIN, TEXAS, 7 8 7 0 1.
I WILL NOW, NOW CALL THE ROLE, I'LL START.
VICE CHAIR SHARKY HERE AND MYSELF.
UH, THERE ARE NO SPEAKERS SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Ethics Review Commission Regular Called meeting on December 10, 2025. ]
SO WE'LL MOVE TO THE FIRST AGENDA ITEM AND THAT IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.UH, YOU ALL HAVE THE MINUTES IN FRONT OF YOU THERE.
'CAUSE THE LAST MEETING WAS, WAS FAIRLY SHORT.
I'LL GIVE EVERYBODY, UH, MAYBE TWO MINUTES TO LOOK AT THEM.
MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
SECOND, WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM VICE CHAIR SHARKEY AND A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER REYNOLDS.
ANY DISCUSSION? ACTUALLY, UM, ALL BY ME.
[2. Set and adopt the revised regular meeting calendar of the Ethics Review Commission for the months of July, November, and December 2026. ]
NEXT ITEM IN THE AGENDA IS TO, UM, LOOK AT OUR REVISED CALENDAR.UH, WE HAD NOT FINAL, WE HAD NOT DONE THE FINAL VERSION PRIOR TO THIS MEETING BECAUSE WE HAD TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DATES WE HAD CHANGED FOR THE DATES WE HAD CHANGED, ROOMS WERE AVAILABLE.
AND, UH, MS. BENITH HAS, HAS TOLD US, TOLD ME THAT EVERYTHING IS NOW FINE.
WE'RE SET WITH ROOMS FOR EACH EACH MEETING.
SO I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO, UM, TO APPROVE THE CALENDAR.
WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE FROM VICE CHAIR SHARKEY.
WE HAVE A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER FIGUEROA.
ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
[3. Declare a vacancy in the office of secretary and hold emergency election to fill the vacancy. ]
ITEM THREE, WE HAVE A VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF SECRETARY.IT HAD BEEN COMMISSIONER RETURNED, BUT HE HAD TO, UM, RESIGN FROM THE COMMISSION BECAUSE HIS, HIS JOB HAD TAKEN HIM OUT OF THE COUNTRY.
UH, WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO OFFER UP THEMSELVES AS OUR SECRETARY? WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL? WELL, GOOD QUESTION.
ALL IT ENTAILS, UH, IS REVIEWING THE MINUTES THAT MS. BEEZ WILL SEND OUT A FEW DAYS BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING, AND YOU REVIEW THEM.
AND IF THERE'S ANY, IF YOU NOTICE ANYTHING THAT LOOKS AWRY, YOU WILL BRING THAT UP AND THEN WE'LL DISCUSS IT BRIEFLY AT THE COMMISSION MEETING.
AND, UH, AND THEN YOUR JOB IS DONE EACH MONTH.
SO YOU WANNA DO THAT? I CAN DO THAT.
UH, SO, UM, COMMISSIONER REYNOLDS, UH, IS NOW OUR SECRETARY.
UNLESS THERE ARE ANY OBJECTIONS, I'M SURE THERE AREN'T ANY.
[4. Adopt the new bylaws template.]
NOW THE BYLAWS, UM, THE CITY PREPARED A NEW SET OF BYLAWS WITH, AT ONE POINT THERE WAS OPTION, UH, FOR TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF A PARAGRAPH.UH, MS. WEBSTER, I WILL LET YOU JUST BRIEFLY SUMMARIZE HOW THEY DIFFER FROM THE PREVIOUS BYLAWS.
[00:05:01]
HELLO EVERYONE.I'M CAROLINE WEBSTER WITH THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
UM, SO THE, THE CHANGES IN THE BYLAWS WERE, ARE KIND OF TWO OF TWO DIFFERENT TYPES.
THE FIRST ONE WAS TO ALIGN THE BYLAWS WITH STATE LAW AS IT AS, UH, AS IT READS IN THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
THAT WAS AMENDED IN, UH, THIS LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION IN 2025 TO CHANGE THE POSTING DEADLINE, UH, BY WHICH WE HAVE TO PUBLISH OUR POST NOTICE OF OUR MEETINGS.
AND SO THAT IMPACTS YOU ALL AND IMPACTS EVERY BOARD AND COMMISSION.
THAT'S SUBJECT TO CHAPTER TWO, ONE OF THE CITY CODE, WHICH INCLUDES YOU, IT IMPACTS COUNCIL, ET CETERA.
SO WE HAD TO REWRITE THE BYLAWS, UH, IN ORDER TO REFLECT THAT CHANGE IN THE LAW.
AND WHILE WE WERE DOING THAT, THERE WERE ALSO A COUPLE OF OTHER OUTDATED OPEN MEETINGS ACT, UH, RELATED PARTS OF THE TEMPLATE, THE STANDARD TEMPLATE FOR THE BYLAWS.
AND WE UPDATED THOSE AT THAT SAME TIME.
AND THEN THERE WERE ALSO A FEW CHANGES HERE AND THERE WHERE, UM, UH, CERTAIN BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND THEIR CHAIRS, INCLUDING OUR CHAIR, UH, POINTED OUT A COUPLE OF, UH, KIND OF INCONSISTENCIES IN THE WORDING OR A FEW THINGS THAT DIDN'T MAKE QUITE AS MUCH SENSE.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, AT THE VERY TOP OF THE BYLAWS, IT TALKS ABOUT, UM, THE, THE SORT OF THE GOALS OR THE, SORRY, I DON'T HAVE THEM PULLED UP IN FRONT OF ME.
I NEED TO HAVE THEM PULLED UP.
I THINK IT WAS THE MISSION, BASICALLY THEIR MISSION STATEMENT.
AND THERE WAS KIND OF SOME REPETITIVE WORDING IN THERE.
AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET THAT CHANGE.
NOT REALLY A SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE.
IT DIDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO OR HOW YOU GO ABOUT THINGS.
THE WORDING WAS JUST, IT WAS JUST LESS AWKWARDLY WRITTEN AND, AND MORE LOGICALLY WRITTEN.
AND SO THAT WAS A CHANGE THAT WAS MADE.
UH, THE OTHER CHANGE, AND I BELIEVE THE CHAIR MAY HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS PART, UH, WAS ABOUT WHERE, UM, AT THE, TOWARDS THE END OF THE BYLAWS TEMPLATE, THERE'S A PART ABOUT WHETHER A GIVEN BORDER COMMISSION WILL HAVE ANY COMMITTEES.
UH, A COMMITTEE IS DIFFERENT FROM A WORKING GROUP.
A WORKING GROUP IS A TEMPORARY BODY THAT'S MADE UP OF LESS THAN A QUORUM OF, UH, COMMISSION MEMBERS AND POSSIBLY OUTSIDE MEMBERS.
AND IT'S NOT SUBJECT TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND DOESN'T GET STAFF SUPPORT.
PRIMARILY WORKING GROUPS DON'T.
BUT COMMITTEES ARE SOMETHING ELSE.
THEY'RE BASICALLY, UH, IT'S A, BY DEFINITION, A STANDING COMMITTEE.
THAT'S WHEN IT'S CREATED BY, UH, THE COMMISSION.
IT COULD CONTAIN A QUORUM OF MEMBERS.
COMMITTEES ARE SUBJECT TO THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
AND IN ORDER TO KIND OF OFFICIALIZE THEM, UH, A COMMITTEE, ONCE IT'S CREATED, HAS TO BE ADDED TO A BOARD OR COMMISSIONS BYLAWS TO, OF IZE IT, TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE AWARE THAT THIS IS A BODY THAT'S GOING TO BE MEETING, IT'S GONNA BE SUBJECT TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT, ET CETERA.
AND THE, THERE USED TO BE LANGUAGE IN THE BYLAWS THAT BASICALLY SAID, UM, IF YOU HAVE NO BYLAWS, JUST SAY, THIS COMMISSION WILL HAVE NO BYLAWS.
BUT IF YOU DO HAVE BYLAWS, THEN ALL OF THESE OTHER THINGS.
AND JUST THE WAY IT WAS WRITTEN WAS, WAS CONFUSING.
IT JUST, IT TO ME, IT, WELL, TO MANY, IT DIDN'T MAKE, UH, A LOT OF SENSE.
AND SO WE JUST TRIED TO REWORD THAT SO THAT IF YOU'RE A BOARD WITH NO, UH, COMMITTEES, YOU CAN SAY YOU HAVE NO COMMITTEES.
AND IF YOU'RE, IF NOT, THEN YOU CAN, YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO ADD OTHER, IF YOU HAVE LE IF YOU HAVE AN ABILITY ALREADY TO CREATE COMMITTEES, BUT YOU CAN SAY, THEN WE HAVE NO COMMITTEES, OR IT SAYS WE HAVE AN ABILITY TO CREATE COMMITTEES AND WE DO HAVE COMMITTEES.
AND THEN YOU CAN GO THROUGH AND THERE'S SPECIFIC INFORMATION TO LIST ABOUT YOUR COMMITTEE.
SO IT JUST TRIES TO, TO MAKE IT MORE UNDERSTANDABLE FOR THE AVERAGE READER OF THE BYLAWS OF WHETHER YOU HAVE A COMMITTEE OR NOT, WHETHER YOU'RE GOING TO FORM ONE OR NOT.
SO IT JUST, IT JUST IS, WAS AN ATTEMPT TO ADDRESS THAT.
UH, THINK, UH, CHERRY, FEEL FREE TO GO AHEAD AND COMMENT IF YOU LIKE.
AND I'M GOING AND PULL UP MY RED LINE VERSION OF THE BYLAWS, WHICH IS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR.
SO I CAN COMMENT ON ANY OTHER CHANGES AS WELL.
WELL, WELL YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THOSE.
UH, I'LL JUST ADD ONE COMMENT, WHICH IS THAT SOME OF THE OTHER, UH, CITY BOARDS OR COMMISSIONS, BECAUSE OF THE SUBJECT MATTER THEY'RE DEALING WITH HAVE REASONS TO HAVE STANDING COMMITTEES.
WE HAVE NEVER, IN MY EXPERIENCE, WE'VE NEVER SEEN A REASON TO HAVE A STANDING COMMITTEE.
SO WE JUST USE THE WORKING GROUP, UH, UH, PART OF THE, OF THE BYLAWS TO CREATE MORE OR LESS TEMPORARY COMMITTEES.
BUT THEY, BUT THEY, THE ONLY THING I WOULD SAY IS NOT TO USE, THEY'RE NOT TEMPORARY COMMITTEES.
'CAUSE COMMITTEES ARE, YEAH, NO, YOU'RE RIGHT.
I SHOULDN'T HAVE USED THAT TERM.
IN THE SENSE THAT A WORKING GROUP IS A TEMPORARY BODY.
I JUST WOULD STAY AWAY FROM USING THE WORD COMMITTEE.
BUT THAT, THAT'S A DESCRIPTION, AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION.
[00:10:01]
RIGHT.DO YOU NEED A MOTION? PARDON? DO YOU NEED A MOTION? WELL, I THINK, UH, MS. WEBSTER, WERE YOU GOING TO SAY SOMETHING ELSE AFTER YOU FOUND IT? I WAS, I'M STILL LOOKING FOR IT.
UH, I WAS THINKING IT WAS IN OUR LAST MEETING OF THE YEAR, BUT, UH, IT WASN'T, SO LET ME JUST CHECK ONE OTHER MEETING.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE COPIES WE HAVE HAVE YELLOW HIGHLIGHTS.
WHAT THE ITEM THAT WAS ACTUALLY PRESENTED TO COUNCIL WAS, UM, UH, THE BYLAWS TEMPLATE.
THE NEW BYLAWS TEMPLATE WAS PUT INTO BACKUP, UH, TO SUPPORT THE ITEM.
AND THE ACTUAL ORDINANCE THAT THE CITY COUNCIL PASSED BASICALLY ALLOWED THE CLERK'S OFFICE TO SORT OF AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE EVERY BOARDING COMMISSION'S BYLAWS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE NEW BYLAWS TEMPLATE.
SO THAT EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR 80 OR SO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS DIDN'T HAVE TO VOTE ON MAKING THE CHANGES.
HAVE THOSE CHANGES GO TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE.
THEY WOULD THEN HAVE TO MEET AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION, COUNSEL, AND THEN FULL COUNSEL WOULD HAVE TO APPROVE THE BYLAWS CHANGE FOR EACH AND EVERY, UH, BOARD AND COMMISSION.
'CAUSE THAT'S THE PROCESS FOR AMENDING BYLAWS.
AND SO WHAT THE ORDINANCE DID THAT COUNCIL ACTUALLY PASSED WAS JUST ALLOWED THE CLERK TO AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE, UH, THE BYLAWS BASED ON THE NEW TEMPLATE.
AND THE TEMPLATE WAS ACTUALLY ADOPTED BY THE CLERK'S OFFICE WITHOUT ANY COUNCIL ACTION, BECAUSE THERE DOESN'T NEED TO BE COUNCIL ACTION ON THAT.
YES, IT TOOK ME A MOMENT, BUT NOW I FINALLY DO HAVE THE RED LINE UP.
LET ME JUST SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT I DIDN'T TOUCH ON.
UH, THERE WAS A SECTION ABOUT, UH, FOLKS WHO ARE PARTS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND THEIR AUTHORITY TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF A BOARD AND COMMISSION.
AND THE WAY THAT BYLAWS USED TO READ IT WAS A LITTLE BIT UNCLEAR.
AND SO WE ADDED LANGUAGE THAT ECHOES VERBATIM WHAT IS IN CITY CODE, BECAUSE WE FELT THAT THAT WAS CLEARER.
WE ALSO ADDED, UM, A, UH, SOMETHING THAT'S FROM CITY CODE, A CHANGE THAT WAS ALREADY MADE IN CITY CODE.
SO THE BYLAWS WILL NOW MORE ACCURATELY REFLECT CITY CODE THAT, UH, ALLOWS SOMEONE VIRTUALLY, SORRY, VIRTUALLY PARTICIPATING BY VIDEO CONFERENCE, A COMMISSION MEMBER TO SEND AN EMAIL TO STATE WHETHER THEY HAVE ANY CONFLICTS, RATHER THAN HAVING TO IN PERSON SIGN AN ATTENDANCE SHEET.
THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS CHANGED IN CITY CODE A WHILE AGO, AND THE BYLAWS JUST NEVER CAUGHT UP WITH THAT CHANGE.
AND LET'S SEE, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE, UH, ABOUT THE POSTING OF THE AGENDA? AS I MENTIONED, THE LAW CHANGED, USED TO BE 72 HOURS MINIMUM AMOUNT THAT A NOTICE HAD TO BE POSTED BEFORE A BUS, BEFORE A MEETING OF COUNCIL, OR ANY BORDER COMMISSION SUBJECT TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
AND THAT CHANGED THE FOURTH BUSINESS DAY.
AND SO THERE WERE SOME KIND OF PROCEDURAL THINGS THE CLERK'S OFFICE NEEDED TO PUT IN PLACE IN THE BYLAWS TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT WAS POSSIBLE.
AND TO ADD THAT REQUIREMENT IN THERE.
WE ALSO ADDED A CLARIFICATION TO, UH, SOME VERBIAGE IN THE STANDARD BYLAWS TEMPLATE THAT WAS CONFUSING AS FAR AS HOW SPEAKING TIMES APPLIED TO, UH, FOLKS WHO WERE SPEAKING DURING PUBLIC COMM COMMUNICATION WHERE THEY CAN SPEAK ON NON AGENDA ITEMS VERSUS FOLKS WHO ARE SIGNING UP TO SPEAK ON A SPECIFIC AGENDA ITEM.
'CAUSE THEY'RE TREATED SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY.
COUNCIL PROCEDURES HAVE CHANGED THROUGH AN ORDINANCE THAT WAS ADOPTED LAST YEAR.
AND SO WE UPDATED THE BYLAWS TO REFLECT THAT CHANGE AS WELL.
SO AGAIN, MOST OF THESE ARE NOT REALLY SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES.
THEY'RE JUST REFLECTING CHANGES IN, UH, IN CITY CODE OR IN STATE LAW.
AND THEN AT LAST, BUT NOT LEAST AS I MENTIONED, UM, THERE'S, UH, IN THE PART, IN THE PART ARTICLE EIGHT OF THE BYLAWS, UH, THE FIRST SECTION NOW WE'LL TALK ABOUT, UH, THAT A COMMITTEE MAY BE ESTABLISHED OR MUST BE ESTABLISHED BY AN AFFIRMATIVE VOTE VOTE OF THE BOARD.
A COMMITTEE CANNOT MEET UNTIL ITS CREATIONS APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, ET CETERA.
THAT LANGUAGE IS ALREADY IN THERE.
BUT THERE WAS SOME OTHER LANGUAGE THAT PRECEDED IT THAT MADE IT JUST CONFUSING.
'CAUSE IT WOULD SAY, WE HAVE NO COMMITTEES.
AND THEN IT WOULD COME TO THIS THING TO PART A SAYING OR PART B IN THAT CASE SAYING, UM, IF YOU HAVE A COMMITTEE, IT HAS TO BE APPROVED BY THIS AND THAT AND THE OTHER.
AND IT JUST WAS CONFUSINGLY WRITTEN.
SO WE JUST TRIED TO MAKE A WAY TO MAKE IT SO THAT THIS IS THE, THIS IS THE WAY YOU ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE, AND IF YOU WANNA ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE, THEN YOU DO IT THIS WAY.
AND IF NOT, THEN YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT, UH, VERY LAST SECTION, SECTION H OF ARTICLE EIGHT
[00:15:01]
THAT BASICALLY SAYS WE DON'T HAVE ANY COMMITTEES.SO THE FIRST PART SAYS, THIS IS HOW YOU ESTABLISH A COMMITTEE IF YOU WANT ONE, THIS IS THE COMMITTEE RULES IF YOU WANT ONE.
BUT YOU COULD THEN SAY, WE HAVE THESE COMMITTEES, OR WE HAVE NO COMMITTEES CURRENTLY.
SO IT WAS JUST TO TRY TO TRY TO MAKE A CHANGE TO CLARIFY THE PROCEDURES AND THEN WHAT COMMITTEES ACTUALLY EXIST, OR IF ANY, IF, IF ANY, EXIST AT THAT POINT IN TIME.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS UNDERSTANDABLE,
BUT, UH, UH, PLEASE, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.
AND I REALIZED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING EARTH SHAKING IN THE CHANGES, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE COMMISSION FELT COMFORTABLE ABOUT WHAT THEY, WHAT THE CHANGES, UH, MIGHT BE.
UM, NOW I'M, UM, I, SO THE CITY MAKES THE DETERMINATION ON THE BYLAWS, BUT AS A FORMALITY, WE NEED TO APPROVE THEM, CORRECT? NO, YOU DON'T.
BUT WE DON'T, THAT'S ORDINANCE THAT WAS PASSED BY CITY COUNCIL.
UH, YOU THAT WE BASICALLY BYPASS THAT APPROVAL PROCESS.
SO ALL OF THE CHANGES TO THE, THE EVERY BOARD AND COMMISSION'S BYLAWS, THE ONES THAT ARE SUBJECT, THE BOARD AND COMMISSIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHAPTER TWO ONE.
THESE CHANGES ARE AUTOMATICALLY GOING INTO EFFECT.
IF YOU ALL WANNA MAKE ANY ADDITIONAL CHANGES, THEN YOU WOULD HAVE TO VOTE ON THOSE AS A COMMISSION AND THEY WOULD PROCEED TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE FOR APPROVAL.
DO ANY COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? OKAY.
SINCE WE DON'T NEED APPROVAL, THEN WE'LL JUST, WE'LL MOVE ON.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. WEBSTER.
UH, THAT CONCLUDES THE ITEMS ON THE AGENDA.
DOES ANYONE WISH TO SUGGEST ANYTHING FOR NEXT MONTH'S MEETING? DO I HEAR ANY OBJECTIONS TO MY SAYING? IT'S TIME TO ADJOURN WITHOUT OBJECTION.