New ruling clears the way for public comment at City Council work sessions

Thursday morning, Mayor Kirk Watson kicked off a planned budget work session in an unusual way. 

“Late yesterday, we received a copy of a court order related to one of the lawsuits and, as a result of that, we are going to allow for public comment this morning,” he said. 

The announcement came hours after a Travis County court ruled in favor of the Save Our Springs Alliance in its suit against the city over open meetings act violations, this time addressing the issue of public comment during work sessions.

Work sessions, which were expanded in scope during former Mayor Steve Adler’s tenure as a way to make regular meetings more efficient, are held on Tuesdays prior to Thursday City Council meetings. During work session, Council hears briefings from staff and discusses – but does not vote on – items on the upcoming agenda. Up until now, there has been no opportunity for the public to comment at work sessions. 

In April, the Save Our Springs Alliance filed suit over City Council’s procedures for allowing the public to speak. SOS won that suit but later sought further clarification on the work session and public speaking rules that were codified by Council.

Wednesday’s ruling by Judge Daniella Deseta Lyttle says that the city must remove a part of the recently passed ordinance that adopted rules and procedures for City Council. The section of the code that must be removed in the next week reads, “These procedures are directory only, and a violation of any of the provisions of this ordinance does not affect the validity or legality of any council action otherwise properly adopted.” 

According to the ruling, that section of the ordinance “does not provide any legal consequence for any noncompliance or conflicts with the City Charter or state law” and essentially served as a loophole that said “it’s an ordinance, but it’s not really enforceable, and we don’t have to follow it,” as SOS Executive Director Bill Bunch put it while speaking to the Austin Monitor.

On the larger issue of public comment at work sessions, Lyttle found that the lack of public participation does not violate the Texas Open Meetings act “so long as the City Council does not engage in any deliberations at any work session meetings” or hold them in a way that meets the definition of “meetings” under state law. This means that Council may not be required to allow the public to speak on briefings, but they do have to let people weigh in when they discuss items that they plan to vote on in the future.

“If they are just doing briefings, that’s fine. But if they cross the line to deliberations, then they have to let people speak at work sessions as well,” Bunch said. “The public gets to have input early enough that it can make a difference. If they are all figuring out what they are going to do on Tuesday, and the Thursday vote just kind of becomes pro forma …  just letting people speak on Thursday is too late. Minds are already made up.”

“It’s unfortunate that we, or somebody else, has to sue them to follow the open meetings law and to let people be heard on public business,” he continued. “Anyway, it’s done for now.”

A city spokesperson responded to a request for comment on the ruling to the Monitor, saying, “We appreciate the guidance provided by the Court. The City believes it was in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Act and strives to remain in compliance.”

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