Commission chair accuses member of ‘pattern of bullying’

The chair of the Community Development Commission is pushing the city to conduct an investigation into the behavior of another commission member that led a presenter at a December meeting to say she felt threatened and intimidated and request a city security escort as she left city property.

The dispute, principally between Chair Amit Motwani and Commissioner Bertha Rendon-Delgado, centers on the city’s move to convert the idle Nash Hernandez building in East Austin into a senior activity center, despite Rendon-Delgado’s argument that neighbors and community groups have not been properly involved in the effort.

The altercation took place after the Dec. 15 special called meeting, at which the commission voted to support the Nash Hernandez project following discussion led by Jacqueline Angel, a professor at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs who has helped lead the senior center campaign.

Rendon-Delgado left the meeting after the vote, which broke quorum and brought it to an early end. Shortly thereafter, city staff told Motwani that Angel returned to the building to say she’d been yelled at and threatened by Rendon-Delgado, so Motwani, a staffer and a city security guard escorted Angel to her vehicle at a nearby parking garage.

“A staff member came back to tell me that our guest speaker had returned to the room because she felt threatened,” Motwani said. “The staff member suggested to me that we get a security escort and another staff member also told me she had spoken with the guest speaker, and that the guest speaker was visibly shaken.”

“(Angel) didn’t feel safe because ostensibly the other commissioner was still in the vicinity. When I went out we were met with laughter and comments from that commissioner and her guest.”

Rendon-Delgado denied speaking to Angel after leaving the December meeting. She said she plans to seek the advice of an attorney over whether to pursue legal action over the statements made about her.

“I’m a little surprised after serving on this board for a good amount of time and feel that if my colleagues had for any reason ever felt threatened by me or disagreed with my character or behavior or even had questions to ask me … I have an open door policy and I’m very transparent and available for people to call or email me to sit down and meet. I’m a little surprised at how our chair has addressed this issue. For someone like our chair and colleagues to slander me that way is defamation of character,” she said.

Motwani said the city has not taken any significant action following his report of the incident by email, noting, “Though I am embarrassed – and most importantly concerned about what appears to be a pattern of bullying directed from a commissioner to a university professor – I cannot ascertain all details related to this incident and therefore request follow-up through the appropriate channels.”

Motwani chose not to attend Tuesday’s CDC meeting as chair so he could appear instead as a member of the public and address the commission during public comment about the Dec. 15 incident. Rendon-Delgado was not present at the Tuesday meeting.

Motwani and Rendon-Delgado have frequently been at odds during discussions regarding the Nash Hernandez issue and other CDC matters. The situation had become so persistent that the December meeting included an agenda item regarding rules of order and proper behavior by commissioners.

Motwani said he hasn’t received satisfactory response from city staff beyond notification from the city clerk’s office that the commission can take a vote to remove Rendon-Delgado for improper conduct. In a Jan. 4 email to city staff, he asked human resources to investigate and document the Dec. 15 incident and for “risk management” steps to be taken to address possible safety concerns during board and commission meetings.

Motwani said he is not focused on a vote to remove Rendon-Delgado from the commission. Instead, he wants the city to appraise what can be done to improve safety during public meetings.

“What makes this livable is that the administration at the city … demonstrate that they’re taking this item seriously,” he said. “It is the duty of those organizational stewards to provide a venue and forum where we can feel safe and secure, especially those who are coming to speak and present and share.”

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