Council searches for new attorney

KYLE — During its March 21 meeting, Kyle City Council voted 4-3 to direct staff to start the process of hiring a project-based attorney to assist with the new city manager contract.

Council member Yvonne Flores-Cale proposed the agenda item, saying she received negative feedback regarding the situation with the former city manager, Scott Sellers, who resigned amid allegations of sexual harassment. He was paid $179,480.37 in severance, as well as up to 480 hours of accrued, unused sick and vacation leave due to his special separation benefit.

In July 2022, Sellers was on sabbatical when council voted to place him on paid administration leave while an investigation was being carried out regarding a sexual harassment claim from a city employee.

After both an internal and external investigation, the city found “no unlawful harassment or discrimination;” however, on Sept. 6, Sellers resigned.

“So, to protect ourselves moving forward, we want to make sure that we have a solid agreement that is fair to both sides,” said Flores-Cale.

The attorney would be project-based and only consult on the new contract that would be developed once a new city manager is hired. The city currently utilizes Knight Law Firm for candidate referrals and the creation of the city manager contracts, but it is the council’s role to decide what terms are desired.

“I personally don’t think that we will get better services by hiring someone new than with the Knight Law Firm on this case,” said Mayor Travis Mitchell. “I think the Knight Law Firm has a very long history of negotiating city manager contracts throughout multiple cities and is extremely well-versed on the various skills that a city manager [should hold] and maneuvers that a city manager may come to the city with.”

To hire a new attorney, the city is required to create a request for qualifications (RFQ) and allow law firms to apply to be considered. Flores-Cale made it clear that her intention was not to sever ties with Knight Law Firm, but only that the council should be given the opportunity to review other attorneys.

“I think, as a city, we’re growing to the extent where we need to expand ourselves and we need to be able to include a new set of eyes,” Flores-Cale said. “This is a big deal for us moving forward to get a city manager, so I want to make sure we feel confident … We are going to educate ourselves enough to know that we feel comfortable and that we have the best information going forward to know that this is the person we want to use to make the agreement.”

Council member Michael Tobias agreed with Flores-Cale’s sentiment, stating that he believes it would benefit the city to have a “modern and current contract” that would protect both the city and the new city manager while also allowing the council to write in yearly reviews in order to set goals with the new employee in the agreement.

City Attorney Paige Saenz provided her insight to the situation, citing that a viable option would be to create a subcommittee to determine and agree on what terms are important for the council. She also mentioned that there are many options of contracts available and that the city should consider its experiences with prior contracts used in regard to the city manager.

“In my experience, the best outcome for the parties is when there is a subcommittee who’s tied into what terms are important to the city and there is real clear communication on what those terms should be and then that results in a good contract for everybody,” said Saenz. “Then, you have time to also engage staff because there are terms of the contract that require an understanding of what the benefits are and what would work with the current benefit structure because staff will have questions about how you implement that.”

Ultimately, Flores-Cale motioned to direct staff to create a RFQ for an attorney to assist with the new city manager contract. The motion was seconded by Tobias and was approved 4-3, with Ashlee Bradshaw, Miguel Zuniga and Mitchell dissenting. The RFQ will be active for approximately 30 days.