Lago Vista council members vote to censure mayor

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- During a special meeting Monday night, Lago Vista City Council members voted 4-2 to publicly censure Mayor Kevin Sullivan following a complaint that was filed against him last month.

Earlier this month, the council set the hearing for Monday to discuss and decide if Sullivan should be dismissed.

The vote stemmed from a complaint that said Sullivan failed to carry out his duties because he did not sign off on a resolution dealing with Federal Aviation Administration funding for the Rusty Allen Airport.

James Peck, the current President of the Rusty Allen Airport Property Owners Association, Inc. (RAAPOA), filed the complaint back in April.

"It's a lack of leadership to not go along with what council has approved when the charter explains that you should," Peck said.

While the vote represents the council's disapproval of the mayor, the city attorney said the language of the censure is still being worked on. Council members presented a couple options Monday night of what it could say; one of them including language that Sullivan acknowledges he broke away from the city's charter and in the future will sign all resolutions the council passes.

Sullivan brought a prepared statement to the meeting, beginning by admitting he violated the charter.

"In the hopes of saving time, I'm going to admit, I violated the charter," he said. "That's a serious problem, and I want to use the balance of my time to why I did it... and why I believe no punishment is necessary tonight."

Sullivan also provided background on the resolution, noting that resolutions are typically written by city staff, but the resolution in question was written by "airport POA people." He also said that he provided a lot of input and concern when the resolution was first introduced April 4, saying he believed there significant errors and inaccuracies.

"Not a single question was asked about my concerns, and we didn't walk through the document line by line," Sullivan said. "Instead a motion was offered to limit debate and end discussion on the item entirely."

The final version of the censure will be read and approved at the next city council meeting. It's unclear at this time if the council is taking action to remove Sullivan from his position.