Sachse City Council held a workshop meeting to discuss the code of ethics among city councilmembers ahead of the March 15 regular meeting.

The discussion came about after comments by Sachse res­idents Scott McMurdie during the citizen input appearance during the March 1 regular meeting from Sachse resident Scott McMurdie after a situa­tion between Community Emer­gency Response Team (CERT) and Councilmember Chance Lindsey.

According to McMurdie, CERT assisted Sachse Fire-Res­cue in responding to a structure fire. After the fire, one member wrote a letter to other CERT members asking about the pro­cess and effectiveness of CERT as it related to the fire and ques­tioned whether or not standard procedures were followed.

Lindsey sent an immediate response to the member who wrote the original letter, seem­ingly on behalf of CERT lead­ership. According to McMurdie, Lindsay then sent a second letter on behalf of the Sachse Citizen Corps, of which he is president.

McMurdie asked council to review the policy about coun­cilmembers sitting on other boards, saying it creates ethical challenges and liability on the city. He said there is a conflict of interest when a councilmem­ber sends letters as CERT lead­ership or a board president to private citizens.

McMurdie urged council to reconsider which boards coun­cilmembers may serve concur­rently and what boards a sitting councilmember’s spouse may serve as well.

Mayor Mike Felix said there are chain of command issues when a councilmember is on a board that a Sachse department head reports to, such as CERT.

Councilmember Cullen King said he has heard from several residents who have expressed a perception concern.

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By Dustin Butler • [email protected]