City of Bellville, TX GENERAL PROVISIONS

(a)

It is the desire and goal of the city to provide positive access of its citizens to all aspects of city government and to insure that communication between the employees of the city and its citizens is open, respectful and even-handed. It is the further goal of the city to insure that any person who feel that the dealings that he or she may have had with the city have failed to achieve the stated goals has an adequate means of insuring that superiors and/or elected officials review the conduct of its employees. Towards that end, the city establishes this procedure for handling citizens complaints and a citizens review board.

(b)

Any citizen who has a complaint about the manner or method employed by an employee who is not a supervisor shall have the right to address the matter with the employee’s immediate supervisor. The contact with the supervisor shall be by appointment, which must be made through the city administrator or his designee. The appointment shall be made as soon as is practical under the circumstances. The supervisor shall review the complaint and shall take the steps he or she thinks are reasonable or necessary to resolve the dispute. In the event the resolution requires the discipline of any employee or the expenditure of any public funds, the supervisor shall make a written report to the city administrator, who shall then review and, if appropriate, approve the action of the supervisor. The city administrator shall have the right to modify the action of the supervisor for good cause.

(c)

Any citizen who has a complaint about the manner or method employed by a supervisor shall have the right to address the matter with the city administrator. The complaining citizen shall reduce the complaint to writing, which shall contain at a minimum the name, address and work and home telephone number of the person complaining, the name of the supervisor, the date, time and place of the event in question, a brief description of the circumstances that give rise to the complaint and the name, address and telephone number of any person who may have witnessed or could verify the event. The complainant shall deliver the complaint in a sealed envelope addressed to the city administrator at the city hall. As soon as practical after the receipt of the complaint, including discussing the event in question with the supervisor and citizen, [the city administrator shall] take appropriate action to rectify any existing problem. The complaining citizen shall be notified of the findings and the corrective action, if any is deemed necessary, in writing. In the event the resolution of the problem involves the discipline of the supervisor or the expenditure of public funds in excess of $250.00, the city administrator shall place the item on the agenda of the next regular city council meeting. The city council shall approve or disapprove of the action of the city administrator at the next regular meeting.

(d)

(1)

In the event that a citizen has a complaint about the manner or method employed by the city administrator or a decision made by the city administrator pursuant to the subsections above, that citizen shall have the right to address the matter with the mayor of the city. The contact with the mayor shall be by appointment, which must be made through the city administrator or his designee. The appointment shall be made as soon as is practical under the circumstances. The mayor shall review the complaint filed with the city administrator and any report or finding made by the city administrator and supervisor.

(2)

The mayor shall first determine if any factual disagreement remains and if any further review or investigation would be necessary or helpful towards the resolution of the disputed facts. In the event he determines that all pertinent facts have been established, the mayor shall cause the item to be placed on the agenda of the next regular meeting of the city council for consideration. In the event that the mayor shall determine that a factual dispute exists and that further investigation is necessary or helpful, at the next regularly scheduled meeting of council, the mayor shall appoint a review committee of three disinterested citizens to assist the council. The review committee is not authorized to act until the appointment is approved by the city council.

(3)

Within thirty days of their appointment, the three citizens appointed shall convene at the city hall at a time mutually convenient, to hear the complaint of the citizen and the response of the employee, supervisor and administrator and to receive any other information from knowledgeable persons as they deem appropriate. Within thirty days after their meeting, the committee shall reduce their findings and recommendations, if any, in writing, to the mayor, who shall present the findings to the city council at the next regular meeting. The findings and recommendations of the citizen review panel shall be advisory only, and the ultimate decision as to the resolution of any dispute shall rest with the city council.

(e)

Any councilmember has the authority to receive a complaint from any citizen and shall, upon receipt of any complaint, refer the complaining party to the person designated by this section as the appropriate party to review the complaint. Any councilmember receiving a complaint shall report that complaint to the city administrator no later than the next working day and to the council at its next regular meeting. No individual councilmember shall have the authority to conduct an independent investigation of the complaint. Receipt of a complaint shall not disqualify the councilmember from voting on the issue if the same should come before the council under the procedure established by this section.

(f)

Any report, finding or resolution of a dispute involving an employee shall be made a part of the employee’s permanent personnel file.

(g)

This section is not intended to and shall not vest any citizen or employee with any property right that does not otherwise exist under the laws of the United States or the state. Nor shall this complaint procedure abridge or enlarge the rights guaranteed to any person under the constitution or laws of the United States or the state.

(1994 Code, art. 8.1000)