Several Bee Cave residents have mobilized in support of Bee Cave City Council Member Bill Goodwin, who has recently been the subject of an investigation alleging he committed several acts that violate the city’s home rule charter.
Goodwin has served on City Council since 2005, and the group’s petition, drafted June 14, surpassed 150 signatures in 24 hours. Those signing the document state they oppose the findings of the investigation that council made public June 9.
Tom Gouris, a 25-year Bee Cave resident, said he was not only disappointed by the investigation’s conclusion, but also by the fact the report was conducted using taxpayer dollars. These actions led Gouris to spearhead the petition titled “Bee Cave for Bill Goodwin.”
The petition reads, “We, the signatories on this petition, are qualified voters in the City of Bee Cave and do hereby express our support of keeping Bill Goodwin on the City Council.”
Gouris said he was struck by how unimpressed he was with the scope of the report and how quickly the investigation was conducted.
“It made me very frustrated and very disappointed in our council to spend taxpayer dollars on that investigation,” Gouris said, adding he realized after speaking with city residents that many others shared his viewpoint.
Council members May 18 initiated and commissioned the investigation into Goodwin through Martha Dickie of the law firm Almanza, Blackburn, Dickie & Mitchell LLP. The findings assert Goodwin violated the city’s charter by “impermissibly giving orders to subordinates, and impermissibly pressuring subordinates of the city manager to communicate information to Goodwin before that information was made known to the city manager."
As part of the investigation, Dickie examined emails to and from Goodwin between Jan. 1, 2018, and May 2020. The report also included interviews with nine individuals, including Mayor Kara King, Council Member Andrea Willott, City Manager Clint Garza and police Chief Gary Miller.
"It is apparent that Goodwin has regularly involved himself in many of the minute details of the administration of the business of the City," the report states. "This pattern of conduct from Goodwin may well be a leftover from the days before the City became a Home Rule City by adopting the Charter in 2013. However, the Charter makes clear that the administrative tasks in which Goodwin has involved himself are to be carried out by the City Manager only. Moreover, the Charter specifically and explicitly prohibits Goodwin from involving himself in these administrative tasks."
Volunteers have been collecting signatures at the entrance of Bee Cave’s Homestead neighborhood south of Hwy. 71. However, Gouris said support for Goodwin spans throughout the city, and residents want their voices to be heard.
“I’ve been amazed at how quickly—in a little over a day—we’ve done over 150 signatures and calls and emails,” Gouris said. “[There are] people wanting to help support.”
Beyond the show of support from city residents, Goodwin has also enlisted counsel from attorney Bill Aleshire, who sent a letter to City Council members June 15 claiming Goodwin’s due process rights have not been met and Dickie’s report does not satisfactorily prove wrongdoing.
Among the litany of other assertions in the letter, Aleshire also stated Goodwin cannot be investigated for actions alleged to have been committed during a previous term of office.
Aleshire said of a planned June 17 meeting set to allow Goodwin to respond to the investigation’s allegations that neither he nor Goodwin will be attending.
"Cancelling the meeting and dropping this matter altogether would be in the best interest of the citizens of the City of Bee Cave,” the letter states. “In light of the situation, it is not my intent or CM Goodwin’s intent to attend the meeting on June 17.”
Bee Cave City Manager Clint Garza declined to comment regarding what is legally required for the petition to invoke any kind of action from City Council.
Brian Rash contributed to this report.
