Editor's note: This story initially stated Bill Aleshire did not attend the June 17 Bee Cave special City Council meeting. Aleshire in fact attended through Zoom.

The attorney for former Bee Cave City Council Member Bill Goodwin is seeking what he described as either a reversal of the decision to remove him from office or a new opportunity to respond to allegations made against him.

In a June 22 letter addressed to Bee Cave City Council, City Manager Clint Garza and Megan Santee, the city's legal counsel, Goodwin's attorney Bill Aleshire said Goodwin did not receive the benefit of due process and cited a recent investigation summary.

Formal allegations and evidence of misconduct were made public June 9 via a memo from attorney Martha Dickie, who council hired to conduct an investigation into whether Goodwin violated the Bee Cave Charter. That document cited several examples of misconduct from Goodwin and resulted in a unanimous vote from council June 17 to remove Goodwin from office.

Aleshire in his letter characterized Dickie's investigation as inadequate for several reasons.


"I direct you to my letter of June 15 in which I pointed out the deficiencies in the notice (the June 9 Dickie Memo) which did not list dates, witness names, or acts alleged to have violated the Charter," Aleshire's letter states. "Without adequate notice, CM Goodwin was not afforded a hearing in accordance with due process standards, e.g., to be confronted by witnesses and evidence against him, be provided an opportunity to cross-examine those witnesses, call witnesses, etc."

Dickie's report states she reviewed emails to and from Goodwin between Jan. 1, 2018, and May 2020 as well as the audio recording of Bee Cave's March 28, 2020, City Council meeting, during which Goodwin seemed to state that he violated the charter through an email he sent to Garza on March 21.

That email insisted that council members and staff attend a March 24 City Council meeting in person, which was seen by many who read it as a dangerous request amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic. That alleged impropriety by Goodwin was a major focus of Dickie's report.

"I would like all members of staff that have business on the agenda to be in physical attendance, and urge you to tell them that I expect that of them," Goodwin's email stated. "Feel free to remind them that they are under your supervision and that I have no authority to require anything of them, that I am cognizant of that and nonetheless want them there."


Aleshire said in his letter that Dickie misrepresented the entire picture of Goodwin's email, which he said never gave "orders" to staff. It also showed that Goodwin sought a legal opinion, and the first email was followed by an email later that day that allowed for all who desired to attend the council meeting through teleconference, Aleshire said.

"As a result of the wholly deficient and unconstitutional process by which the Council purported to remove CM Goodwin from his newly elected position, CM Goodwin asserts that the Council’s action is void," Aleshire's letter states. "CM Goodwin asserts that he continues to hold the office of Council Member of the City of Bee Cave."

Bee Cave City Manager Clint Garza said he will consult legal counsel with regard to Aleshire's letter, but there is no requirement in the city's home rule charter requiring officials to reverse their unanimous June 17 decision to remove Goodwin from office.

Out of protest, Goodwin did not attend the June 17 meeting, at which he was given an opportunity to respond to Dickie's report. Aleshire attended through the digital platform Zoom.


Citing what he called “an unconstitutional, ridiculous interpretation of the [Bee Cave city] charter,” Aleshire sent a letter to council dated June 15 that called for council to reject the interpretation of the charter that if a newly elected member of council ever violated the charter at any point, no matter how long ago, that member would forfeit the office to which he or she was just elected.

Despite Goodwin's lack of attendance, council's unanimous vote to remove him from office during the June 17 meeting also saw several council members stating on the record that it was a tough decision, but Goodwin's intent, especially with regard to the aforementioned email, was clear.

"It's up to council if they want to reopen the matter," Garza said June 22, invoking section 3.03D of the Bee Cave city charter.

That section, Garza said, is permissive with regard to City Council instigating an investigation into a member of its own body and then prescriptive as to how council members must proceed once an investigation is commenced.


"If an investigation is commenced, the City Council must provide notice to the officeholder alleged to have forfeited the office and provide the officeholder with an opportunity to respond," the charter states.

Without providing more specificity, Aleshire said June 22 that he would wait for "a little bit" for the city to respond to his letter, and if there is no response, he said, he intends to file a lawsuit with the Travis County District Court.

"There may not be an obligation to do anything," Aleshire said of Bee Cave City Council's response to his letter. "They ignored our request before, and they can do it again. But they cannot ignore the courts. If they continue to deny due process for Bill Goodwin, they're going to get sued. This is a preliminary step to get them to come to their senses."

This story is ongoing, and Community Impact Newspaper will continue to update it as events warrant.