After a council vote out of the May 24 meeting, volunteers who serve on Liberty Hill boards, committees and commissions are now required to sign a nondisclosure agreement when they are appointed.

Long story short

Liberty Hill’s ethics ordinance requires city volunteers—board, committee, commission and task force—not to release any confidential information, which is outlined on an acknowledgement document they must sign.

For example:

• The Liberty Hill Economic Development Corporation often convenes into executive session, where projects involving real property are discussed, according to meeting documents.
• Public Works commission members may be given access to confidential information such as Capital Improvement Project bids.

Council determined that the additional step of including an NDA in the ethics code is necessary, and approved the requirement for volunteers to sign one.

What they’re saying

“I believe that this a good business practice for us to undertake, especially as we’re trying to follow our ethics code, this falls in line with it,” City Manager Paul Brandenburg said at the meeting. “We have more and more projects coming forth. ... We just need to make sure that everybody understands the parameters of what they’re able to discuss and not discuss.”

City Attorney Nella Joseph said after a volunteer’s term has ended, they will still be required to uphold the guidelines outlined in the NDA, particularly when a project is still ongoing. If information was made public or a project was approved by council, the NDA does not still apply.

“This makes me feel a lot better,” Council Member Amanda Young said.