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8 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS, TEXAS, JULY ll, 1974 Present Mayor Emmie Craddock I Councilmen Ted Breihan William L. Cunningham Bill Dibrell Luciano H. Flores John Hansen Kenneth E. Sutton City Manager City Attorney City Secretary James B. Baugh Tom Akins Doriss Hambrick Also Present: Louis Hiebert; John A. Hudson; Ira Kennedy; Juan Palomo; Janey Joyce; Norma San Miguel; Mike Wallace; Col. James Hill; Joel Cliet; and others. The Mayor called the meeting to order at 4:00 p,m, Mayor Craddock introduced two resolutions and read each in its entirety, The captions are as follows: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS, TEXAS, AUTHORIZING THE CITY ATTORNEY TO RETAIN SPECIAL LEGAL COUNSEL IN THE MATTER OF DISMISSED FIREMEN, I A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS, TEXAS, EMPLOYING THE SERVICES OF (to be determined by Council members) TO REPRESENT THE CITY IN THE MATTER OF DISMISSED FIREMEN, Mr, Dibrell moved approval of the first resolution authorizing the City Attorney to retain special legal council. Mr. Hansen seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. John A, Hudson came before the Council with a letter from David R. Richards, attorney representing the dismissed firemen, renewing an earlier request for immediate reinstatement of the men pending the investigation by the Council. The letter also stated: "We would appreciate favorable consideration of this request in your discussions today. Failing a favorable response we will assume that the request is rejected and seek appropriate legal redress." Councilman Sutton read a prepared statement addressed to the dismissed firemen asking, hypothetically, if, had the City Manager offered reinstatement on the condition that the proper chain of command be observed, they would have agreed to return to work. Councilman Dibrell raised a question of personal privilege regarding the propriety of such a statement, Mayor Craddock ruled the statement was in order under item number four on the agenda, "Matters to be brought before Council by Members regarding the pending investigation of the dismissal of thirteen members of the San Marcos Fire Department". I Mr. Dibrell asked if the letter from Mr. Richards meant that legal action would be taken if the dismissed men were not reinstated prior to the pending investigation of their dismissal by the City Council, Mr, Louis Hiebert, State Fire Fighter's Association, advised the Council that anYimmediate favor- able response was requested to forestall legal action. Mr. Dibrell moved the investigation be held in abeyance until such time as comtemp~ated court action is taken. Mr. Sutton seconded the motion. Mr. Cunningham pointed out that an ultimate resolution of the matter was not being requested, merely a temporary reinstatement of the dismissed firemen pending the outcome of the Council investigation, Mr. City Attorney recommended the Council consider postponing the investigation to allow counsel for the firemen and the City an opportunity to correlate their working schedules. Mr. Dibrell, with consent of the seconder, amended his motion to state "hold the investigation in abeyance until such time as special counsel for the dismissed firemen and the City Council can correlate working schedules". Mr. Cunningham asked if the motion meant the investigation would be called off if legal action were taken by the dismissed