Houston City Councilman David Robinson said he returned $7,500 in campaign contributions from the city's firefighter union because of ethical concerns.

Robinson was one of two council members who said they received text messages from Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association President Marty Lancton asking them to return campaign contributions from the union’s political action committee. They said they received those texts after city council last month voted to send 60-day layoff notices to 220 firefighters to help offset the costs of implementing Proposition B, the voter-approved charter amendment that requires the city to pay firefighters the same salaries as police of corresponding rank and seniority. Robinson and Councilmember Martha Castex-Tatum, who said she also was asked to return her donation, voted for the layoff notices.

In an April 29 letter to Lancton, Robinson wrote that he believes it is "improper" to keep the donations he has received from the HPFFA’s political action committee since 2016 if they were intended to sway his votes on issues related to Prop B. The letter said a check for $7,500 was enclosed.

"I also did not realize, until I read your text, that you expected a certain vote or outcome in exchange for those donations," Robinson wrote. "I find it highly inappropriate for your organization to expect that I would take specific actions on your behalf in return for contributions."

The requests, he said, “are in contradiction with the City’s ethical standards, and are certainly not how I conduct my campaign and my business as a City Council member.”

City Attorney Ron Lewis, who also received a copy of Robinson’s letter, declined comment Monday.

Robinson last week shared texts with the Chronicle that he said were sent by Lancton just after the 10-6 council vote approving the layoff notices, and days after some friends of Robinson died in a plane crash in Kerrville.

‘We will pray for you," the text reads. "We will also never forget. We also think it’s highly appropriate that you return the (union’s) contributions made to you. If you need the address please let me know."

Asked about the texts, Lancton said last week that Robinson first offered to return the contributions, which Robinson denied.

Lancton responded forcefully to Robinson’s letter Monday.

“David Robinson has proved to be a clueless clown as a council member,” he said in a statement. “Houston firefighters now regret hoping he would be a good public safety steward. His baseless assumptions in his letter are about (sic) like his work on city council: poor. But the mayor can count on his blind allegiance.”

Castex-Tatum also said she received a request from Lancton, though Lancton provided a screenshot of a text message in which he wrote that the union "will accept your offer to give back any contributions by the FFs."

Castex-Tatum’s office did not respond to a Monday request for comment on whether she is planning to return the donations.

Though the requests to return political contributions are not illegal, they could backfire on the fire union, Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said.

For the most part, Jones said, the union rarely has acted in ways that could turn public opinion against them. The requests, he said, could make people view the union is “corrupt” and “petty,” while elected officials such as Robinson appear above the influence of outside interests.

“This time they overstepped, and they’re the ones looking bad, not the elected officials,” he said. “If anything, it makes elected officials look good.”

Some council members echoed Jones’ concerns and, like Robinson, said the requests indicate the firefighters union sought to influence elected officials with influxes of campaign cash.

The city was at the time still was in mediation with the HPFFA over the implementation of Prop B, and some council members said they feared the requests could worsen the two sides' already fraught relationship.

At the center of the mediation was the time frame for implementing the firefighter raises. Mayor Sylvester Turner maintained that a five-year phase-in of the raises would prevent any layoffs; the union had said it would allow its members to vote on a three-and-a-half-year implementation if the city promised no firefighters would lose their jobs.

The talks ended in an impasse, Turner said on Friday, meaning the city will move forward with its plans to lay off hundreds of firefighters and municipal employees to finance Prop B's estimated $80 million annual cost.

Meanwhile, the city, already facing a $117 million deficit even without the costs of Prop B, must pass a balanced budget by June 30. Should the fire union and the city strike a deal before that, the layoffs can be rescinded.

Turner is expected to unveil the fiscal 2020 budget on Tuesday morning.

robert.downen@chron.com