The public will have a chance to weigh in on possible changes to the city’s ethics ordinance as part of a plan to overhaul the document after one Bastrop council member filed complaints against two others last year.

In October, Council Member Kay McAnally filed ethics complaints against members Deborah Jones and Gary Schiff alleging they had disclosed privileged and confidential information received during an executive session to a couple that was being sued by the city over a building dispute, Rhonda and Scottie Vandiver.

Both complaints were eventually dismissed as the city’s ethics ordinance doesn’t prohibit divulging information received during executive session.

It was the first time the commission, which was formed in 2012, had heard a formal complaint.

The ordeal highlighted issues with the city’s ethics ordinance, most notably how to handle confidential information discussed in executive session. There is no state law that prohibits officials from disclosing the contents of those private meetings, though several officials and residents at City Hall have said openly that doing so puts the city as risk, especially when discussing pending legal matters.

In light of the controversy, the ethics commission held a workshop on May 1, where it crafted several changes to the ethics ordinance. It presented the proposed changes to the City Council on Tuesday, and now, residents will have a chance to submit their own feedback on June 13 before the final changes are approved.

Proposed changes to the ordinance include the following provisions:

• City officials and employees would be prohibited from discussing publicly any information obtained during an executive session, as well as any pending city legal matters.

• The commission would be required to hire outside legal counsel if there is a conflict of interest with the city attorney handling a formal complaint — for instance: if it is filed against public officials that are his clients.

• The commission would have six months instead of 12 to act on a formal complaint, decreasing the amount of time that complaints are left pending.

• All documentation for ethics complaints will go through the city secretary to streamline the process.

• Commission membership would increase from three to five members to make it easier to keep a quorum and hold meetings. Three members would constitute a quorum.

"Other ideas are welcome," City Attorney David Bragg said Tuesday. "This is by no means the Holy Grail of ethics ordinances."

Residents will be able to submit ideas at the public workshop, which will be held at City Hall at 5 p.m. June 13.

"This is something that we don’t want to rush and then six months from now go, ‘Oh wow, I wish we would have done that,’" Mayor Connie Schroeder said Tuesday. "It is really important that it be done correctly."

This is the first time the city has completed a comprehensive review of its ethics ordinance since it was first crafted in 2012. It was amended slightly in 2015 to allow District Judge Christopher Duggan, who is an elected official, to continue serving on the commission.