Resident files ethics complaint against Gonzales

GALVESTON — Following what some city officials called “unprofessional” behavior from council member Chris Gonzales in February, an ethics complaint has been filed against the District 4 councilman for violation of the city charter.

Linda Gonzales-Rains, a Galveston resident, submitted the complaint March 22, according to a city affidavit. Gonzales-Rains said Gonzales violated the charter “by asking the city manager to remove the police chief from his position, directly contacting the police chief to retire or resign and doing so publicly through a city email account and to the local newspaper.”

Gonzales declined to comment. He said he didn’t know Gonzales-Rains, who was unable to be reached for comment.

“I have no clue who that is,” Gonzales said. “Everyone’s been asking me that. It’s just a common name.”

In February, Gonzales offered to not publicize documentation of police Chief Charles Wiley’s alleged shooting and federal indictment if the chief agreed to retire.

The “deal” came days after Gonzales sent an email to supporters suggesting Wiley had shot a man in the back in the 1970s. In the email, Gonzales also called for the removal of City Manager Steve LeBlanc.

According to the city charter, a council member cannot interfere with employees and Article XIV, Section 4 says any council member who willfully violates any provision of the charter is guilty of misconduct and will be subject to a review by the Ethics Commission.

The Galveston Ethics Commission, made up of five members, will review the complaint and a hearing could be scheduled for early April.

Don Ciaccio, a member of the commission, said the commission could not comment on the recently filed complaint.

If the ethics commission finds the complaint is frivolous — defined as clearly insufficient and presumably filed to delay or to embarrass — the complainants could be subject to a criminal misdemeanor charge and a fine of up to $500.

If the complaint is valid, the ethics commission could have another hearing to decide whether a violation of the code of ethics occurred.

The commission can then recommend “steps that the public official should take to avoid future violations” or a letter of “admonition to the public official,” the charter says.

For intentional violations, the commission can write a “letter of reprimand to the public official or recommend removal or suspension.

The complaint comes on the heels of a defamation lawsuit filed by Wiley in late February. The lawsuit filed in County Court at Law No. 2 claims Gonzales “negligently or maliciously published false, defamatory statements of fact” about Wiley in the email and seeks up to $1 million in damages for past, present and future loss of reputation, mental anguish and loss of earnings and earning potential, along with unspecified exemplary damages.