Documents shed light on firing in Bastrop,
City manager says secretary failed to keep ordinances accurately updated online.
Dishonesty, leaving work for long periods of time and handling personal business during work hours may have led to the Bastrop city secretary’s firing last month, city documents obtained through an open records request reveal.
Elizabeth Lopez, who had been with the city for almost two years, was fired from her post April 20.
Though city officials have declined to comment on the details behind Lopez’s exit, internal memos and emails suggest she was fired for blaming an outside consultant for the city’s inability to keep ordinances updated online, according to personnel documents.
An internal investigation, however, found Lopez may have been at fault, and not Franklin Publishing, a Lubbock-based consultant that assists Bastrop with online codification.
“Your dishonesty, regarding your role in the long-term failure to keep the City’s Code of Ordinances regularly and accurately updated and your inability to work cooperatively with Franklin, is immediate grounds for termination, of cause,” City Manager Mike Talbot wrote to Lopez in a letter.
Talbot met with Lopez and city staff to address problems with locating city ordinances on the website hosted by Franklin Publishing, according to the city manager’s letter. During the meeting, Lopez suggested to Talbot that the city seek out another code publishing firm.
Following an internal investigation, Talbot and city human resources staff found that Lopez was not providing regular code updates to Franklin Publishing, according to the letter. And without those code updates, the consultant was unable to keep the city’s website up-to- date, the investigation found.
Lopez did not return multiple calls seeking comment last month, and her phone number now appears to be disconnected.
Lopez’s ultimate firing came weeks after receiving a written reprimand from Talbot for leaving City Hall for extended periods of time during the work day or leaving early, and for taking personal phone calls during the work day, according to a memo dated March 31.
Lopez joined Bastrop as its city secretary in September 2013.
Before working for Bastrop, Lopez was a customer relations manager for the city of South Padre Island, a secretary for the city of Harlingen’s water works department and an employee at the Monterey County Probation Department with juveniles in California.
Traci Chavez, Talbot’s assistant, is serving as interim city secretary until the position is filled.
The city has received more than 70 applications for the post, and Talbot said he plans to start the interview process within the next few weeks.