Farmers Branch police are reportedly investigating a heated dispute that occurred between two council members after a meeting this month and may have also included the city’s mayor.
The argument between council members Elizabeth Villafranca and Lupe Gonzalez at a June 2 meeting allegedly started over a vote on mayor pro tem.
Villafranca was allegedly upset Gonzalez nominated Council member David Reid for the position over Council member Roger Neil, who's the current deputy mayor pro tem. The mayor pro tem generally leads council meetings when the mayor is absent.
Gonzalez also alleged in a statement that Mayor Terry Lynne "physically inserted himself into the confrontation."
"He stepped directly in front of me, placed his hand on my chest, and pushed me backward," according to her statement.
Lynne told KERA he did not do that. He declined to comment further, but said he gave a statement to police.
"The City of Farmers Branch is aware of the recent incident involving members of the City Council," a city spokesperson told KERA in a statement. "As the matter is currently under review, it would be inappropriate to comment on specific details at this time, and consequently, the City cannot release an official statement at this time"
A brief video from a motion sensor camera that captured the beginning of the argument was played at a special called meeting on Thursday.
The 10-second video shows Villafranca walking toward Gonzalez across the dais before the two appear to begin talking.
Lynne is sitting next to them, speaking with City Manager Ben Williamson.
The video ends before anything else can be seen. Council member Tina Bennett-Burton told KERA that was all the motion sensor camera recorded.
Villafranca has filed an ethics complaint over the argument, she said at the meeting.
Lynne suggested the city council undergo conflict resolution training. Williamson said the city council can vote at a future meeting to approve that.
Why was the vote over Mayor Pro Tem so contentious?
During the June 2 meeting, Villafranca nominated Neil to mayor pro tem, arguing it’s custom the deputy mayor pro tem promotes up to that position.
But Gonzalez made a motion for Reid to become mayor pro tem and replace Bennett-Burton, who supported the motion. Neal would stay deputy in that scenario.
That passed 3-2, with Villafranca and Neal voting against the motion.
Bennett-Burton said in a Facebook post she supported Reid because he would be able to lead executive sessions and guide the council through “difficult circumstances, if they involved ethics complaints or other sensitive matters concerning the mayoral position.”
Mayor Lynne has faced multiple ethics complaints related to allegations he improperly used his position as mayor to get sponsors to drop a community event, KERA previously reported.
The city council publicly reprimanded Lynne at an April meeting, directing him to refrain from all further direct communications with staff, recommending he take sensitivity training and requiring a third party be present when he interacts with Deputy City Manager Jawaria Tareen.
The reprimand appears to have stemmed from a message Lynne sent to Tareen asking her for input on an email from a Muslim advocacy group. Williamson responded to his message saying all communications to city staff should go through him.
By law, only the city manager can give direct orders or assign tasks to city staff.
A previous interaction between Lynne and Tareen had also been the subject of a human resources investigation.
Lynne in June 2025 allegedly confronted Tareen in her office after becoming upset during a phone call.
Bennett-Burton reported the incident at the time, saying Lynne had slammed the door and was "intimidating" and "hostile."
Reid was the only council member to make a statement at the April meeting at which Lynne was reprimanded.
"This is to the members of city staff who have been impacted by the inappropriate actions that have led to this action tonight: We appreciate your tolerance, patience and professionalism," he said. "Our goal and desire is to not have any repeat of these events moving forward."
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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