Deleting the Minutes
By: Joe Griffin
Updated: December 17, 2008
More than two pages of City Council minutes have been stricken from the official record of the November 6, 2008 Lubbock City Council Meeting.
The meeting minutes include statements relating to the public questioning of Kevin Overstreet of Animal Services.
Overstreet filed a grievance this month stating that the questioning was an attempt to humiliate him and was an act of retaliation for his instigation of the FBI's investigation into the AAG Insurance/City of Lubbock scandal.
The motion to strike the minutes was brought up by District 5 Councilman John Leonard.
"There were some things that were not correct with the minutes," said Leonard. "We just cleaned them up a little bit."
After reviewing the minutes, the documents seem to be an accurate portrayal of what happened at the November 6 meeting which has aired on the City of Lubbock cable channel multiple times.
Both Leonard and Mayor Tom Martin have been questioned by the FBI about the scandal.
There are also questions over whether or not the council can legally delete facts from the minutes.
"If there are mistakes, you correct them," said Linda DeLeon, District 1. "He removed actual language."
City Attorney Don Vandivor said he needed to research the issue before giving a statement to the press.
