The Plano City Council narrowly passed an ordinance on Tuesday evening that mandates council member recusals on the basis of campaign contributions. The ordinance holds that any donation greater than $1,000 creates a conflict of interest on matters in which the donor could materially benefit from a council memberâs vote.
The sponsors of the ordinance, Councilpersons Rick Smith and Lily Bao, anticipated that the vote would be swift and uncontroversial, but the meeting became heated as Mayor Pro Tem Kayci Prince expressed concern over the billâs language.
âThe way Iâm interpreting that,â she said, âit means that any person that gives me $1,000 â any person, any organization â if they have something before us that they are lobbying for, then I need to step down.âÂ