City reviewing meeting 'altercation'

AUSTIN (KXAN) - A city board meeting turned tense Tuesday night after a woman questioned the city's "good faith" efforts to hire minority contractors.

The incident led into a hallway meeting where the woman made a "threat" to a city lawyer, according to an incident report.

"We need to get away from this 'good faith bull crap,'" Alayne Johnson said to an assistant city attorney in the meeting of the Minority Business Enterprises/Women Business Enterprises and Small Business Council Advisory Committee.

"Our tax dollars are going right out the door with these prime contractors," Johnson told the Committee as she looked directly at Assistant City Attorney Sabine Romero.

The City of Austin has a procedure in place that contractors on city projects must make a "good faith effort" to contact businesses owned by women or minorities.

Goals to execute those good faith efforts differ for each city contract.

"I don't care if you don't like it," Johnson said. "I have a right to speak."

"With all due respect, there are limitations as far as the level of respect of the exchange in this room," Romero said.

After another brief exchange between the two, Johnson responded, "You cannot judge me," if you want to have a fight, a battle here we can."

The exchange then led to the hallway, Austin Police Department spokesman Scott Perry said.

"That's where some sort of altercation occurred," Perry said.

Johnson said nothing out of the ordinary happened in the hallway.

"There was no altercation," she said.

Thursday, Johnson read a prepared statement and refused to answer more questions about the incident.

"It is not a threat to ask a city staffer 'What is your beef with me,' after that person inappropriately, rudely interrupted me," she said.

A City Hall security guard who witnessed the incident released a statement regarding the incident.

"We have opened the investigation," Perry said. "We cannot give specific details."