North Richland Hills City Hall.
Star-Telegram archives
North Richland Hills City Council recently ordered a council member to remove Facebook posts that accused a resident of murder and called people who didn’t vote for him “stupid.”
The City Council held a specially-called meeting Sept. 16 where they discussed the ethics complaint against Council member Matt Blake in closed session for over two hours.
When council members returned to open session, they voted to condemn Blake’s actions and told him to remove the Facebook posts.
Following the vote, a short statement was read which said in part, “We as a group condemn in the strongest of terms the referenced statements in the complaint. Council member Blake will remove referenced statements from his social media.”
Blake told the Star-Telegram Friday, Sept. 18 that he agrees with the council’s decision, and he removed the posts the night of the Sept. 16 meeting.
“I agree with what the council did. I’m not going to comment any further at this time,” he said.
When asked, Blake said he has no plans to resign.
‘Sustained pattern of hostile, defamatory, unprofessional and procedurally improper conduct’
The Star-Telegram obtained the ethics complaint in an open records request.
The complaint accused Blake of violating 11 sections of the city charter, including misuse of official position, special consideration or treatment and engaging in activities incompatible with his office.
“Council member Blake singled out specific private Individuals for uniquely harmful treatment — accusing them of homicide, violent crime, cowardice, and lack of intelligence,” according to the complaint.
The complaint also stated that Blake also directed specific harmful accusations against individuals.
One violation stated Blake was “accusing private individuals of murder, violent criminal acts, and cowardice; insulting residents’ intelligence; comparing individuals to Hitler; and directing people to ‘shut up’” — actions that are incompatible with the responsibilities of a council member, the ethics complaint states.
“This conduct undermines public trust, damages the city’s reputation, and conflicts with the standards expected of elected officials,” the complaint says.
Former North Richland Hills Council member Blake Vaughn said in an interview that he was targeted in Blake’s posts.
Vaughn said he is often critical of Mayor Jack McCarty concerning a dispute with Tarrant County College over vacant land, and Vaughn also criticized the upcoming bond election.
“Hopefully, this [the ethics complaint] will put checks in place and respect citizens like me who are not in office,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn continued: “I think there is no other option. The council couldn’t ignore it because so many people were upset.
“I’m sad that he’s not going further and resigning. He isn’t fit to hold office.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 1:02 PM.
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With my guide dog Freddie, I keep tabs on growth, economic development and other issues in Northeast Tarrant cities and other communities near Fort Worth. I’ve been a reporter at the Star-Telegram for 34 years.