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North Richland Hills City Hall.<\/p>\n
Star-Telegram archives<\/p>\n
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\u2019t vote for him \u201cstupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
The City Council held a specially-called meeting<\/a> Sept. 16 where they discussed the ethics complaint against Council member Matt Blake in closed session for over two hours.<\/p>\n When council members returned to open session, they voted to condemn Blake\u2019s actions and told him to remove the Facebook posts.<\/p>\n Following the vote, a short statement was read which said in part, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake<\/a> told the Star-Telegram Friday, Sept. 18 that he agrees with the council\u2019s decision, and he removed the posts the night of the Sept. 16 meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cI agree with what the council did. I\u2019m not going to comment any further at this time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When asked, Blake said he has no plans to resign.<\/p>\n \u2018Sustained pattern of hostile, defamatory, unprofessional and procedurally improper conduct\u2019<\/p>\n The Star-Telegram obtained the ethics complaint in an open records request.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cCouncil member Blake singled out specific private Individuals for uniquely harmful treatment \u2014 accusing them of homicide, violent crime, cowardice, and lack of intelligence,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n The complaint also stated that Blake also directed specific harmful accusations against individuals.<\/p>\n One violation stated Blake was \u201caccusing private individuals of murder, violent criminal acts, and cowardice; insulting residents\u2019 intelligence; comparing individuals to Hitler; and directing people to \u2018shut up\u2019\u201d \u2014 actions that are incompatible with the responsibilities of a council member, the ethics complaint states.<\/p>\n \u201cThis conduct undermines public trust, damages the city\u2019s reputation, and conflicts with the standards expected of elected officials,\u201d the complaint says.<\/p>\n Former North Richland Hills Council member Blake Vaughn said in an interview that he was targeted in Blake\u2019s posts.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully, this [the ethics complaint] will put checks in place and respect citizens like me who are not in office,\u201d Vaughn said.<\/p>\n Vaughn continued: \u201cI think there is no other option. The council couldn\u2019t ignore it because so many people were upset.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sad that he\u2019s not going further and resigning. He isn\u2019t fit to hold office.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published September 21, 2026 at 1:02 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n