A Brighton and Hove City Council standards panel is scheduled to examine a formal complaint submitted by the authority’s former mayor concerning her deputy mayor.
The hearing was listed for 10am on October 30 at Hove Town Hall, with closed-door proceedings considered likely.
Members received a 100-page document containing the complaint and the findings of the investigation, although the authority had not released its contents publicly.
The complaint reportedly concerns an incident connected with a Sussex University graduation ceremony in July of the preceding year.
Labour councillor Amanda Grimshaw was mayor at the time and raised concerns about the conduct of deputy Councillor Ty Galvin.
Neither the council nor the politicians involved has publicly specified the allegations.
Councillor Galvin resigned from the deputy mayor position, equivalent to mayor-elect, in November.
Labour also suspended him from the party while an investigation proceeded.
At that stage, he characterised the complaint as vexatious, said he had obtained legal advice and declined to comment further.
The standards panel comprises three councillors and an independent chair.
Paul Cummins, a solicitor who previously served as a local authority monitoring officer for other councils, chairs the panel but has no voting rights.
The decision rests with Labour councillors Lucy Helliwell and Andrei Czolak, together with Green councillor Pete West.
West formerly served as mayor and now leads the council’s audit, standards and general purposes committee.
Panel members will determine at the opening of the hearing whether the evidence should be considered publicly or privately.
Eight standards panel hearings have occurred since the local elections in May 2010.
Seven were open to the public, while one was conducted in private.
That private hearing concerned claims involving former councillor Dawn Barnett and was the second attempt to deal with them.
The initial session was adjourned after Councillor Barnett fell down the stairs at Hove Town Hall, prompting police attendance when the gathering became disorderly.
When proceedings resumed, Councillor Lizzie Deane, who chaired the hearing, said the panel would meet privately to avoid further disruption.
The council’s procedure for handling alleged breaches of the code of conduct for members sets out four core principles.
Allegations of misconduct must be handled effectively, efficiently and proportionately to preserve public and member confidence.
The process must be proportionate, transparent and fair to everyone involved.
Formal investigation and referral to a standards hearing sub-committee should occur only where this is proportionate, necessary and in the public interest.
Such hearings should remain open wherever possible.
The authority faced criticism following its sole private hearing, with the proceeding described as a kangaroo court.
Because the session was not open, members of the public could not form an informed judgment about whether that criticism was fair.