Austin City Councilmember Jennifer Kim responded to criticism that she should get special treatment as a city leader.

On Tuesday, two pieces, an op-ed piece and a column, in the Austin-American Statesman, slammed Kim for wanting special security access to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

KVUE News

Councilwoman Kim on Tuesday.

Kim said the whole situation is a misunderstanding.  She blamed it on an 18-month old memo that wrongly stated council members could have security clearance. 

Kim said she never wanted special treatment, only what the rules allow.

“I'm really sorry if I offended anyone if they got the impression if I was asking for special treatment.  I wasn't and I'm not.  And so I just want to let people know that I'm really sorry that this controversy erupted over what I was asking for which was what was the process, what had been agreed to between TSA and our airport," she said.

Kim said she wanted to use the additional access to meet city VIP’s at the gate.

KVUE on Tuesday also learned of another incident that may only stir the Kim controversy.  Documents show in September 2006, Kim was pulled over by an Austin police officer for speeding in the 7300 block of Ben White.  During the traffic stop, she admits asking the officer if he knew who she was.

Kim said in hindsight, she should not have asked the question in the manner she did.  She said she was only interested in learning more about which Austin police officers lived inside and outside of the city because the officer didn’t know her.

When asked more questions about the incident, Kim declined to comment.