Mayoral Conduct Stuns Citizens at Meeting

The City Council Meeting of August 4th was a hot one indeed. The new City Council exercised it's powers and authority, questioning the accuracy of the recorded minutes, and standing firm on certain expenses - the Mayor's "lividity" was evident to everyone after ejecting two citizens, slandering a third and threatening to have Alderman Pena forcibly removed from the dais. The Mayor left the dais along with Vandygriff and Turner, leaving a seated quorum to conclude the public business.


The citizens assembled didn't appreciate the Mayor's comportment from the very beginning of the meeting. The Citizen's comments were somewhat lengthy and protracted due to a procession of complainants regarding the City's excessive permits, fees & requirements. One speaker, later ejected by the Mayor, researched the CDBG grant funds and found they could be used for water improvements and wanted the Council to have that information as there was an agenda item regarding those funds. The Spanish language petitioner with Alderman Pena translating took quite some time in relation to other speakers. At the beginning of Steele's administration the minimum residential building permit was $25, today it is $750 given the resident's accounts of statements from the City's Building Official.

After admitting in the August 4th issue of the Ellis County Press that he "paid the bills" without City Council approval to save the city $11,000 in late payment fees to the State Comptroller, Mayor Steele should have understood that there would be no "consent" on the consent items.
[ED NOTE: CLICK HERE to read our companion story "ECP: Steele Pays Bills Without Council Approval]

He joined the consideration of the two regular consent items, approval of minutes of prior meetings and the expenses items, only to have Vandygriff move to discuss the issues separately when the approval of the minutes lead to an extended discussion of their accuracy and portrayal of the events in question at the prior meetings, specifically motions and the paying of certain expenses.

It was during Alderman Pena's briefing on progress with the Water Task Force highlighting the lack of cooperation from City Hall in establishing the planning groundwork for proceeding with water improvements task force that the crowd began to percolate. One woman was ejected by Officer Sawyer at the Mayor's insistence and threatened with a citation.

Another woman seated near the woman ejected was told by the Mayor that the City has two jail cells and he was sure she had already seen the inside of them, whereupon Mr. Pena demanded an apology for such an insulting affront to a citizen among a group of citizens assembled. The mayor requested the woman apologize for "calling me a son of a bitch" whereupon again Alderman Pena remonstrated him for offensive language and Steele replied that "son of a bitch" wasn't a bad word or offensive enough to be considered disorderly conduct. The woman who had been insulted corrected the mayor and replied that she hadn't used that phrase, she just agreed with the previously ejected woman who had used the term. Steele insincerely apologized.

In short order, comments from the citizens assembled resulted in more persons being ejected from the council chambers over Alderman Pena's repeated objections. The Mayor stated that he would have Mr Pena removed if he so desired, citing some recent event in the City of Duncanville.

ED NOTE:
No reporter was present after the second citizen was ejected until the meeting recessed for Executive Session.


After returning from the Executive Session, the Mayor called for motions resulting from the closed deliberations whereupon the temporary services contract for the interim city secretary was terminated and Crystol Birdwell was reappointed to the position of City Secretary beginning August 5, 2011. Alderman Pena, retaining the floor after the vote and making additional motions as the result of  the Executive Session deliberations, was then called out of order. The Mayor called for a motion to adjourn over Pena's objection and received the expected responses from Vandygriff and Turner (motion and second) and called the meeting adjourned and left the council chambers with VandyTurner in tow. However, Steele never called the question on the motion to adjourn, there was no vote, and a quorum of the City Council retained the dais and continued with the post executive session motions until they had concluded the public business, at which time the meeting was properly adjourned upon unanimous consent of the assembled quorum present.