‘Casual comment’ questioned by mayor

The July 4 festivities may be over, but the Willow Park City Hall still had fireworks this week with Mayor Teresa Palmer lighting the fuse.

Palmer proposed council approve drafting a municipal code of ethics based on something she said she was told in an email from a council member in another city during a Texas Municipal League meeting. In the email, it was said someone from the city spoke ill of Palmer in casual conversation — not in an official capacity, such as in a meeting.

“Does anybody want to say what they said to a mayor in another city about me?” Palmer asked the council, who responded with looks of curiosity and wonder.

Council member Eric Contreras called Palmer’s accusation “double hearsay.” 

He then read from the email, which supported that Palmer had not actually heard the comments herself. 

“It was brought to my attention,” Contreras read. “That’s not first-hand. That’s second hand.”

Councilman Scott Smith said to Palmer, “How unprofessional of you to bring that up. My issue here is you brought this up because you got your feelings hurt.”

At this point someone in the audience, screamed loudly at Smith, “Back off her!” and stormed out of the room. Palmer responded to her, “I’m okay.”

Mayor pro tem Nate Crummel asked Palmer, “Where do you draw the line? It comes down to a First Amendment thing. I don’t know of any ordinances and policies that are going to trump the First Amendment.”

Contreras and City Manager Toni Fisher conversed that a code of conduct/ethics is currently being updated for city employees. After the meeting, Fisher explained to The Community News that she is bound to a code of conduct/ethics by the International City Managers Association, and City Attorney Judy El Masri said that mayors and council members are bound to adhere to guidelines by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Honor coming for Young

Lea Young served the City of Willow Park for almost three decades, more than 20 on the board of adjustments and seven more on the city council. Now, the city appears set to honor that service.

Though no motion was officially passed, council discussed and agreed that a park dedication is forthcoming for her at the first opportunity.

“She was a tireless advocate for our community spaces. Lea’s created a lasting legacy in Willow Park,” said Councilman Buddy Wright.

Fisher said the dedication will likely happen when the city opens a new park. With the impending growth Willow Park is experiencing, such as the Beall-Dean Ranch development with more than 300 acres, the wait shouldn’t be too long.

The idea was proposed by Wright and Smith.

“A resident came to us with this idea and it kind of blew us away that we hadn’t done it before,” Smith said.

Smith replaced Young on the council after she resigned last July following differences with Palmer, who was then recently elected. Wright replaced Greg Runnebaum, another longtime council member who resigned shortly after Young for the same reason.

Smith and Wright recently won their own elections in May to serve two more years on the council.

Young also served as mayor pro tem.

Recognition of employees

Fisher praised several city employees for recent accomplishments, including:

• Parks Director Mandy McCarley received her certification for Local Government Project Procedures Qualification from the Texas Department of Transportation.
• Municipal Court Administrator Michelle Lowe completed her Level III Court Clerk Certification, the highest level of certification available for municipal court clerks in Texas.
• Fire Marshal Charlie Schneider and Assistant Fire Marshal Kevin Lockwood attended the Texas A&M Engineering and Extension Service 36-hour code enforcement class. Schneider passed his Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation examination for certification and Lockwood is scheduled to take his exam next month.
• The Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office within the office of the governor announced recently that the City of Willow Park has been designated by the Texas Film Commission as a Film Friendly Texas Certified Community. Fisher thanked Communications Director Rosealee Hoffman for her work in completing the multi-step training and certification process.
• Fisher also thanked Hoffman and McCarley for their work in planning and executing the city’s 250th Anniversary of the USA celebration, along with Utility Clerk Andy Saylor and Schneider for their help.

“Thank you all for being valuable employees to our city and committed to personal and professional improvement,” Fisher said.

In additional actions:

• Fisher announced that National Night Out is coming up on Oct. 6. “We’re reaching out to our neighbors to see if we can do an event at The District,” she said.
•  Fisher announced the creation of Willow Park Muni-versity, a series of workshops designed to promote engagement with the community and pull back the curtain on how cities work. The first workshop will be Saturday, July 18 at 8 a.m. at City Hall, featuring budget and property tax basics. It will be followed by the 9 a.m. council workshop on the upcoming 2027 fiscal year budget.
• Smith announced the first Coffee With a Councilman was a success. “It was great. We had 18 residents, me, Buddy, Toni and staff.” He said the next one is set for Aug. 7 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at City Hall and hopes to have the event on the first Friday of every month going forward.
• The next regular city council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on July 28 at City Hall.