Home Rule Charter draft anticipated Feb. 10

Instead, items from that agenda will now be added to those on the Feb. 10 agenda when the council is scheduled to meet again. 

Attempts to reschedule the meeting before were unsuccessful, said interim City Manager Toni Fisher, because a super majority quorum could not be met. A special meeting requires a super majority of four (out of the five) council members, whereas a regularly scheduled meeting only requires three, and two members are unable to attend.

“Eat your Wheaties. It’ll be a long one,” Fisher said of the next meeting.

The Feb. 10 meeting is expected to be highlighted by the presentation of the final draft of the Home Rule Charter drawn up by the special committee Mayor Teresa Palmer put together. It is the final opportunity for the committee to present it to council before it is put on the ballot for the May election.

Palmer and her supporters, including Marcy Galle, whose daughter Gwendolyn ran Palmer’s campaign, and Home Rule Charter Committee Chairman Gene Martin are pushing for a May vote concerning a switch to home rule. Many are arguing, however, that a November election would provide a more fair rendering of citizen support or non-support as May elections consistently have a lower turnout.

The previous draft presented at the Jan. 16 council meeting has come under scrutiny by council members and numerous residents concerning its content, which includes several items deemed to be controversial. Among them are the small amount of signatures (226) needed for a recall election and lack of clarification of the binding/non-binding powers concerning an ethics board.

However, according to the Texas Constitution, city councils generally cannot unilaterally make substantive changes to a final home rule charter drafted by a charter commission before it goes to the voters. The charter commission acts independently to create the document, and the council typically must submit the drafted charter to voters for approval.

Also, the Texas Municipal League notes that a council-appointed group is the standard approach to ensuring legal compliance. Since the council was not involved in Palmer’s appointments and creation of the committee, this has also created controversy.

Some of the major items the charter calls for include:

• Increasing the number of council members from five to six.
• Increasing the length of council and mayor terms in office from two to three years.
• Increased power for the mayor.
• Creating an independent board of ethics.

Ironically, while the council was not involved in the creation of the commission, the latest draft presented by Martin calls for the council to create the ethics committee, should the charter be approved by voters.

While the charter calls for the continuance of a council-city manager form of government, it would extend the powers of the mayor to include such things as being included in the quorum, calling for special meetings, and calling for emergency meetings. 

Under the current system in Willow Park, the mayor can only vote to break a tie — which isn’t often, given the council has five members. The mayor is a CEO and budget officer for the city.

It is also anticipated that more discussion and/or action could be taken following Palmer’s violation of attorney-client privilege that came to light during the Jan. 13 meeting. She forwarded emails between herself and the city attorney to Martin, who is not employed by or was elected to serve the city.

May election takes shape

A day after the Willow Park City Council ordered the upcoming May 2 election, the first three candidates for council filed to run.

Marcy Galle, Roy Kurban, and Gary Houston Wingard entered their names. Galle plans to run for Place 5, Kurban for Place 4, and Wingard for Place 3.

Those places are currently held by Mayor Pro Tem Nate Crummel (5), Scott Smith (4), and Buddy Wright (3). Smith was appointed in July to fill the remaining term of Lea Young, who resigned in July. Wright was appointed to finish the term of Greg Runnebaum, who stepped down in early September.

Both Young and Runnebaum resigned following ongoing disputes with Palmer. Since Palmer took office, Pat Chesser resigned after eight years as city attorney, and Bryan Grimes parted ways with the city after being city manager since 2017.

Grimes is now the director of strategic projects for Parker County.

Galle, Kurban, and Wingard are all ardent supporters of Palmer.

Kurban is also currently serving on the home rule committee.

Galle previously served on the Willow Park council, resigning in 2017 for health issues.

The incumbents, for their part, have announced their intention to seek re-election.