This article contains three revisions from the printed article in the Aug. 1 issue of The Community News:
- Teresa Palmer took offfice on May 13, not May 12
- Pat Chesser's tenure was almost eight years, not 18
- RFQ, in this context, stands for "Request for Qualifications," not "Request for Quotation."
Reporter’s note: We seldom feel the need to explain ourselves, but the ongoing story of chaos and tension at Willow Park City Hall requires, on our part, a careful, steady, and meticulous examination of all these issues.
This process can’t be completed in a week. It will be an ongoing story. There have been reports by city employees of harassment by Mayor Teresa Palmer and residents acting on her behalf. I reached out to her on Saturday, July 26, to see if we could schedule an interview so I could get her side of the story. I was given a 30-minute window that I could not meet at that time, and she indicated she would not be available for comments for another week.
She knows I want to speak with her, and has an open invitation to call me to set up a meeting or interview.
Because that information is not forthcoming, this week I will report on the resignation of City Attorney Pat Chesser and the resignation and rescindment of council member Greg Runnebaum.
In the interim, we have received more than 400 emails we requested from the city, and we are in the process of analyzing them.
Teresa Palmer took her seat as mayor of Willow Park on May 13. Palmer ran on a platform of transparency and of advocating for residents who felt they were not heard at city hall.
Tensions quickly mounted, particularly between Palmer and City Manager Bryan Grimes. A special city council meeting on July 15 lacked a quorum (special meetings require a “super majority”, or four, city council members to be present).
The only item on that agenda, other than public comment, was a closed-door session “To discuss the pursuit of legal action by a city employee against the elected Mayor of Willow Park.”
Many residents were critical of council member Greg Runnebaum, who did not attend the meeting, creating the situation of lack of a quorum.
The Community News has obtained emails shedding additional light on Runnebaum’s actions.
When Palmer distributed a document to the council on July 10 calling for the July 15 special meeting, Runnebaum sent an email to Palmer, City Attorney Pat Chesser, and then-Mayor Pro Tem Lea Young.
In the email Runnebaum asked “Why are we having this meeting? This is a matter between an employee and Ms. Palmer. At this time the city is not involved to my understanding.”
Runnebaum followed up with an email to Palmer the next day, saying “Teresa - please cancel this meeting. This is not a legal meeting for executive session.”
On July 14, Runnebaum sent an email to Chesser, Young, Palmer, and Grimes announcing he would not attend the meeting:
“I will not be attending the special meeting tomorrow (7/15/2025),” Runnebaum said in his email. “The subject of the meeting appears to be a topic that is NOT city business and therefore not compliant with the TOMA [Texas Open Meetings Act]."
Runnebaum further summarized:
1) The mayor called the meeting with a single item being the executive session.
2) The meeting called by the mayor did not meet Texas Open Meetings Act criteria for an executive session and was therefore illegal.
3) Mayor Palmer knew I had concerns with the executive session agenda five days prior to the called meeting.
4) Mayor Palmer made no attempt to contact me in any manner to discuss or review.
5) Mayor Palmer made no attempt to modify the agenda.
6) Mayor Palmer knew on Monday July 14th that I would not be attending the called meeting.
7) Mayor Palmer was untruthful and misled the community into believing this meeting would take place.
8) I did confirm with the city attorney at the time that my concerns about this meeting were valid.
On July 18, city resident Marcy Galle sent Runnebaum an email, cc’ing all members of the city council.
(Editor’s note: In our reading of the Texas Open Meetings Act, it is not legal far all members of the city council to confer via email.)
Galle’s email said “Greg, this is my formal request for your resignation.
“If you were in town on Tuesday and ignored a properly posted meeting to address critical city business, you failed the citizens of Willow Park.”
Runnebaum replied to Galle and Palmer that he would explain everything on Tuesday night (July 22 would have been Willow Park’s regular meeting night, but the meeting was canceled).
The July 22 meeting was not held because it was canceled by Mayor Palmer, as she was going to be unavailable. The city council members then attempted to schedule a special meeting on that date. A special meeting was held on July 28 (see report in this issue).
Chesser’s resignation
Two significant events happened on July 18: a group of residents went to the Willow Park Police Station to attempt to file a complaint against Runnebaum for missing the July 15 meeting, and City Attorney Pat Chesser resigned.
In his resignation email, Chesser said:
“It has been a pleasure and honor serving as the city attorney these past almost eight years. Sadly, I cannot find any reason to continue on with all the fighting, chaos and what it appears to me to be, a conspiracy to destroy the City. This has taken a toll on my family, life, health, and career.”
At the July 28 special meeting, Palmer distributed copies of an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) with attributes the city was looking for in a new attorney. The document was not in the regular city council packet that is posted online.
Council members quickly pointed out a number of errors in the RFQ. It referred to Willow Park as a Home Rule City (Willow Park is a General Law City).
The Community News has obtained a copy of the document in question, which appears to have been drafted long before Chesser tendered his resignation.
One paragraph reads:
“Interviews of short-listed firms will be scheduled on Tuesday, May 27, 2025 starting at 5:00 p.m. The targeted date for the formal selection of firms and approval of contracts is at the June 10, 2025, council meeting.”
Another paragraph sets the deadline for submission as May 8, 2025.
At the meeting Mayor Palmer said the document was provided by “a citizen,” but to date has not provided the name of the person who provided it. The Community News has submitted an open records request to the mayor to obtain the name.
Attached are the documents from which this report was written.
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