March 03, 2004
COLLEYVILLE CITY ATTORNEY SAYS
CITY COUNCIL IS "OUT OF COMPLIANCE" WITH CITY CHARTER
OVER P&Z DEBACLE.
Responding to a direct
question from Councilman Jon Ayers at the Tuesday evening ( or
Wednesday early morning) city council meeting, Colleyville's
City Attorney Ross Foster stated emphatically that the city
council was "out of compliance" with the city charter
in two areas.
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Colleyville City Attorney
Ross Foster
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City Attorney
Foster said the council had not followed the charter
requirements by appointing the required three members to
the P&Z during the odd year 2003 and secondarily,
with the removal of two of the "hold-over"
members for lack of attendance, the commission currently
has only five members instead of the required seven.
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Retiring Mayor Pro Tem Ginny
Tigue then followed with a question to the City Attorney,
"isn't it true the mayor can veto resolutions and
ordinances?" While that question follows Mayor Joe
Hocutt's 12 separate vetoes, Foster patiently answered yes.
And with that exchange done, Councilman Elaine Dolan stressed
that the council must appoint P&Z members not to be in
violation of the charter. Councilman Mark Skinner stated
that was possible but not with the three nominees. Skinner
has previously stated that, "while each one is qualified
(Dave Dudziak, Luann Edwards and Tom Hart), that together, they
should not be the "gatekeepers" of the city.
With little additional discussion, once again Skinner and Tigue
joined together to vote not to override Hocutt's veto.
Hocutt's reason for his veto has been written officially that he
was not going to support, "the politics that impugn
our city's reputation." "The appointments
approved perpetuate the past and do not represent the majority
of Colleyville's citizens." The additional
arguments set forth by Tigue and Skinner included that someone
that has "lost an election" should not be appointed in
lieu of "new faces." Tigue has continued to
insist any compromise include Mark Jones remaining on the
P&Z although his term has expired.
In citizens comments, the only person to speak was Joe Tigue,
husband of Ginny Tigue. Tigue said that "compromise
or electorate will decide." The statement seems to
accurately frame the upcoming May city election. The voters will
be asked to determine which issue is the more important; a.) the
right of the mayor to veto appointments or b.) the ongoing
violation of the official city charter. Mark
Jones has already filed to replace Tigue and clearly will
continue to side with Mayor Hocutt and Skinner in the approach
that "a" is the most important issue to voters in the
P&Z stalemate.
Should Mark Jones be elected to replace Tigue on city
council, the make up will see a Hocutt, Skinner, Jones
combination and therefore continue to preserve the inability of
the current majority to get the necessary 4th vote to overturn
Hocutt's vetoes.
Mark Skinner |
Joe Hocutt |
Ginny Tigue |
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Mark Jones
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Dana Feldman
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The balance of the
majority of city council will be shifted significantly should
Jones be victorious and the ex-council member Dana Feldman be
elected over in place of Place 4 incumbent Jon Ayers.
Ayers will take on
Feldman for Place 4. Ayers who serving out the un-expired
term of Richard Newton, defeated Jerome Davis during last year's
election. Ayers was strongly supported by Hocutt, Skinner
and Tigue, however his firm stand on the right of the majority
to have their nominations stand has suddenly made him the target
of veto supporters. Rich Hendler, is the largest vote
getter on the current council and to date has not drawn an
opponent.
In one of the more bizarre actions of the evening, Mayor Joe
Hocutt requested the council, as is customary, to agree to
continue the meeting past midnight. The only significant
items left on the agenda were the veto override resolution and
appointments. In a move that obviously surprised the
mayor, both councilman Skinner and Tigue voted "nay"
to continuing the meeting. Council members Dolan, Hendler
and Ayers voted yes to continue.
The current council
has established a number of firsts in procedural matters, the
Hocutt veto is the first veto of an appointment in the history
of the city and he has now vetoed the appointments 12 times with
13 expected, Hocutt's vetoes are by far the most vetoes of any
mayor in the history of Colleyville on any matter, the council
has been been informed for the first time in history it is out
of compliance with its own charter concerning P&Z
appointments and the number of members, and last night, for the
first time two council members voted not to continue the council
meeting and cover the remaining agenda items after midnight.
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