COUNCILMAN DENNIS MARLIN RESIGNS FROM COLLEYVILLE CITY COUNCIL

Dateline Colleyville: August 28, 2001 9:17 PM

COUNCILMAN DENNIS MARLIN RESIGNS FROM COLLEYVILLE CITY COUNCIL

Photo obtained from Marlin's 2000 campaign material.

Councilman Dennis Marlin resigned Tuesday from the Colleyville City Council. Marlin was elected in 2000 and had served in Place 4 for approximately 15 months. It had been reported that he was working in Colorado and the most recent edition of The Communicator, the city newsletter, listed an out of state phone number for him. One Colleyville resident commented to LNO "We shouldn't have to make a long distance call just to reach a member of our City Council." Marlin had missed four of the last seven council meetings.

The charter states that "If any member of the Council fails...to maintain the seventy-five (75%) attendance record for all regularly scheduled meetings…the council shall declare a vacancy in the office of that member of the Council at its next regular meeting and shall fill the vacancy as set forth in this Charter." Click here to view this section from the City Charter When contacted by LNO at the Colorado telephone number Marlin answered that he would not respond to any questions and then hung up. Repeated attempts to reach other elected officials for comment were not successful.

Marlin was reported to be in violation of the charter earlier this year when LNO reported that his property taxes were in arrears. Section 3.02 of the charter states that "each candidate for membership and each member of the City Council shall be and remain: (c) Not indebted to the city."

LNO requested attendance records from the city for all council members for the last 24 months on August 13. The city reported that logs are not kept on attendance, but the data was compiled and provided just last Friday. Click here to view attendance records A number of residents have been critical of Marlin's absences recently during controversial zoning cases which have come before council. Prior to learning of the resignation LNO obtained a quote from resident Steve Magee concerning the problems in Caldwell's Creek subdivision. Mr. Magee stated "Mr. Marlin has demonstrated his lack of interest and responsibility to the City of Colleyville by his nonexistent attendance at council meetings since May. We cannot be effectively represented by someone who has attended two or three meetings in the last three months. Mr. Marlin should resign his position immediately. His continued violation of the City Charter is inexcusable. The City Council is also to blame for its lack of action related to Marlin."

When notified of Marlin's resignation resident and former councilmember Jim Moore commented, "I'm not surprised. I just hope that they (City Council) follow the charter in what they are supposed to do next. We are a long way from the 120 days and from what I can recall, they will have to hold a special election." The charter allows the council to appoint someone to fill the remaining term in a vacancy if the vacancy occurs within 120 days of the next regular election. However, in this case a special election will have to be called. The council must appoint a replacement within 30 days to serve until a qualified candidate can be elected at a special election.

Click here for city council contact information.

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