November election to fill city’s vacancies

 The Clarendon Board of Aldermen is unable to make decisions and cannot hold official meetings following the resignation of three of its five members last week.

City officials say November will be the earliest that a special election can be held to fill the vacancies. The Texas Secretary of State’s office had last week informed City Hall that the law does allow the governor to call an earlier emergency election, but legislative activities in the State Capitol were slowing the city’s request for such action, making November the likely date.

Aldermen Abby Patten and Jesus Hernandez resigned their offices last Tuesday, June 11, and Alderman Debbie Roberts Hillis followed with her resignation Wednesday afternoon, June 12. It takes three members of the board to have a quorum.

Hernandez did not give a reason for resigning in his signed statement last week. Patten’s letter to the board said it had been a pleasure serving and cited her recent admission to law school in Oklahoma and the need to focus on her studies and being unable to attend meetings as her reasons for stepping down.

“Therefore, I would like to take this time to thank you for allowing me to serve with you for the time I did and present my resignation to the board,” Patten wrote.

Hillis, who just won a full term in office last month, said in her resignation letter that she had planned on serving out her term and hopefully into the future. “But due to the recent false allegations filed by an unknown resident and several other issues,” she wrote, “I will no longer subject my family or myself to this sort of underhandedness.”

Mayor Larry Hicks said the three resignations came as a surprise.

“We were not expecting resignations from three aldermen within a 24 hour period,” Hicks said. “We did receive some good news from the Attorney General’s office in that the Mayor, City Secretary and the two remaining aldermen can legally meet in the meantime to participate in planning, drafting a budget for the coming year, and dealing with other city business; however, no formal action can be taken on any matter until new aldermen are seated.”

Hicks also said the situation would not affect the daily operations of the city, and he said City Hall expects to finish the current fiscal year on September 30, 2013, with revenues over expenses.

Alderman Will Thompson was optimistic about the city’s future.

“I would like to wish my former fellow council members the best as they move on from the city council,” Thompson said. “Their departures do present a challenge in the short term, yet we can take this opportunity to focus on building a better future for Clarendon and recommit our energies to that goal. We all realize the issues facing our community such as water, city infrastructure and economy. However, we are not without several resources that can help overcome these challenges. I hope as we begin selecting new council members that we look for those that have the vision and wisdom to leverage these resources in building a bright future for our community.”

Alderman Sandy Skelton said an election this fall would be an opportunity for Clarendon.

“The citizens of Clarendon now have a great opportunity to elect three new aldermen who believe that the City should come first as opposed to petty politics and game playing,” Skelton said. “Potential candidates should be residents of Texas for one year, a resident of Clarendon for at least six months, abide by the laws of the United States and Texas to include all sections of the Open Meetings Act, make decisions in the best interests of the city and its citizens, have a desire to promote economic development and growth, embrace infrastructure improvements through innovation, creative thinking and a “can-do” attitude, have an ability to work well and in a professional manner with others and lastly, understand the limited duties and boundaries of an alderman.”

Skelton also said people should not run for the board to settle a personal agenda, and he applauded Mayor Hicks’ daily efforts overseeing city projects and City Secretary Machiel Covey’s handling of city business. He also thanked all the city employees for their hard work and dedication.

A timeline for a November election was not available at press time. The election, however, will come too late for the city to adopt a new budget or tax rate, which must be done before the end of September. City officials say the current tax rate and budget will simply carry over into the new fiscal year. Once new board members are seated, budget amendments can be adopted.