Accusations fly at Hedley city meeting

The Hedley Board of Aldermen will review that city’s employee policies this week after a called meeting last Tuesday, January 5, that featured accusations of nepotism, improper use of funds, and harassment.
Mayor Leon Ward moved to take last week’s meeting into closed session before the controversial topics were raised, but City Secretary Gini Burnett protested, saying she wanted any hearing about her held in public and questioning whether the agenda was properly posted to allow a closed session.
Ward then agreed to keep the meeting public and began a discussion about Burnett using the city’s debit card for personal use.
Minutes of the city’s December 10 meeting, that were approved earlier at the January 5 meeting, indicate that the board had unanimously approved Burnett’s use of the card for a meal while out of town on business for the city. But in the new discussion, Ward said he felt that expenditure should not have been approved and that Burnett did not realize how serious a transgression it was to have used the card in that manner.
Ward also said he did not think he had impressed on Burnett enough about a charge of nepotism, relating to her paying her father to do contract labor for the city.
Burnett said the meal expense was approved and said she had promised not to hire her father again even though she could point to numerous times when the city had done the same thing in the past. She said the controversy seemed to have arisen after she filed a complaint against Alderman Dusty Wilkinson.
“I filed a harassment charge on Dusty Wilkinson,” she said. “After the December 10 meeting, I gave verbal complaint to Leon on December 16. I have been slandered and retaliated against”
Wilkinson was not present at last Tuesday’s meeting but was listening on speaker phone for parts of the meeting.
Alderman Lonnie Roby said the board had approved the expense for the meal, that no one had a problem with it, and he urged the board to forget the whole thing and move on.
“This is a bunch of bull crap,” Roby said.
Alderman Kathy Spier said the charge of nepotism made no sense to her.
“I don’t understand the problem,” she said. “Mother and I work for the senior citizens center. Should I be fired for nepotism? What about all the years that (former city secretary) Randy (Shaw) and (former city clerk) Rhonda (Shaw) ran the city?”
“Gini has been nothing but honest and forthright and above board,” Spier said.
Burnett also read guidelines from the Texas Open Meetings Act prohibiting board members from discussing city business outside of a posted meeting whether in person, on the phone, or by electronic message.
The board’s regular meeting this week will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 14.