Roger Estlack

The employment of City Administrator John Webb was terminated Tuesday night by the Clarendon Board of Aldermen.

Mayor Chris Ford told the Enterprise the board’s decision was “based on a lack of confidence in (Webb’s) ability to perform the duties of city administrator.”

The decision came during a called meeting of the board the Enterprise learned about late Tuesday night, and Alderman Will Thompson confirmed that evening that the board voted 3-2 to remove Webb. Thompson said he and Alderman Ann Huey voted against the measure and that Aldermen Larry Hicks, Tommy Hill, and Kyle Davis voted for the removal.

Mayor Ford said the board’s decision was effective immediately and that Webb was given an opportunity to resign prior to the board’s action, which was taken after the aldermen met in closed session for an hour and 45 minutes.

“I have consulted with Texas Municipal League and the city attorney, and everything has been done according to the Open Meetings Act,” Ford said.

The mayor said he met Wednesday morning with all city employees to inform them of the decision.

“I told them that the board is supportive of them and the community and said the mayor and the board will be actively involved in responding to citizens’ needs and concerns.”

Ford said the board will likely have another called meeting next week to discuss appointing an interim city administrator and said the city will be looking for a new administrator.

Webb has served as Clarendon’s city administrator since October 2008. He did not have a contract with the city, Ford said.

Workers knocked down Clarendon’s water tower in the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 24, 2010.  The tower had served the city for more than 80 years and has been replaced by a new, taller standpipe. Visit our Facebook page for more video of the knock down.

The Clarendon Enterprise proudly unveiled its new website this week and encouraged readers to go online and get involved.

ClarendonLive.com will replace ClarendonOnline.com, which has served the newspaper since 2000.

“The old site served its purpose, but it was time for a change,” said publisher Roger Estlack. “The new site is more interactive, it is more convenient for our readers, and it will be updated more frequently.”

ClarendonLive will allow readers to post comments on stories, submit story ideas and photos, and place classifieds and announcements online. In addition, visitors to the site can still search more than nine years worth of archives that were transferred from the old website.

 “We want ClarendonLive.com to become the spot everyone goes to for information about Clarendon and Donley County,” Estlack said. “We also want to see people get involved on the site and hope that it generates civil discussion on local topics.”

Readers can also sign up to get e-mail alerts when the site is updated, and a link is available to follow the Enterprise on Facebook.

Enterprise staff members have been working since December to get ClarendonLive ready, and the new site will still be fine tuned in the coming days and weeks.

“This has truly been a team effort,” the publisher said. “Contributing Editor Ashlee Estlack has put a lot of ideas and guidance into the site, and Julie Shields did a tremendous job learning the new interface and transferring content from the old site.

“Anndria Newhouse also provided great support and suggestions. We’ve also had a team of volunteers looking at the sight for about a week now.”

Much of the credit for the new site goes to Dr. Randy Reddick, who chairs the Journalism Department at Texas Tech University.

“Dr. Reddick taught me publication design, and he has graciously taken us under his wing in the development of ClarendonLive,” Estlack said. “He has done a lot of work behind the scenes, spent a day with our staff, and was on the telephone for many hours with us over the last few weeks. We truly appreciate all his efforts on this.”

The Enterprise has a long tradition of reporting local events. The paper has been through many changes since its establishment as The Clarendon News in 1878. It was one of the early community papers to begin a digital edition with Enterprise-D in 2005, and ClarendonLive.com will continue that spirit of innovation.

“We will always have a newspaper, but increasingly readers will want more local news on the web,” Estlack said. “That’s the purpose of ClarendonLive – to keep our readers informed and connected to our community.”

A Memphis couple was in the Donley County Jail this week after passing at least 30 worthless checks to businesses in Clarendon.

Sheriff Butch Blackburn said 53-year-old Darryl Smith and 31-year-old Amy Smith were each being held on $10,000 bond and facing charges of Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity – Theft, a third degree felony.

Authorities received a call from Bronco Burger last Thursday, March 18, about worthless checks being passed in Clarendon. The restaurant had received three such checks, and the establishment’s owners reported that the subjects had also passed checks at a Taylor’s convenience store here.

As the sheriff’s department began investigating the case, the couple was reported at Taylor’s again and was later stopped at White’s Feed & Seed, where they were arrested and booked into jail.

Blackburn said the checks were on the couple’s own bank account but that the account had been closed for several months. The checks ranged in amount from $2 to over $200, and the Smiths had started passing them locally on March 12.

“On March 17 and 18 alone the checks totaled about $700,” Blackburn said. “We expect to be bombarded with the bad checks from businesses in the next couple of weeks.”

The sheriff said the couple admitted to planning to use the money from the bad checks to buy crack cocaine.

The local population will more than double this weekend when the Clarendon College Invitational Judging Contest is held on Saturday.
The contest regularly attracts more than 2,000 high school FFA students and 4-H students from Texas and nearby states.

According to the 2000 US Census, Clarendon has a population of 1,974.
Blowing snow and hazardous driving conditions forced the cancelation of last year’s contest.  That marked the first time in the 28-year history of the event it had to be cancelled.

Past contests have had huge impacts on the local economy.  Restaurants are typically packed for the event to the point of actually having to turn people away, and this year will hopefully be equally successful.

In fact, the annual judging contest is the single biggest event to attract visitors from out of county for one day than any other annual event. By comparison, the July 4th Saints’ Roost Celebration barbecue annually attracts about 1,000 people, the Buck’N Blow Out Rodeo on Labor Day weekend drew 1,500 last year, and the Col. Charles Goodnight Chuckwagon Cookoff records between 1,000 and 1,500 visitors each September. Each of those events, however, has hundreds of local residents in attendance. The greatest number of people at the judging contest will come from outside of Donley County.

In addition to helping local merchants, the event also presents a great opportunity for CC to showcase its campus, faculty, and programs for prospective students. Johnny Treichel, Clarendon College livestock and meats judging coach, said the event is the biggest recruiting tool for the college.

“This is the only time each year the college has this many potential students on campus,” he said. “And we are pleased to have such positive support from the community.”

The Clarendon Board of Aldermen voted tonight to remove John Webb as city administrator during a called meeting at City Hall, The Clarendon Enterprise has learned.

Alderman Will Thompson confirmed late Tuesday that the board voted 3-2 to remove Webb.

“Some issues were raised about confidence in information he has presented to the board,” Thompson said.

Calls to Mayor Chris Ford and Mayor Pro-tem Tommy Hill were not answered late Tuesday night, and a call to Webb’s cell phone went straight to a non-functioning voice mail system.

Thompson said the board met with the city administrator in closed session before taking action in open session. He said that he and Alderman Ann Huey voted against the measure and that Aldermen Larry Hicks, Tommy Hill, and Kyle Davis voted for the removal.

Thompson deferred other questions, including the effective date of the removal, to the mayor.

Webb has served as Clarendon’s city administrator since October 2008.