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January 9, 2009

Dispute pours forth at meeting

Eustace councilmember chides resident over Web site ‘critical’ of city

By Lauren Ricks STAFF WRITER

An ongoing dispute between the Eustace City Council and a city resident — who just so happens to be the wife of a council member — was underscored during a Thursday night meeting.

Councilmember Lisa Roberts took to task resident Elicia Sanders, who has filed numerous open records requests since last summer. Mrs. Sanders maintains a watchdog-type Web site regarding city affairs.

Roberts read a letter criticizing Sanders and the Web site during a portion of the meeting set aside for comments from the mayor and councilmembers.

“I am shocked and appalled at the ‘eustacetexas’ Web site run by one of our very own councilmember’s spouse,” read Roberts, a 13-year member of the council. “This Web site states nothing but negativity on this great community.”

Roberts went on to say Eustace is a small, friendly city and nothing like Austin — the city from which Mrs. Sanders and her husband moved in 2006.

“If you are truly from here you would know that,” Roberts read.

Following the meeting, Roberts said Mrs. Sanders’ requests for information have been received and granted.

The Web site, which Mrs. Sanders said she created last November, includes postings regarding a recent water-rate increase, the city’s amount of debt that she says exceeds $900,000 and allegations the city has violated the Texas Open Meetings Act.

For her part, Mrs. Sanders calls her site a “public service.”

“I have the time and resources to sift through hundreds of pages of documents that most people wouldn’t have on their own,” she said. “If we don’t live in a town where we can’t talk about things openly, then we don’t live in a town quite as peachy as Mrs. Roberts describes.”

Mrs. Sanders has submitted at least 37 requests for information from City Secretary Drucilla Haynes since August, according to documentation provided by city officials. The requests, which together may include hundreds of pages, are sometimes wide-ranging, including requests for:

• “all documents on the City’s computer registered to (City Secretary Drucilla Haynes) and in existence at the date of (her) original request on October 20, 2008;”

• “all phone records for the City of Eustace for Sept. 1, 2008 through Dec. 1, 2008;” and

• “minutes of all meetings in which the duties of the mayor were discussed since January 2004.”

Mrs. Sanders and her husband, Mark, moved to Eustace from Austin in 2006. In his campaign for a spot on the council, Mr. Sanders ran on a platform that included a No. 1 priority of ushering in a code of conduct that would lead to the resignation of Mayor Laura Ward. Ward is under indictment in Henderson County in connection to an alleged assault outside a now-defunct Gun Barrel City bar and grill in 2007. Through her attorney, Mike Head of Athens, Ward has maintained she is not guilty of the charges she faces and will be vindicated when the evidence is heard at trial.

Regarding allegations of Open Meetings violations, Mrs. Sanders says the city hasn’t been posting meeting agendas to its Web site as required by Texas law. In most cases, meeting agendas are required to be posted 72 hours in advance. Mrs. Sanders says that hasn’t always happened on the city’s Web site.

Haynes admits the postings were “sporadic” until June or July of 2008 but have been posted properly since. Ward added that the city’s official Web site isn’t hosted by the city, but by an outside source.

In other action the council:

• entered into executive session to discuss the job performance of city police officer Darrell Dean. After an hour of deliberation, the council carried a motion to support EPD Chief Robert Walker’s decision to terminate Dean. The council authorized to replace Dean with a part-time officer at a rate of $10 per hour;

• discussed a suggestion by Councilmember Mark Sanders to seek legal council regarding throwing candy during the Christmas parade. He said two individuals were injured by thrown candy, and he suggested a fine be levied against anyone who tosses it with too much force.

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