INGLESIDE, Texas — In a unanimous decision the Ingleside city council voted against the forfeiture of Mayor Ronnie Parker’s seat due to their original vote being based on an outdated charter amendment.
A member of the charter review committee clarified that the rule regarding the councils ability to vote on the forfeiture of a seat after missing three consecutive meetings is no longer in place.
“This removed it from the realm of politics because that just becomes contentious whether it’s a popular person… unpopular… whether somebody is looking to take revenge… doesn’t matter. At the end of the day the citizens of Ingleside deserve to have a full council in attendance as much as possible,” he says.
The new rule in place means that the mayor’s seat immediately becomes vacant, with no council vote, after the mayor misses 6 meetings within a year.
Citizens were outraged that the council overlooked this. “You seven could not bother yourselves to recall that there had been a change,” said Mary Shaylor during public comment.
Citizens expressed anger towards the city attorney, Michael Morries, as well. They say he was responsible for the change in the language of the charter.
Council members admitted to their mistakes saying they had no excuse for overlooking the new charter amendment.
“I think an apology is due to the mayor and his family because I didn’t catch the mistake. And to the public, you didn’t need this. What’s even more important is that you don’t deserve it,” says council member Steve Diehl.
Moving forward the amendment stating 6 absences within a year trigger a vacant seat will be the standard for the mayor and council members.
