June 17, 2015 - TMPA (Texas Municipal Police Association) representatives spoke at the Timpson City Council in relation to the continuing discussion of a police reduction in force (RIF).
Noel Johnson and John Wilkerson, TMPA field representatives, were at the meeting held on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 and Johnson, who has spoken with the council about this issue before, reiterated some of his original concerns as he says the discussions continue about a RIF.
Johnson referenced what he says is "fuzzy math" presented by Wolfe and what he calls interesting and entertaining fiduciary limits. According to Johnson an accountant out of Austin has reviewed the budget for the city which was presented in February by Mayor Debra Pate Smith which Johnson says the accountant indicated shows a $30,000 surplus.
Although allegations against councilmen Wolfe and Grace were made the last time Johnson attended the Timpson Council meeting, he said he would not rehash that at this time; however, he did say the TMPA has been in contact with the Attorney General's office.
"We have since made presentation to the Attorney General's office, the captain of the Public Integrity unit on our findings. They're very interested to see what goes forth from here. Mr. Grace, you're very blessed to work/live in a jurisdiction that when you have a citation, unlike most citizens in your community that have to pay those or go to jail like in my jurisdiction. If the councilperson had an outstanding citation they would be arrested in a council meeting, but I understand that doesn't happen here with this county prosecutor and with this sheriff's department."
The contention of some council members the police officers cannot be afforded is a haunt Johnson says they live with and which he says is forcing some of them to seek other jobs, reducing the force and endangering the community. He suggested other cities are not in as good of a position as Timpson, "Just this past week in Joaquin, Texas that had a mentally disturbed individual come into their council meeting and they could not get a single officer in the county to be there because the county had one deputy on duty. That goes back to the fact that you have officers that love working here, love serving this community, you have 24-hour coverage, you have officers in this community; and if your daughter or wife was getting sexually assaulted or your house was getting broken in to and we reduced the force here they proved [this] week in Joaquin that they don't have a deputy to come help you out."
Johnson explained how the job market for police is not like other service industry jobs and a lot of time can be involved in acquiring a new position somewhere. According to Johnson, every month the officers live without enough job security to know if they will have a job the next month. He remarked on how busy the police department is based on the police department report and was glad other projects in the city can receive grant funding to get accomplished; however, the constant threat of officers losing their jobs endangers the community.
"I'm kinda sick and tired of having to come back here, because to be honest Mr. Wolfe, you're a playground bully. I've seen videos of how you treat the other people on this council, I've heard tell of how you treat people in the community and how these officers are having to live under constant fear with this fuzzy math that's gonna run them outta town," said Johnson.
Councilman Wolfe made quick retort to Johnson's statements and informed him the "fuzzy math" was produced by Leslie Leathers, city secretary. Johnson suggested Wolfe not throw Leathers under the bus and Wolfe denied the insinuation.
"Let's address the fuzzy math. I asked her to do a profit and loss for the police department projected over 2015. I had nothing to do with it, she did it," said Wolfe under protest from councilman Kyle Allen. Wolfe continued, "It was $165,000 in deficit for the next, over the next year. Your allegations that you made toward me in March are lies, and they can be verified by-- they are lies. I resent your accusations! All you're trying to do is save their jobs, and I understand."
Wolfe continued to dispute the issue with Johnson and Mayor Smith attempted to quell their interaction as Johnson was only on the agenda to speak for three minutes when an argument ensued.
"I'm not short-changing my community, we can't continue to lose $165,000 a year in the police department," said Wolfe to which Johnson stated was a magic number and Wolfe continued. "It's not a magic number [Leslie Leathers] come up with it. Why can't you understand that?"
Councilman Allen suggested councilman Wolfe projected seven months minus the summer months, which he said are the police department's busiest time of year. Wolfe stated he did that for 2014 as well.
Larry Burns (standing) was recognized for his 21 years of service working for the city. Mayor Smith's announcement of this achievement was met with audience applause.
A number of much larger expenses are a concern for Wolfe and he says the city cannot survive at the rate the city is losing money. He then suggested no one in the council room wants their electricity rates to go up. Mayor Smith put a halt to the argument continuing any further and Johnson apologized to which Wolfe responded by saying Johnson had not apologized to him for lying.
This spurred the argument forward again and Mayor Smith stood up and stated on the advice of personal council she was leaving the meeting. As the council continued onto item 10 of the agenda to designate a separate checking account for the police department, councilman Allen excused himself from the meeting eliminating a quorum.
Councilman Wolfe and councilwoman Janell Baker discussed the possibility of continuing the meeting absent of Mayor Smith and councilman Allen. Wolfe explained to the audience the reason item 10 was added to the agenda at the request of council members Wolfe, Baker and Grace.
"The reason we asked for that was because the funding for the police department comes out of the general fund. What happens, the money comes from usually the electric/sewer/water account into the general fund. Then when it gets into the general fund it can be used for anything, it can be used for water, sewer whatever we need. It furbishes the general fund. We can't actually look at that and tell how much funding the police department has got, so we asked for a special account for that. I'm wondering right now if we can proceed with this meeting, because if I'm acting mayor," said Wolfe.
Wolfe then requested Leathers contact Texas Municipal League to find out if the council can continue to move forward with the meeting at a later date.
(Update):
Earlier in the meeting, Marilyn Corder with the Timpson Area Chamber of Commerce presented a request to the city council for Frontier Days to be held on the city square July 2nd through the 5th. Approval for this item was not necessary.
Larry Burns was recognized for his 21st year working with the city as of June 13, 2015. He reported there were 29 total work orders received with 24 of them being resolved.
Pat Oates, Engineering director for Goodwin Lasiter, and Leslie Waxman with Waxman and Associates spoke with the council about four city projects in the city of which three are sewer and one is water. These projects include Archie, N. 2nd and Garrison Streets (See related table).
Waxman suggested the possibility of the city applying for a water development board loan and Oates suggested the possibility of a USDA loan and said sometimes grants can be available through the USDA as well. Both of these loan possibilities could take an extended period of time.
Waxman recommended the council speak with a Bond Attorney to see what option might best work for the city. She explained this year there was a change in grant application procedure which had an effect on the city's request. Waxman says the Texas Department of Agriculture claims a mistake occurred when they filed with the Secretary of State Texas Register. Instead of reading there would be a penalty for having been funded in the last funding cycle the wording says the last two funding cycles which prevented Timpson from being funded this year. The Texas Register serves as the journal of state agency rule making for Texas.
A motion was carried to adjourn the meeting at 6:40pm due to concerns over the absence of a quorum at that time following the walk out. Mayor Debra Pate Smith has stated via Facebook the items which remained on the June meeting agenda will be included in the July meeting agenda.
Approved items on the agenda:
Consent agenda items:
A. Consider approval of the minutes of the regular meeting held on May 21st, 2015
B. Consider approval of Financial Statement for the month of May, 2015
C. Consider approval of Accounts Payable – Unpaid bills for May, 2015
D. Consider waiving the 30ft spacing for mobile homes at established mobile home park owned by Al Skinner (grandfathered in).
Sewer and Water Projects: Project 1: Archie Street and N. 2nd Street - Replace 1,150 ft of clay tile sewer between Archie Street and N. 2nd with 6" SDR 26 PVC pipe at a cost of $124,000 with the possibility of partial grant funding. Project 2: N. 2nd, N. 4th and Garrison Streets - Replace 3,300 ft of clay tile sewer on N. 2nd, N. 4th and Garrison Streets with 6" SDR 26 PVC pipe at a cost of $231,000. New lift station and convert old lift station to manhole. This would be a $275,000 grant project. Project 3: N. 2nd Street and Todd Street in between First Baptist Church and B&B - 1,180 ft PVC water main including four fire hydrants interconnecting to existing mains at a cost of $110,000. Project 4: Lift station replacement - Neww holding station with new pumps and remove old lift station. Recondition other station at a cost of $143,150. This project was included in a recent grant application which was declined. Projects total cost: $608,150 Police Department report for May 31 agency assists, 16 motorist assists, 2 escorts, 13 extra patrol requests, 6 calls for lose livestock, 5 calls for animal complaints, served 2 warrants, 2 theft cases, 1 burglary of a coin operated machine, 1 burglary of a habitation, 1 DWI, 1 crash investigation, 2 calls for criminal mischief, 11 disturbances, 1 call for suspicious person, 2 calls for suspicious vehicle, 7 calls for reckless driving, 11 investigations, 2 cases of possession of marijuana, 1 possession of a controlled substance, 1 possession of dangerous drug, 1 false report to a police officer, 1 case tampering/fabricating physical evidence, 1 assault with a deadly weapon, 1 assault, 2 cases public intoxication, 4 welfare checks, 1 driving while license invalid. total calls for service 130 with 14 arrests. Public Works report for May 29 total work orders received with 24 of them being resolved. Municipal Court report for May 287 citations issued, 327 violations, 0 to juveniles and 22 to minors. Total amount reported $18,528.65 the city’s portion of 55% is $10,190.76.
