Burnet mayor calls for 3 councilmen to resign

By CHRIS PORTER • Daily Tribune Staff

BURNET - What began as an apparent attempt to fire Burnet City Manager Mike Steele may bring a premature end to the terms of three City Council members.

Mayor Alan Smith Tuesday called for the resignations of councilmen Bill Flynn, James Ritter and Ken Graham, saying he was pressured by the trio to terminate Steele during a series of private meetings.

Such meetings behind closed doors could be construed as violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act, Smith said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“I would expect those resignations by Oct. 10,” he said, adding he’ll seek a council vote to oust the three men if their resignations aren’t on his desk by the deadline.

His words were met by applause from dozens of residents attending the meeting in a show of support for Steele.

“Gentlemen, I believe you placed this council in jeopardy,” Smith said. “Now we’re here embarrassed, angry, appalled and, worse yet, divided. I do not believe this is the way we should behave. “

Prior to Smith’s comments, the council spent more than an hour in a training session with City Attorney Sheila Limon, where members reviewed the Open Meetings Act and other ethics concerns.

The council later retired behind closed doors for an extended executive session, emerging an hour later with a unanimous vote of support for Steele.

Smith’s speech was the culmination of more than two weeks of back-and-forth maneuvers between the two council factions.

The mayor said he was contacted privately by Flynn Sept. 5 to discuss the termination of Steele, who has served as Burnet city manager for more than five years.

“I felt immediately that the meeting was not right,” Smith said, adding he was later asked by Graham to meet privately Sept. 10.

During a speaker-phone call at that closed-door meeting, Smith said Ritter demanded the mayor meet with Steele to seek the city manager’s resignation.

“Councilman Ritter said he would ask for the city manager’s resignation if I did not,” Steele said.

After consulting with Limon, Ritter and Graham called for a special council meeting to be held Sept. 21 to discuss the termination of Steele.

After the meeting was called, Smith sent a letter to council members urging them to carefully study the Open Meetings Act.

“Bottom line, we must do the right thing,” he wrote.

The special meeting was later cancelled due to a council member’s family emergency, but Smith said Flynn asked to re-visit the issue at Tuesday’s meeting.

Smith said the three council members’ tactics may have irreparably harmed the council’s ability to move forward.

“I didn’t like the (private) meetings, or the high-pressure tactics,” he said. “I believe it stunk to high heaven. I believe this council will move forward, but I do not believe this can happen with the council as it is.”

The three councilman did not offer rebuttals to Smith’s comments, and Flynn declined to comment specifically on the matter, saying it was a personal issue.

Ritter, however, was confronted by Councilwoman Linda Turner in the parking lot shortly outside the meeting.

“You sat in that meeting, and you knew it was wrong,” Turner said.

Smith said he hoped to resolve the issue quickly.

“I am asking you three to do the right thing, so the council can heal and move forward,” he told the councilmen. “ We must never allow our personal agendas to override our duty.”

Steele said the matter has already changed the way he deals with the council, adding he was unaware of the attempted ouster until the first special meeting was called. He once held regular one-on-one meetings with council members to update them on city affairs.

Now, Steele said he’ll meet with the council as a group during workshop sessions held before each regular council meeting.

None of the three councilmen indicated whether they’d tender their resignations by Smith’s Oct. 10 deadline.

Ritter, a former chemical company executive, has served on the council for three years. Graham, a former executive management professional, was elected to the council to fill the one-year unexpired term left by former Councilman Zack Reed, a chiropractor.

Flynn was elected to the council in May 2006.

The next council meeting is set for Oct. 9 in council chambers, 2402 S. Water St.

chris@thepicayune.com

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Burnet mayor calls for 3 councilmen
to resign