2009-10-15
Over objections, mayor appoints city liaison
By Judith Pannebaker
An effort to improve relationships between the City of Bandera and Bandera County was nearly derailed during the Thursday, Oct. 1, city council meeting. However, to purloin a phrase from the late William Safire, this time the “nattering nabobs of negativism” failed to prevail.
Mayor Horst Pallaske proposed naming Councilman Maggie Schumacher as the city’s liaison to the county government for discussions of interlocal cooperative agreements. City Councilman Binky Archer and her political mentor, Councilman Robert Koimn, took exception to Pallaske’s assumption that, as mayor, he had authority to appoint a representative to an ad hoc committee.
As Pallaske explained, the committee’s purpose was to “work through” past issues and forge a better working relationship for the future. “Hopefully, this will allow us to work better together,” he said.
To that end, he proposed Schumacher as the city’s representative. At an earlier meeting of commissioners’ court, County Judge Richard Evans had appointed Precinct 4 Commissioner Doug King as the county representative. Items slated for discussion at future committee meetings include the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), which is essentially under county control; and EMS coverage, among others.
Koimn immediately began dissecting the nature of the committee meetings, which, he learned to his and Archer’s consternation, would not be subject to the Open Meetings Act. Neither governmental agency proposes sending a quorum of members to the meetings.
He then requested a “job description” of her representation. To a question from Koimn regarding her “position,” Schumacher, who had attended an earlier city-county meeting, replied, “The committee itself has not been defined, so my position has not yet been defined.”
“The public wasn’t informed about this committee so they could nominate someone else,” noted Archer, who had campaigned for city council on a platform that included fostering better relations between city and county governments.
Regarding the committee’s formation, Koimn interjected, “This seems to be putting the cart before the horse.”
Disagreeing with her colleague, Councilman Monica Halsey said, “This is something that needs to be done. There are lots of things that need to be discussed such as subdivision ordinances and rules, the ETJ and relationships between the sheriff’s office and the police department. We need to move forward and this is a step forward.” She made a motion to allow Schumacher’s appointment – over objections that no motion was necessary.
After Archer’s question, “Would you be making decisions in the meeting?” elicited a chorus of emphatic “Nos!” Archer responded, “Well, I was just asking.”
After more grumbling on the part of Koimn and Archer, Halsey spoke to the crux of their concern. “The mayor has the authority to appoint representatives, but there seems to be some questions as to whether he has the authority.”
As if on cue, Koimn read a passage from the Texas Municipal League manual that stated in essence that a mayor only has authority to appoint representatives if the city council grants him that authority.
In turn, Pallaske pointed out that the mayor is granted the authority according to the by-laws and ordinances of the City of Bandera.
Koimn rejoined, “Now we’re taking (that authority) away,” apparently using the royal “we.”
“Then you’ll have to change the ordinances and by-laws,” Pallaske said, something Koimn seemed reluctant to get into at that time.
After Nancy Montgomery noted that appointing Schumacher to the city-county committee was essentially the same as appointing a person to represent the city on the Celebrate Bandera committee, Halsey withdrew her motion. This allowed Pallaske to appoint Schumacher to the committee.
Dates and times of committee meetings will not be posted and the meetings will not be open to the public or press. This, most felt, would facilitate frank and open discussions.
“Maggie will update the council after each meeting,” Pallaske said.
