Bandera City Council met on Tuesday to revise the city ordinance for Visitors to Be Heard, which will now allow residents to choose to speak before the meeting or during the discussion of their selected agenda item.
The council also formally adopted meetings to begin at 6:30 p.m. going forward, and to work on cross training employees – in particular for the position of City Treasurer.
Council member Tammy Morrow opened the discussion of the Visitors to Be Heard ordinance, of which she had taken issue with prior to her election to council.
The city had revised the ordinance on Oct.14 to limit visitors to speak only on items on the meeting agenda or proposals for future agenda items prior to the meeting.
Morrow proposed to change this to allow visitors the option to speak prior to the meeting or during an agenda item of their choice.
Council member Deanna McCabe supported the change.
“I think my question would be obviously with the three minutes, I know that when they are up here that we cannot rebut, but if they speak on an agenda item, they may have a question for us and we can answer them,” McCabe said. “I think another thing I have found is that we are pretty selective on who can speak, how long they can speak – I mean, there is really no set standard for everyone.”
McCabe also referenced a past Economic Development Corporation (EDC) meeting, during which she stated a board member was told not to call on someone to speak.
Council member Jeff Flowers noted that Mayor Denise Griffin had always allowed visitors to speak and that the issues between EDC and council meetings were separate.
“I was told that residents were only allowed to speak beforehand due to the ordinance,” Griffin clarified.
Morrow produced the government code 1.03.094, which she stated would allow visitors to split their three-minute allotted time to speak before the meeting and during an agenda item, or either or.
“She [Morrow] is correct,” City Attorney Matt Groves stated. “You just have to amend the ordinance.”
The council unanimously voted to change the ordinance, which will be effective at the next meeting.
The council also updated policies and procedures for grant awards, which included the formation of an oversight committee including Mayor Denise Griffin, city treasurer Allyson Wright, the auditor, Groves, and interim city administrator Jill Dickerson.
Further discussion included the EDC property located on 11th and Cedar, Hackberry and 2nd. Mc-Cabe suggested that the property be sold outside of city hands so that the property would be back on the tax roll and “help alleviate some of the property taxes on residents”. The motion was tabled until the official resolution is provided by the EDC.
The council also discussed the need for cross training, with council member Debbie Breen noting that no other employee was cross trained for Wright’s position. Griffin explained that Wright was the only employee trained in Incode, the accounting software, and that prior attempts had been made to train others, only to lose those employees to other businesses.
Griffin expressed support for the cross-training, however, citing a time when Wright received emergency gall bladder surgery and returned to office just three days later.
When it came time for the executive session, McCabe refused to participate, citing that the language used on the executive session was vague, and that it worked against her morals of transparent governance.
The language provided for the executive session read as follows: (1) Code of Ordinances, City of Bandera, Texas, Article 1.04 Code of Ethics and Conduct for City Officials and Employees.
Groves stated that the meeting was to provide legal counsel on certain policies but could not elaborate further to not violate the executive session ordinance.
The council closed with requests for the next meeting’s agenda: Homelessness in Bandera, Music-friendly signs, discussions on a Town Hall meeting, an update from the Marshal’s office regarding the old vehicles, Bandera Animal Shelter, and a discussion on the city administrator.
Breen expressed her frustration that agenda items she had requested in the past would not be followed up with and requested that a response be provided to follow up going forward. The council also requested a draft agenda on the Wednesday before the regularly scheduled council meeting.
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