Transparency Transgressions
In the City of Bastrop, they’re getting worse.
=> At the June 11 City Council meeting, three members of the City Council, led by Cynthia Meyer, John Kirkland and Kevin Plunkett succeeded in undermining the Mayor’s authority to appoint the volunteer members to the City Charter Revision Commission. They included Council-recommended names by reference in an ordinance. Under the City Charter, the Mayor has no veto power.
=> The City Charter specifies “The Mayor shall appoint members to all City boards and commissions, subject to confirmation by the Council.” That means the Mayor must first appoint someone, and then the City Council must concur in that appointment. It does not mean the City Council can appoint people by resolution or by ordinance, and the Mayor must concur.
=> They forced three of their appointees onto the Commission: developer attorneys Joe Grady Tuck and Chris Kirby, and former City Council Member Jimmy Crouch, all leading supporters of the Gateway Project – the project on the hill behind Buc’cees — whose zoning change had been defeated two weeks earlier.
=> Joe Grady Tuck had spoken at the April 29, 2024 special meeting in support of stripping Mayor Nelson of many of his duties under the City Charter. (See agenda item 4D proposed by Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland. https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/bastroptx-pubu/MEET-Packet-3d949e03e2314f09b5f8dcdd064dc558.pdf Click 4D for specific minutes and list of modifications to the duties of the Mayor.) He spoke in favor of the Gateway Project and was seen at the Ethics Commission meeting conferring with the attorney for Council member John Kirkland.
=> Jimmy Crouch was just defeated by the voters and lost his City Council seat. He had voted in favor of the Gateway Project.
=> Chris Kirby is employed by the Tuck Law Group. He spoke in favor of the Gateway Project.
=> At the June 25 City Council meeting, Council Members Meyer, Kirkland and Plunkett employed a surprise maneuver to require the all-volunteer citizen Charter Revision Commission of 13 members to have a ¾ super-majority before they could simply recommend changes to the Council to place charter amendments on the November ballot. This modification was upon second reading and is a significant change to the ordinance. Notwithstanding no advance public notice of this modification, it was allowed to stand. Two readings of ordinances are required so the public has an opportunity to review any proposed ordinance prior to adoption.
=> This now allows only three people (guess who!) to stop any recommendations to the Council they don’t like. (See minutes on Ordinance 2024-18, pages 46-49 https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/bastroptx-pubu/MEET-Packet-db6d6f7eaa1e40598ddc7e121b468b5d.pdf)
=> At the July 9 City Council meeting, Council Member Cynthia Meyer casually mentioned she attends regular private meetings with two other members of the Council (Kirkland and Plunkett), after which she proceeded with Kirkland and Plunkett to block a motion that would put an end to their misdeeds. (Minutes are on the July 23 agenda for approval.)