Mayor breaks tie votes to punish critics, ECP

FERRIS – Ferris Mayor Micheal Driggars, under fire from residents and business owners in the past few weeks, manipulated last week’s city council meeting to silence critics, according to those present at the Tuesday, April 17 meeting.

 

The regular bi-monthly meeting was scheduled for Monday but was changed to Tuesday, too late for the local newspaper to publish a story about it.

 

In addition, he re-arranged the published agenda to ensue citizen comments would have to wait around a couple hours and would push voices of the public to not be able to address their concerns until after the council had already voted on executive session items on which the citizens had wanted to talk about.

 

Normally in a small government and particularly in Ferris for the past 30 years or so, the public comment section has been first, following only the invocation, Pledge of Allegiance, and council roll call to verify a quorum is present.

 

In this instance, it (citizen comments) WAS scheduled to be item number 2, but Driggers announced he was moving the executive session (listed on the agenda as the final item) to be convened immediately, citing the need to move it forward because City Attorney Michael Halla had to leave early.

 

As they moved down the hall leading to the council chambers, one resident said he observed Driggers and Halla “chest-bump” each other.

 

Frustrated and fatigued, those who wanted to address the council persevered the nearly hour and a half in the audience determined to have their voices heard, except for Chuck Goodwin, who was called away early. Goodwin previously spoke at an earlier Town Hall meeting.

 

After an unusually long session, when open session re-conveined, the city attorney’s annual contract was renewed, subject to red-line provisions, with only one councilmember voting nay. The city secretary’s annual contract was renewed unanimously.

 

No mention was made to renew the contract of City Manager Bill Jordan, who was under investigation for 11 complaints of sexual harassment, filed by female city employees, even though it was on the agenda to be considered in executive session.

 

Then, in another surprise move, Driggers moved all the remaining agenda items ahead (again) of the citizen comments, requiring the speakers to wait at least another hour if they wanted to still address the council.

 

The naming of the city’s legal paper became another perceived retaliation of Driggers as he broke a 2 to 2 tie vote to choose the Ennis Daily as the city’s paper of record instead of continuing with The Ellis County Press, since recent articles in the ECP have exposed his alleged sexual lewdness and affair with City Secretary Callie Green. 

 

Green presented her calculations of the cost for publishing a sample legal notice in three different papers (ECP, Ennis Daily, and The Waxahachie Daily Light) to the council.

 

She reported the Ennis Daily was the least expensive with the ECP slightly higher.

 

Mayor Pro-Tem Rick Barrett made a motion to renew The Ellis County Press again as the official legal publication, citing he would like to support the local paper.

 

“My recommendation to continue the city’s contract with The Ellis County Press was based on the newspaper being a local business – I always try to support our Ferris Businesses,” Barrett later clarified,

 

“I also believe the newspaper complies with the requirements established in the contract with the City of Ferris.

 

“I understand the Ennis paper has a lower rate, but for me, it was not substantial enough for me to make a change.”

 

Mayor-Elect Jim Swafford (the only candidate to be running for mayor in the upcoming May 5 election) seconded the motion.

 

“The Ellis County Press reaches local (people), said Swafford.

 

The vote failed, with Councilmembers Clayton Hunter and Bobby Lindsey motioning and voting for Ennis Daily and since the vote was 2 to 2, Driggers broke the vote (the only time a mayor can vote is to break a tie) to cast his vote for Ennis Daily.

 

“We will file suit if you go outside Ferris,” warned ECP Publisher Charles Hatfield.

 

He explained current Texas laws prohibit city’s from going outside its jurisdiction.

 

“It looks like you are trying to hide what you are doing (from your residents)” clarified Hatfield.

 

Finally, Tina Miller, owner of Country Corner Treasures, and Sherie Chapman, council candidate for the May 5 election and daughter-in-law of respected long-time Ferris residents Joe and Jo Ann Chapman, were allowed to speak.

 

Both have been very outspoken at recent council and town hall meetings, but this time was a little different because their primary focus in the past was to plead for the reinstatement of Police Chief Eddie Salazar and Lead Investigator Walter (Gator) Weiss, who were both reinstated Tuesday, following a suspension a couple weeks ago by Jordan.

 

The suspension was given because, “they were under investigation,” according to Jordan, even though he, himself, was under investigation for the complaints of sexual harassment, at the time, but allowed to stay on the job.

 

The only reasons for investigation, according to protesters, was because a relative of Driggers saw them eating lunch in Dallas with The Ellis County Press Publisher Charles Hatfield and the city manager was afraid they were leaking information on the complaints of sexual harassment on Jordan, and Driggers and Green allegedly being caught performing a sex act in the parking lot outside city hall.

 

Perhaps because of the exhausting wait, Miller and Chapman shouted their concerns, as if after waiting so long, they wanted to be sure to be heard.

 

Explaining difficulties the economic development officer was having to bring new business to Ferris, Miller asked who would want to move a business here knowing the scandals widely circulating on social media without any action being taken by them to “clean up their mess,” as requested by many residents. She said Ferris city hall was being referred to as a brothel.

 

Miller said they had brought shame to this city.

 

Chapman also came on strong, explaining she had wished to speak to the council “before” they went into executive session to repeat Jordan had known since December Driggars and Green were violating the City of Ferris Code of Ethics section 4 Number P4.15 – “Fraternization” by engaging in an intimate relationship.

 

Under Promote Ethical Organizations in Chapter 4 of the city’s personnel policy, it states, “Establish procedures that promote ethical behavior and hold individuals and organizations accountable for their conduct.”

 

She had wanted the council to oppose any salary increases for the city manager and the city secretary, but they had already renewed the secretary’s annual contract before Chapman had a chance to speak. According to Chapman, Green’s salary is $60,000 a year.

 

Protestors have been asking for the firing of Jordan and Green and for Driggars “to step down from his office,” for at least a month.

           

The bottom line of the meeting was, as Miller questioned, “How can you govern our city, if you can’t govern yourselves?”

 

Sources said the mayor and others were planning a write-in campaign on May 5 to make sure Swafford didn’t become the next mayor, but protestors were asking voters to please vote for Swafford only and, as for council positions, to elect either Sherie Chapman or Rudy Amor to fill Carol Wright’s vacated position and Michael Martinez to defeat controversial Jay Walsh in  place #4, all to support Barrett and Swafford in, “cleaning up the city.”  They also asked voters to vote NO on the bond proposal.