The Monitor (Mabank, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 78, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 11, 2014 Page: 4 of 20
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Page 4A • The Monitor - Sunday, May 11, 2014
Mayor disallows public criticism of fire departments at hearing
By David Webb
Monitor Correspondent
TOOL-About 40 resi-
dents looking forward to a
showdown with the Tool
City Council at a public
hearing May 1 left 10 min-
utes later frustrated and
grumbling.
Eleven residents signed
up to address the council
about the recent mass res-
ignation of most of the City
of Tool Volunteer Fire
Department’s chief and
firefighters, but Mayor
TamraBriekey quickly si-
lenced first speaker Jeana
Williams after she uttered
only one sentence of criti-
cism.
“That’s it,” Brickey said
as she told Williams she
would be allowed to only
express an opinion about
whether the city’s volun-
teer firefighters who re-
signed should be allowed
to return. “Do you want the
fire department to stay or
go away?” Brickey asked.
Williams attempted to
argue, reminding Brickey
that during an April 17
council meeting Brickey
silenced her with the ad-
monition to save it for the
public hearing. “This isn’t
right,” Williams said.
Councilman Donny
Daniel backed the mayor,
saying there would be “no
bashing” allowed.
Williams pointed out that
the agenda for the public
hearing stated, “Open
public hearing for citizens
to comment on the future
development of their City
of Tool Volunteer Fire
Department.”
Williams, who is a
former firefighter, is the
wife of Councilman Rick
Williams, who is also one
of the volunteer firefighters
who resigned. When
Brickey asked Council-
man Williams if he wanted
to explain the rules to the
speaker, his wife said, “My
husband doesn’t tell me
what to do.”
A few of the residents
who signed up to speak
also complained about be-
ing censored by the mayor.
Others who signed up to
speak abandoned their
plans after learning of the
rules. “This is crazy,” said
resident Carol Price as she
walked away from the mi-
crophone. After the hear-
ing, Price said she had
hoped to learn why the
firefighters had resigned
during the public hearing
because she is concerned
about city officials not hav-
ing “oversight” of the fire-
fighters that protect the city.
Clarissa Gordon, an-
other speaker and the wife
of a resigned firefighter,
threatened to take her
complaints to the newspa-
pers and a Dallas television
station, and Daniel told her
to “go ahead.”
Most of the speakers
expressed support for
keeping the City of Tool
Volunteer F ire Department
in place, even though city
taxpayers pay a 3-cent ad-
valorem tax to Henderson
County Emergency Ser-
vices District No. 4 that
funds a separate fire de-
partment known as Tool
Volunteer Fire Depart-
ment, Inc. The City of Tool
Volunteer F ire Department
is funded only by the city.
Tool residents approved
the ESD No. 4 in 2003,
and the city-funded fire
department has operated
about the same amount of
time. Dissension over the
two organizations, and
their supporters has fol-
lowed ever since.
After the public hearing
ended, Brickey acknowl-
edged she previously told
Williams she could express
her criticism, but the mayor
said that after receiving in-
put from others she recon-
sidered the plan. One
council member she would
not identify provided input
to her through a third-
party, she said.
“They were coming
here to bash the other de-
partment,” Brickey said.
“Em sorry, but I’m not
going to have a fire depart-
ment bashing.”
Brickey said she had
concerns about maintain-
ing order during the public
hearing as emotions ap-
peared to run strongly on
the issue. Several uni-
formed police officers at-
tended the meeting, arriv-
ing just before its start.
“Blame it on me,”
Brickey said. “That’s what
I’m here for.”
Supporters of the re-
signed firefighters claim the
mayor came into office last
November with the plan to
abolish the cify-funded de-
partment. Brickey, who
formerly served on the
ESD No. 4 Board of Di-
rectors, has denied the al-
legation.
The council members
polled said they were un-
aware of the public hear-
ing mles established by the
mayor until after they ar-
rived for the meeting. The
rules on the public hearing
released to the media af-
terthe meeting stated, “All
discussion will be limited to
answering of the following
question, Would you like
to see the City of Tool
Volunteer F ire Department
continue in existence... Yes
or No?; You must sign up
in order to speak during
the meeting; Comments
will be limited to Citizens
currently residing within the
city limits of the City of
Tool; You will be called to
speak in the order in which
you signed up; You may
not begin speaking until you
have been recognized by
the Mayor to do so; Citi-
zens will only be allowed
three minutes to speak, and
must speak into the micro-
phone; This is not a de-
bate. There will be no
bashing or down-grading
of any other entity what-
soever.”
Brickey released a writ-
ten statement after the pub-
lic hearing that said in part,
“My platform as mayor in
the City of Tool is, and al-
ways has been, to do what
is in the best interest of the
citizens, without personal
regard. I have made a
choice to ignore the nega-
tive comments and attacks
of those who think other-
wise, and focus my energy
on more constructive ef-
forts that will help move the
city forward. I am in high
hopes that a solution to this
issue will soon be reached,
and will satisfy the desire
of all invested parties.” The
mayor said she has an
“open-door policy” and
that she welcomes “con-
structive criticism.”
Treasurer of the Tool
Volunteer Fire Department
Michelle McClain, who
did not speak at the meet-
ing, sent a statement to The
Monitor saying in part,
“The City of Tool does not
need two fire departments.
As a taxpayer, I am tired
of paying taxes that fund
two departments. The
money allotted for the city
fire department should be
used for city needs. The
disagreement between the
two departments needs to
stop. The citizens are pay-
ing good money for fire
protection, and I feel that
the ESD has done that,
and will continue to do that.
I am tired of hearing ru-
mors about our depart-
ment not having good
equipment or trained per-
sonnel. That is not true,
and I encourage the citi-
zens to come see the de-
partment and meet us.”
Brickey said the issue of
whether to abolish the City
of Tool Volunteer Fire
Department will be de-
cided by the City Council
after it is seated following
the May 10 city election.
Three seats are on the bal-
lot so the majority view of
the council on the issue will
not be known until that
time, she said.
Eatery to reopen after kitchen fire
Monitor Photo/David Webb
A professional property restoration company is cleaning the Yellow Rose in Seven
Points following a kitchen fire that occurred last Sunday after closing. Owner
Homero Ornelas said he plans to reopen the popular 150-seat Mexican restaurant
in a week or so. “We're going to do it the right way,” he said. The fire was
restricted to the kitchen, Seven Points fire chief A.J. Kirksey said, adding the fire
had begun in a refrigeration unit and had burned itself out.
| Council
Continued from Page 1A
owner of 504 E. Market
St. “We’re not in the mow-
ing business,” councilman
Larry Teague said. “That’s
why we passed the ordi-
nance in 2001” setting
mowing fees.
• updated the city’s
Water Conservation and
Drought Contingency Plan
to coincide with that of the
Tarrant Regional Water
District.
• heard a letter from the
Van Zandt County Sheriff
expressing appreciation
and outstanding service
received from the Mabank
Police Department.
“On many occasions, the
Mabank Police Depart-
ment has assisted the Van
Zandt County Sheriff’s
Office with calls for ser-
vice, manhunts, death in-
vestigations, robberies and
searches for missing per-
sons. A recent example
bears noting, on April 14,
my deputy was miles away
and we requested assis-
tance. Your officers cap-
tured one burglar inside a
rural county residence
then conducted a manhunt
and apprehended a sec-
ond suspect, who had fled
the scene. The quick and
effective response of your
officers resulted in the ar-
rest of two criminals who,
I am absolutely certain,
were preying on the citi-
zens of both our commu-
nities. Ajob well done! ”
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Jason Johnson named
Precinct 2 Constable
By David Webb
Monitor Correspondent
KAUFMAN-The
Kaufman County Com-
missioners Court ap-
pointed Jason Johnson to
replace Joe Don Law as
Precinct 2 Constable dur-
ing a special meeting April
29.
Johnson, who lives in
Forney, will serve in the
position until an elected
official is sworn in Jan. 1,
2015.
County officials chose
Johnson over three other
candidates: Precinct 2
Deputy Constable John
Boehner, Dallas Police of-
ficer C. J. Phillips and Oak
Ridge Fire Marshal Jesse
Wood. The court inter-
viewed all four candidates.
Johnson said he hopes to
be on the ballot in Novem-
ber.
Local officials for the
Republican Party' and the
Democratic Party will
nominate candidates to be
placed on the November
ballot for a new four-year
term, according to Kauf-
man County Republican
Party Chair Jimmy
Weaver, who attended the
court meeting. The precinct
chairs in Precinct 2 will
have the strongest voice in
| Suicide
the selection of the candi-
dates to be on the ballot,
he said.
County officials’ ap-
pointment of Johnson will
have no bearing on the
November election that
must be held according to
the Texas Election Code,
Weaver said.
County officials had the
option of leaving the office
unoccupied until the first of
the year until November
winners are sworn into of-
fice, but Precinct 2 Com-
missioner Ray Clark said
he felt eight months would
be too long to wait. “I
don’t want to leave it
open,” he said.
Johnson is a sergeant
with the Dallas County
Constable’s Office Pre-
cinct 4. He ran against
Constable Law in 2012,
but Law won that election
by a wide spread.
Law resigned April 11,
and was set to face trial
before County Court-at-
Law Judge Dennis Jones
on May 5.
In other action, the
court:
• authorized an agree-
ment with the Texas De-
partment of Transportation
governing an almost
$300,000 County Trans-
portation Infrastructure
Fund Grant and estab-
lished priorities in the
county’s four precincts for
road work. The priorities
include repairs to FM 987
in Precinct 1, OldNacog-
doches Trail in Precinct 2,
CR 353 and CR 356 in
Precinct 3 and CR 4016
in Precinct 4. The
$299,797 grant of which
the county must match 10
percent of the total cost is
dedicated to helping coun-
ties repair damage caused
to roads by the oil and gas
industry’s trucks and other
equipment.
• set the court’s regular
May meeting to May 8 at
9 a.m.
• authorized service
awards for county em-
ployees every five years
upon request by the Hu-
man Resource director
Lorie Floyd.
• approved a new time-
keeping policy, eliminating
the policy of rounding up
or down to the closest
quarter of an hour when an
employee clocks in and out
for the day.
• discussed creating a
county facility manager
position and the possibil-
ity of consolidating the
departments of fire mar-
shal, public works and en-
vironment into one.
Continued from Page 1A
FOR him,” Linda told The
Kerens Tribune.
His mother brought JR
home from school. Shortly
after arriving to a residence
outside the city, she told
him to take all his electron-
ics outside to a storage
building, as a consequence
of his suspension.
“He was gone too long,”
Linda noted, “that’s when
I sent Cerise out to get him.
I knew he must feel lost.”
His sister, Cerise, gradu-
ated from Kerens ISD last
year and turned 20,
Wednesday. She attends
welding classes at a nearby
college.
JR started attending
Kerens ISD in kindergar-
ten and has been there
ever since, except for one
year, when his mother
moved her and her children
to Eustace for a year in
2007-08, when he at-
tended Eustace ISD. They
returned to Kerens after a
motor vehicle accident in
2008. “It was just like he
had never left (Kerens),”
his mother said of their re-
turn.
Keren ISD posted a
message on the district
website Tuesday from
Stanford: “I am very sad
to inform you that we re-
cently learned that an
eighth grade student
passed away at his home
this afternoon. ... Our fo-
cus now is to meet the
needs of our students on
campus. We are enlisting
the assistance of area
counselors and ministers to
help our students to deal
with this difficult situation.
Be assured that we will
continue through this pro-
cess to make sure all stu-
dents needs are being
met.”
Counselors from Region
12 as well as the Bi-
County Co-op were at the
school Wednesday to of-
fer help to any student who
needed to talk, he said.
“Student well-being is our
top priority.”
Stanford also noted that
faculty and staff were
“pulling together at this
time.”
Navarro County Sheriff
Elmer Tanner verified that
his officers were investi-
gating the incident as a sui-
cide.
Eubank Funeral Home
in Mabank is overseeing
the funeral arrangements,
Elizabeth said.
JR loved playing foot-
ball, his sisters (including
two younger half sisters)
and ducks, she said.
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Cantrell, Pearl. The Monitor (Mabank, Tex.), Vol. 40, No. 78, Ed. 1 Sunday, May 11, 2014, newspaper, May 11, 2014; Mabank, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth629887/m1/4/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .