What the minutes show
FACT: The official minutes (published August 5 in the August 11 packet) record that the council went into executive session at 8:09 PM (listed items: the Burgess condemnation, potential Digital Resources litigation, an ambulance policy, and “board, committee, and commission appointments”) and reconvened at 9:17 PM. Then two motions were taken.
FACT: First, Council Member Griffith moved, seconded by Turner, “to not make any changes to any commission, board, or committee as last month the council already voted unanimously to approve the slate of committee, commission, and board members.” That motion failed 2 to 3, with Poole, Dingman, and Fitzgerald voting no.
FACT: Second, Poole moved, seconded by Dingman, to replace on the Planning & Zoning Commission: Riley Swanston with Sharon Schmitz, Darla Thornton with Keith Martin, and Jordon Collis with Justin Harnick (each removed mid-term, with terms running to May 2027) and to replace Russell Laughlin, who the minutes say resigned, with Carl Greer. The same motion swapped seats on the CCPD board (Erica Haley for Barbara Deakins; Dawn Martin for Justin Harnick) and the Finance & Long-Range Planning Committee. It passed 3 to 2, Turner and Griffith voting no.
FACT: Thornton was the commission’s chair, and had lost the Place 2 council race by 15 votes in May. No cause for any removal appears anywhere in the minutes.
What the agenda had told residents
FACT: The posted agenda item said only “appoint committee members… as needed.” Nothing on it said sitting commissioners would be removed. In response to a public information request, the City Administrator confirmed in writing that “no notices were provided” to any sitting commissioner that removal would be discussed or acted upon; the removed commissioners learned of it from emails sent by the City Secretary the following afternoon.
FACT: On August 4, a formal demand letter was delivered to the mayor, council, city attorney, city administrator, and city secretary, demanding the council rescind this action as a violation of the Texas Open Meetings Act’s notice requirements. The three removed commissioners join the demand. Details on the Planning & Zoning page.
Also that night
FACT: In open session the council approved the Shady Oaks storm-drainage results and water-metering plan (5 to 0), a contract with Carrillo Engineering up to $23,000 for a Westworth Park alley drainage fix (5 to 0), reviewed the FY 2026-27 budget with no action, and, after executive session, approved up to $10,000 this year and $112,000 next year for a citywide ambulance subscription (5 to 0).
OPINION: Set the two votes side by side. The council was asked, in the open, to simply keep the boards it had unanimously seated four weeks earlier. Three members said no, and then rebuilt the land-use commission mid-term, under an agenda item that never used the word removal, with no reason given then or since.