Scuffle breaks out at Hawkins council meeting as mayor removed from city judge position

Published 5:40 am Saturday, November 23, 2024

HAWKINS — Two fights broke out during Friday’s meeting of the Hawkins City Council. One was a war of words, while the other was an altercation between a resident and a police officer.

The council voted 4-1 during a tense meeting to terminate Mayor Deb Rushing from her position as municipal judge, and Hawkins resident Todd Eddington and police officer David “Dave” Morris had a physical altercation when Eddington tried to speak to the council.

The removal of Rushing as municipal judge means the city is once again without its own court to handle traffic tickets and other city-related matters. Council members had an item on Friday’s agenda to appoint former Wood County Pct. 3 Justice of the Peace Larry Pack to the position, but they took no action because he hadn’t filed an application.

Removed as judgeCouncil members voted to terminate the mayor as municipal judge only four days after voting to extend her tenure an additional 30 days — during the same meeting in which they initially discussed removing her. Rushing had been municipal judge for about 90 days.

But according to City Attorney Leigh Thompson, Rushing never had the legal authority to do so — news council members and Rushing said they were unaware of until Friday.

The Texas Constitution states that an individual cannot hold two or more compensated public offices at the same time. While Texas law does permit mayors to be municipal judges, that law only applies if cities don’t have ordinances that call for the municipal judge to be a separately appointed official — and Hawkins has such an ordinance, Thompson said. It was passed in 2022.

Legalities surrounding the position, however, were not mentioned during Monday’s council meeting, when members first discussed removing Rushing from the position.

Rushing and a number of residents said council members wanted to remove her because she was willing to sign an arrest warrant for Place 5 Alderman Greg Branson, who has been accused of writing improper checks from the Hawkins Community Development Corp. to the Hawkins Chamber of Commerce. Branson serves as president of both organizations.

Branson was not the only signature on the checks in question and said all were approved by the community development corporation board. The Hawkins Police Department is investigating .

“There was not an issue with me being a judge until I said that I was willing to sign an arrest warrant, and I don’t know why y’all are not big enough just to be able to say that,” Rushing told the council during Friday’s meeting.

During Monday’s meeting, Rushing recounted a conversation she had with Police Chief Paul Holland about two weeks prior in which she said she would sign the warrant to “hurry this thing along.” During Friday’s meeting, she said those words sounded bad out of context and that she wanted to ensure justice was served swiftly.

Eddington, a resident, was going to write an affidavit of probable cause in the Branson case and provide it to Rushing. An affidavit precedes an arrest warrant, and Eddington cited state law saying that any citizen can write an affidavit. At that point, Rushing would sign the warrant for Branson’s arrest, the News-Journal previously reported, and she told Holland she would do so.

Holland then consulted with judges and other law enforcement officials about the situation and said none had heard of a case in which a private citizen wrote an affidavit. Municipal judges do have the power to issue arrest warrants, but Holland was concerned about the depth of Rushing’s involvement in the case, he previously told the News-Journal. He said Rushing heavily questioned Branson about the case during a previous meeting.

Ultimately, no warrant was issued, and the city attorney also advised Rushing against doing so.

During the Monday meeting, City Utilities Clerk Cindy Douthitt said council members couldn’t remove Rushing at that time because of the way the agenda item for the meeting was worded. Council members also didn’t have a list of names of applicants for the position to fill it once Rushing was removed. So, Branson made a motion to keep Rushing in office for an additional 30 days, and the motion passed.

But on Tuesday, Place 2 Alderwoman Clara Kay, Place 3 Alderman Eric Maloy and Place 4 Alderwoman Eleta Taylor called for Friday’s special meeting to remove Rushing as judge. They named Pack as her potential successor in that role.

However, they did not vote to appoint Pack to the position Friday because he never completed an application for it. Separately, Eddington — who operates a Facebook page called The Crooked Wood County “Justice” System Part III — posted recordings of a phone call he had with Pack in which Pack said he was unaware of the circumstances surrounding Rushing’s removal. Pack was not present at Friday’s meeting.

Rushing’s removal also raised another issue: Because she could not hold the judge’s office legally, some of the rulings she handed down could be invalidated, Thompson said. Municipal judges handle Class C misdemeanors, such as speeding tickets, disorderly conduct and more.

Thompson, who was hired as city attorney during the fall, said she was aware that Rushing was serving as mayor but didn’t know until Friday that she was being paid to do so. When questioned by Rushing, Thompson said state law could allow some “wiggle room” and is a “gray area” on the matter of whether Rushing would be allowed to serve as mayor and municipal judge if she weren’t paid as the judge.

“I know for a fact that if it’s a paid position, it’s an absolute, absolute violation,” Thompson said.

Taylor said council members weren’t aware when they appointed Rushing to the vacant municipal judge’s position that they could not do so legally.

“We’re just trying to fix it and make it right,” she said.

Rushing also said she didn’t know she couldn’t hold the position.

Residents voice complaintsThe majority of the Hawkins residents who spoke during Friday’s meeting said they support Rushing and her work as municipal judge. Douthitt, the city utilities clerk, questioned why council members renewed Rushing’s tenure for 30 days only to end it four days later.

“That makes no sense at all. This is just a run-around circus,” she said. “You make a decision one day, and then somebody comes up with another bright idea, and then you want to totally change it. … At some point, the childishness needs to stop.”

Former Hawkins Alderman Chuck Richoz, who has sparred with Rushing in the past, spoke in favor of her removal from the judge’s office, saying she has no law enforcement or legal experience.

Rushing and other residents asked council members to explain why they wanted to remove her from the office. Maloy, the Place 3 alderman, said he wouldn’t give an answer because he was in legal consultation, and Taylor, the Place 4 alderwoman, said she wanted to remove Rushing from the office because of the case laws and attorney general opinions that bar people from holding two compensated public offices.

Resident Sharonda Harguess asked: “For clarification, are we here to remove her because the time is up or are we here to remove her because none of you all like what she did in regards to the arrest warrant?”

Taylor replied, “That has nothing to do with it.”

Resident Glyndia Lane said: “We all know what this is about.”

AltercationSome residents signed up to speak during Friday’s meeting, but Rushing also allowed people who did not add their name to the speaker’s list to ask questions and voice their views. During one part of the meeting, Eddington stood at the back of the room and tried to ask a question. Maloy, however, said Eddington couldn’t. Eddington told Maloy to shut up.

Suddenly, the room was filled with the sounds of screaming and yelling. “That’s assault!” a man exclaimed.

The following account was assembled from interviews with Eddington and eyewitnesses:

Morris, the police officer, stepped in front of Eddington as Eddington tried to speak. Eddington then tried to step around Morris. At that point, the officer tried to make Eddington back up before shoving him, incidentally pushing a woman into a door, witnesses said.

Other people at the meeting tried to separate Morris and Eddington, and Rushing hit her gavel on the table to call for order.

“Everybody there in that back part will tell you that I didn’t do anything but try to step around him, and he turned around and pushed the (expletive) out of me and was saying I pushed him, when everybody there clearly saw that I didn’t push him,” Eddington said.

“The police officer turned around and shoved (Eddington),” Lane said.

“He was the instigator of it,” Douthitt said of the officer.

City Utilities Director Mike Maberry said he was standing behind Eddington when Morris pushed him. He tried to stop the altercation, but as the officer continued to push Eddington, Maberry was pushed into a wall.

Morris declined to comment, but Holland, the police chief, relayed Morris’ account of the incident on Morris’ behalf.

Holland told the News-Journal: “Officer told me that Mr. Eddington was causing a disturbance by using vulgar language in the public facility, so he went to stand by Mr. Eddington. Mr. Eddington attempted to walk around the officer, and by doing so, he pushed the officer, and then the officer then turned and attempted to remove Eddington from the facility because Mr. Eddington assaulted the officer.”

Holland said a full investigation will take place into the matter. Eddington was not arrested, and he wasn’t forced to leave the building.

Closing commentsShortly before the vote to remove Rushing as municipal judge, Rushing said she has enjoyed serving in the position and helping residents, especially young people who have gotten themselves into trouble. The council appointed her to the position about three months ago because the city was without a judge and had a number of municipal matters that needed to be dealt with.

“I don’t understand why having a thought to do something legal got me in the situation where I’m being fired because it definitely doesn’t have anything to do with my work ethic, my ability to do this job,” she said. “But we still have a little bit of a mess to clean up. We’ve done quite a bit, but there’s still a big mess.”

Place 1 Alderwoman Meredith Hancock abstained from the vote to remove Rushing. Shortly before the vote, she complained that other council members don’t communicate with her. But she has had good communication with Rushing, she said.

“I feel like I’m in middle school again sometimes,” Hancock said.