Jefferson residents working to oust former Whitehouse city manager Kevin Huckabee

Published 5:05 am Thursday, August 2, 2018

JEFFERSON — Nearly 200 residents and counting signed a petition to oust Jefferson City Administrator Kevin Huckabee, then presented the petition during a Jefferson City Council meeting.

Group spokesman Jeff Taylor presented the petition during the council’s public comment portion of the meeting Tuesday to a packed room after stating that the group’s request to have the petition added to the meeting’s agenda was denied by the City Council.

“I am here as a third party, disinterested person to present a petition for the removal of Jefferson City Administrator Kevin Huckabee,” Taylor said. “It’s signed by 196 business owners and residents of Jefferson. However, since this petition was not allowed to be on the agenda for this meeting, I was notified this evening, the (group) wanted to hold the petition and have it added as an action item at the next upcoming meeting.”

Some residents attending the meeting also asked to add their signatures to the petition after it was presented.

“We the undersigned residents and/or business owners of Jefferson, Texas hereby petition the Jefferson City Council for the immediate removal and termination of Jefferson City Administrator Kevin Huckabee,” the petition reads.

“We believe the current political environment within Jefferson as created by Kevin Huckabee is detrimental to the future economic viability of our city.”

The petition states the city would be permanently negatively impacted if Huckabee is not terminated.

“It is our intent to hold the members of the Jefferson City Council accountable in their decision to retain or remove (Huckabee),” the petition reads.

The group also called for an “immediate forensic audit by an outside accounting firm into each and every financial transaction entered into by the city during the tenure of Huckabee.”

It was unclear Tuesday if the City Council would agree to add the petition as an action item on the next meeting’s agenda.

Huckabee was hired by the city of Jefferson in July 2016 after resigning his city manager post in Whitehouse.

Huckabee resigned his position with Jefferson in February and later accepted an offer from the city of Bowie to serve as its city manager.

Bowie rescinded its job offer to Huckabee soon after that, and in March, Huckabee asked the Jefferson City Council to rehire him in his city administrator post.

A split vote from the council in March saw Huckabee rehired as city administrator but as an “at-will” employee on a six-month probation. Huckabee’s six-month probationary period is up for review next month.

Most recently, Huckabee was blamed for incorrectly posting the Jefferson Economic Development Corp. board’s meeting notices as far back as May 2017, possibly voiding any actions taken during those meetings.

JEDCO board member Richard Turner said he spoke to the Texas Attorney General’s Office about going back and reaffirming all of the actions in question in future meetings to rectify any problems.