ARCOLA – An order by a Fort Bend County Judge to stop Arcola city officials from interfering with the duties of three council members became null and void following a stay issued by the Fourteenth Court of Appeals Monday morning.
With a City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, city officials may not count the vote of council member Ebony Sanco, her lawyer said after the hearing. Sanco is at the heart of a heated controversy in Arcola in which the mayor and city officials are trying to remove her from her position.
The Fourteenth Court of Appeals did not specify a reason for granting the stay.
This is ahead of a scheduled Arcola City Council meeting in which council members will consider the future employment of city attorney Grady Randle, city administrator Annette Goldberg and the annexation of 83 acres that has been a point of contention with the city for months.
Stephen Dockery, lawyer for councilmembers Sanco, Rosemary Bigby and Evelyn Jones, said he found the appeal court’s decision disappointing. He said that with this stay in place, council member Sanco’s right to vote isn’t protected.
“Is this about law? Or is this about politics?” he said of the overarching conflict in Arcola.
Conflict between the three council members and city officials began in February when Mayor Fred Burton openly questioned the residency of Sanco, claiming she lived in Missouri City and, therefore, must vacate her seat since she didn’t live in Arcola. Sanco, however, believes the mayor is retaliating against her for her lack of support for him.
Sanco’s name is on a lease at a home in Missouri City, according to documents obtained by the Houston Landing. But she has maintained that her primary residence is in Arcola at her sister’s house.
In an attempt to prove that Sanco does not reside in Arcola, the mayor hired a private investigator who videotaped the council member and her child.
In an emergency meeting in March, Fort Bend County district Judge Surendran K. Pattel granted emergency protections to the three Arcola City Council members. City officials, in turn, filed an appeal contesting Judge Pattel’s temporary injunction, which ordered city officials not to interfere with the official duties of Sanco, Bigby and Jones. Arcola officials called the injunction “procedurally and substantively improper.”
On April 2, Dockery filed a proposed motion asking the court to find the mayor and city officials in contempt for not following the March order to stop interfering with the official duties of the three council members. The council members alleged that they were being prevented from carrying out their official duties after a special city council meeting was called off. Sanco alleged she was also denied access to city hall and was not being paid her council stipend checks.
City officials for Arcola declined to comment on the appeal.
The City Council meeting is scheduled for April 9 at 6 p.m. at Arcola’s City Hall.
Briah Lumpkins is a suburban reporter for the Houston Landing covering Fort Bend, Brazoria and Galveston counties. If you have any story ideas or tips for Briah, feel free to send her an email at briah@houstonlanding.org.
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