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ARCOLA – Three members of Arcola city council stormed out of a tense meeting Tuesday in protest of an agenda item to remove councilwoman Ebony Sanco.
The attempt to oust Sanco was put on the agenda by Mayor Fred Burton, who said that he recently became aware that Sanco no longer lived in the city of Arcola. Councilwoman Sanco, however, believes the move was retaliation for her lack of support for him. She later told the Houston Landing that she lives in Arcola, and sent a picture of her mail and address.
About 15 Arcola police officers were stationed at the front door to City Hall and inside the packed council chambers. Twenty minutes into the contentious meeting, council members Sanco, Evelyn Jones and Rosemary Bigby left. The lack of a quorum forced the remaining council members to adjourn.
Sanco said that she and the mayor were on good terms until early January when she disagreed with the mayor over his efforts to disannex 83 acres.
While most Texas cities seek to grow through annexation, Arcola has been trying to disannex land that’s been slated for development. The city of Arcola, a developer and Fort Bend County are currently embroiled in a lawsuit pending in the Texas Supreme Court to decide whether Arcola can legally disannex the property.
The city claims it made a mistake by agreeing to take on the land that should have never been annexed in the first place. The developer claims that the city wants to back out of a deal that could have brought nearly 350 new homes into the city.
Sanco said the developer, Compass Land Development, has done good things for the city, including footing the bill to renovate City Hall and creating the city’s first residential development community.
“We love Arcola. This is good,” she said. “This is something good for Arcola. It will bring in money, tax money, revenue and commercial property. But all of a sudden, he wants it gone.”
Councilwoman Evelyn Jones said that the attempt to remove Sanco from her seat was illegal. She believes that only a judge has that authority, but the mayor wants a “yes man” to fill the position.
“You know it is against the law to do this – to have a position open that a district judge has not said is open,” Jones said. “She’s an elected official”
Burton said his decision to put the item on the agenda to remove Sanco was solely to follow proper procedure and had nothing to do with how councilwoman Sanco wanted to vote.
“It’s not about the vote. If you leave the city, you cannot hold a council seat,” he said.
Burton said he believes that the decision by the three councilwomen to leave the meeting was orchestrated by developer Nino Corbett.
“They want to name (the city) ‘Ninocola’ and I want to keep it Arcola,” he said.
A representative for the developer, Channing Corbett, said they have no comment on the mayor’s claims.
The agenda item to remove councilwoman Sanco was not the only point of contention at Tuesday’s meeting.
During public comment, mayoral candidate Veeda Williams accused the mayor of following her and lying to the public when accusing her of stealing his campaign signs. She said the mayor has used his power against the council and the residents.
“Mayor, you have that to the point where you have disarmed the city council. Nobody can do anything,” she said. “The city attorney, the city administrator, everybody has been disarmed because they are afraid and intimidated by you. And I want you to know, I’m not intimidated, Mayor, I will not be intimidated.”
Councilwoman Sanco said despite the mayor’s attempts to remove her, she will continue to fight for Arcola.
“This is all over a vote. I’ve always told him, ‘I disagree with you on this project, mayor. I disagree with you on this.’ But I hope we can always be cordial. And just because I didn’t vote his way, he’s coming at me full-fledged.”
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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