Santellana warns Steve Jackson about council outbursts
Mayor says he can call the cops
Wichita Falls Mayor Stephen Santellana sent a warning letter to Councilor Steve Jackson following an incident at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
While hearing concerns from residents over controversial plans for the city's Circle Drive bike trail, Jackson engaged in an angry exchange with one resident and other councilors.
More:Lake Shore Drive residents urge council to divert Circle Trail
Much of the letter repeated comments that Santellana made at the meeting, but the mayor said it was a formal response to Jackson about the incident. While polite in tone, Wednesday's letter warned of consequences if more outbursts occur.
"...the decorum of the meeting was broken when you raised your voice in anger toward a citizen who was present in the Council chambers speaking in opposition to your viewpoint...your tone and manner of speech were abusive toward the citizen in question resulting in a disturbance of the meeting," the letter said.
The letter continued," ...telling Councilor Browning to 'shut up' and the use of profanity from the dais in your comments to Councilor Brewer were unprofessional and resulted in further disruption."
Santellana said the law allows him to deal with disturbances and disorderly conduct by having the "transgressor" removed from the meeting.
"A police officer may remove an individual or individuals for disrupting a meeting..." the letter states.
At one point in the meeting Jackson apologized for his outburst, but toward the end criticized Santellana for having his business bid on subcontracting work for the trail project. The city attorney said the bidding was legal, but Jackson said, "I'm done," and left the meeting before it concluded.
Jackson declined a request for response from the Times Record News.
More:Letter: Council meeting was a 'clown show'
More:Council meeting grows heated over trail plan
Jackson, a frequent dissenter to council actions, has clashed with the mayor and other councilors before. The council censured him in 2019 for telling some downtown business owners the city was making "under-the-table deals" to take over their property.
More:Councilor Jackson Ethics Hearing
More:City report provides details of ethics complaint against Jackson