A request from one member of the Brookshire City Council that the mayor update the community on the selection of a new police chief appears to have fallen on deaf ears.
The posted agenda for tonight’s council meeting includes items ranging from automated refuse collection to substandard properties, but nothing regarding the city’s effort to recruit a new police chief.
Two weeks ago, frustrated by what he called a lack of information and “a lack of a sense of urgency” in getting a new police chief on the job, Alderman James Sanders asked that an update from the selection committee be placed on the next city council agenda.
When the agenda for tonight’s council meeting came out, there was no mention of the item Sanders requested two weeks ago.
Sanders said he was “extremely disappointed” about the lack of information on the city’s effort to recruit a new police chief. He also said he requested additional information last week, and is yet to receive any of that information either.
“Last week I submitted a request to the mayor and the city secretary to provide all members of city council with applications, resumes and any notes or comments in regard to candidates who have been interviewed for police chief by 4 p.m. Thursday the 8th. I was told by the mayor that we should have those either Friday the 9th or Monday the 12th,” Sanders said. “As of today, we still have received nothing in the way of information on the search for a police chief. The mayor is obligated by municipal code Ch. 22 Sec .042 to provide council this information.”
During Brookshire’s last city council meeting two weeks ago, Sanders first called for an update during the “public comments” portion of the meeting. Sanders asked to be recognized and then brought up the police chief selection, saying residents had been contacting him for information.
“I was wondering if the committee could report on the progress,” Sanders asked.
City Attorney Art Pertile asked Sanders if he was requesting that the matter be placed on a future agenda. Pertile said, since the matter was not on the agenda for that day’s meeting, it could not be discussed at that time.
“If there’s going to be a discussion on it, the public has a right to know,” Pertile said. “Are you requesting that it be placed on an agenda?”
“Sure,” Sanders replied.
Sanders also added that a public update of the high-profile selection would help show residents the city was committed to “an open and transparent government.”
Since being elected to city council in May, Sanders has pushed for greater openness in city government, as well as for greater community input in the police chief selection process.
At a June 7 special meeting of the city council, Sanders raised the hackles of Mayor Joey Vaughn by suggesting residents may not have confidence in a committee Vaughn appointed. That committee consists of Vaughn, former Police Chief Joseph Prejean and Mayor Pro Tem Marilyn Vaughn, who is also chief of the Royal ISD Police Department.
“I’ll be blunt; citizens have come to me with concerns about having a mayor who’s under indictment and a chief that’s on the way out interviewing chief candidates,” Sanders said.
Vaughn remains under indictment on felony charges accusing him of assaulting a police officer last year.
Prejean, who stepped down as police chief last month, had come under widespread criticism over what many residents saw as an ineffective police department in the wake of a string of murders and complaints of wide-open gambling, prostitution and drug sales in the city.
Sanders passed out a list of Brookshire-area residents he said would make good selection committee members by virtue of their professional background. He also pointed out that city council was still required by law to make the final selection, and the committee would only make recommendations.
Vaughn visibly bristled at Sanders’ suggestions and said his “status” was not an issue.
“It doesn’t matter what my status is or what the police chief’s status is. I didn’t have to appoint a committee,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn also asserted his authority as mayor.
“Until I am elected out of this office, I am chief administrator (of the city) and the chief has to work with me,” he added.
On a 3-2 vote, city council voted to leave the committee in the hands of Vaughn.
No names of possible police chief candidates have been publicly announced.
