5 days Ago By Jordan Green
HAWKINS — After watching months of conflict among the Hawkins City Council, a resident urged its members Monday to set aside their differences and work for the betterment of this Wood County city. Geran Riddlespurger-Howe has lived in Hawkins for about three years and said she believes the town has a lot of potential. But it’s being stifled by the constant infighting of the council, which has made headlines all year long.
"I've watched this rift grow wider and wider and wider, and it's gotten to the point to where it's really just keeping the council from being able to get the work done that you need to get done,” she said at the start of Monday’s council meeting. “It's offensive to me as somebody who pays taxes in this town, and it's offensive to me to watch my child watch these adults behave like children.” Geran Riddlespurger-Howe speaks to Hawkins City Council members during a meeting Monday, urging them to return to civility.
(Jordan Green/Longview News-Journal Photo) She ended her statement with a plea for the council to “recommit to being excellent leaders for this town. Stop fighting each other because really it's ridiculous.” Council members thanked her for what she said.
But with the next item on the agenda — which was discussion about adopting the Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct meetings — the council once again descended into the familiar chaos that has engulfed its meetings this year. Mayor Deb Rushing and council members sparred on a number of issues during Monday's meeting, talking over one another and accusing each other of failing to follow various laws. Rushing and Police Chief Paul Holland had a tense back-and-forth discussion in which the mayor accused the chief of “bashing” her, and the chief accused the mayor of pushing for a “politically motivated” investigation of a council member.
Hawkins Mayor Deb Rushing and Hawkins Police Chief Paul Holland argue about an investigation into a city council member and the egging of police vehicles. The mayor also said the chief made himself “look like an idiot” when he asked her if she had given a man egg cartons as part of a joke to play on the police department. She said she and the chief “used to be friends.
” (Holland was hired in June.) Familiar frenzy Since taking office April 1, Rushing and council members have had heated disagreements on a number of issues. The council’s controversy has been intense since November.
During a special meeting Nov. 22, council members voted to terminate Rushing from her position as municipal judge after learning she couldn’t hold two paid public offices simultaneously — and after Rushing said she would sign an arrest warrant for Place 5 Alderman Greg Branson based on a probable cause affidavit that would have been written by Hawkins resident Todd Eddington. (Rushing ultimately did not sign the document.
) Branson is the subject of a now-suspended police investigation into whether he signed or co-signed improper checks from the Hawkins Community Development Corp. to the Hawkins Chamber of Commerce totaling more than $28,000 from 2021-24. Rushing said during the Nov.
18 council meeting that she wanted to “hurry this thing along.” Also during the Nov. 22 meeting, Eddington and Hawkins Police Officer David “Dave” Morris had a physical altercation as Eddington tried to speak out against the council’s decision to remove Rushing from her position as municipal judge, which she was appointed to earlier this year.
Hawkins Mayor Deb Rushing listens as Geran Riddlespurger-Howe (not shown) asks city council members to return to civility during their meeting Monday. (Jordan Green/Longview News-Journal Photo) During Monday’s meeting, council members discussed whether to adopt Robert’s Rules of Order to govern their city meetings. But the council has used that set of parliamentary procedures for years.
The issue isn’t that the council hasn’t had a set of rules. “We haven't been abiding by it,” Place 4 Alderwoman Eleta Taylor said. Place 3 Alderman Eric Maloy said he wanted to prevent altercations like the one that occurred Nov.
22, so he wants people who attend council meetings to be seated, although that doesn’t affect the parliamentary procedure the council uses to proceed with meetings. (Eddington was standing when he attempted to speak to the council Nov. 22.
) After Maloy said he wanted people to be seated during meetings, a woman in the back of the room said she wanted to get a “doctor’s note” allowing her to stand because she has had a knee replacement. When Maloy responded to the woman, Rushing said he was breaking Robert’s Rules of Order, which prohibit council members from speaking to residents who haven’t signed up to speak during a meeting — the same issue that happened Nov. 22.
"If we want to do a fresh start, and we want things like that not to happen, then we have to start with us first,” Rushing said. “We were out of line. The council and I, we were not in control.
” The council Monday ultimately voted not to take action on adopting Robert’s Rules of Order (because the city already has done that). Maloy and Taylor abstained from the vote. Both said they wanted to see the Robert’s Rules of Order enforced.
Hawkins Police Chief Paul Holland speaks to Hawkins City Council members and meeting attendees Monday. (Jordan Green/Longview News-Journal Photo) Holland and Rushing traded barbs in a tense interaction during Monday’s meeting. Holland spoke to the council to give updates about the investigation into the community development corporation and the investigation into the council meeting altercation.
Holland began by telling the council: "The last City Hall meeting was a perfect example of why it's important to maintain order and follow establish policies and procedures. Failure to do so can lead to chaos, disruption, improper conduct. It's imperative for the council and the mayor and citizens to work together peacefully.
” Holland said the investigation into the community development corporation will be suspended until a forensic audit can be conducted, which the Texas Rangers recommended. The investigation centered on whether a misuse of taxpayer dollars occurred. The community development corporation is a taxpayer-funded entity, while the chamber is funded by its members.
Branson serves as president of both organizations. The checks written to the chamber paid for events and office supplies, among other expenses. Holland said City Attorney Leigh Thompson (who was hired this fall but apparently is resigning) advised Rushing and Holland that the city should pay for the forensic audit of the community development corporation as part of the investigation.
However, Holland said that Rushing said an audit was unnecessary and refused his request for the audit, which delayed his investigation. Rushing had a bewildered look on her face as Holland spoke. Holland then said the mayor directed him to use the organization’s 2023 annual audit of the organization for the basis of his investigation.
However, that audit didn’t indicate that any funds were misused, he said. Holland also expressed concerns about Rushing’s involvement with the investigation. Rushing brought her concerns about Branson to Holland, making her the complainant.
She’s also a witness “because she witnessed the evidence that was gathered,” Holland said. She also took part in the investigation by helping Holland create a spreadsheet. All of that took place before she was appointed municipal judge.
In that capacity, Rushing considered signing an arrest warrant for Branson based on a probable cause affidavit written by Eddington — who is a citizen, not a law enforcement officer. (Rushing and Eddington have said that Rushing legally could have signed the warrant for Branson’s arrest based on Eddington’s affidavit under Article 15.03 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which states that a magistrate can issue an arrest warrant “when any person shall make oath before the magistrate that another has committed some offense against the laws of the State.
”) “You can't be the complainant, can't be the witness, can't be the investigator, can't be the judge on the same person,” Holland said, saying that’s not how the judicial system works. “I think our city attorney finally explained that to Mrs. Rushing, and I think she finally understood that.
” Rushing said: “Wow.” Then, their back-and-forth began. Rushing said she decided not to sign the arrest warrant, but it wasn’t because the city attorney told her not to.
"So, you were going to go against the city attorney, you were going to go against the [Texas] Rangers, you were going to go against the [district attorney's] office and the city accountant and sign the warrant yourself?" Holland said. Rushing replied: "Yeah, if I wanted to, because it's legal." Rushing then said the chief was using his speech to “bash” her.
Holland replied that he’s telling the truth. Saying the police department should not be involved in “political issues,” Holland has asked the Texas Rangers to take over the investigation into the altercation between Morris and Eddington. As a result, all evidence in the case will be held until it can be reviewed.
Holland said Eddington submitted an open records request for the officer’s body camera footage, so Holland has requested an opinion from the Texas Attorney General’s Office to determine whether the footage must be released. Hawkins Place 3 Alderman Eric Maloy and Hawkins Mayor Deb Rushing have a heated discussion during Monday's city council meeting. (Jordan Green/Longview News-Journal Photo) Holland also told the audience and the council that some of the city’s police vehicles had been egged in November.
He then accused the mayor of providing a carton of eggs to Eddington to put on the dashboard of his vehicle “as a joke in hopes to entice an encounter with the police department so he may blog it on his Facebook.” On Nov. 5, Eddington posted a video to his YouTube channel showing an encounter he had with a Hawkins police officer who came to Eddington’s home to question him about having egg cartons in his truck.
The officer asked Eddington if he has been taking part in “vandalism.” Eddington said he had not. During Monday’s council meeting, Holland repeatedly asked Rushing whether she had given Eddington the egg cartons.
She didn’t directly answer the question but asked Holland: “What are you doing?” “This is what you want. You want everything open,” Holland said. “You’re being extremely, extremely rich,” Rushing said.
“Am I?” Holland asked. “Or are you intentionally falsifying evidence? Are you trying to mislead the police department?” “You're making yourself look like an idiot,” Rushing said. After the meeting, Rushing told the News-Journal: “I did not give Todd Eddington an egg carton.
” Rushing accused Holland of trying to find bad things to say about her. “I’m friends with Todd,” she said. “I used to be friends with Paul.
But I guess you can’t have friends that are different.” Eddington told the News-Journal on Monday night that he believes people should be more concerned about the community development corporation investigation than whether he has eggs in his truck. He said of Holland’s comments during the council meeting: “I’m saying he’s dumb.
What does it matter if I have egg cartons in my truck? Why is a cop coming up and talking to me because I have egg cartons?” The council ultimately took no action on accepting the resignation of the city attorney, interviewing a new city attorney or interviewing a new municipal judge. Some council members said they wanted to conduct interviews in executive session, but Rushing said doing so would be illegal. Those matters were tabled.
(Thompson, the city attorney, had not sent her resignation letter to Rushing by the time of the meeting, so the council took no action on her resignation.) Riddlespurger-Howe, the woman who urged the council to work together at the beginning of Monday's meeting, left well before it was over..
