Shoreacres town meeting results in mayor losing power

SHOREACRES, Texas – Small town politics led to a standing-room only crowd at a Shoreacres City Council meeting Monday night.

On the agenda, among others things, was discussing the removal of certain powers of the mayor, particularly the ability to fire city employees.

"You can't just have everybody sitting around and be quiet and say everything is all great and expect things to change or get fixed. It just doesn't work.," David Harris, a Shoreacres resident, said.

The discussions stem, in part, from the mayor's recent move to fire former police Sgt. Wayne Thompson.

The mayor says Thompson was terminated within city law and claims he was violating the city's sick-leave policy while running for a constable position.

But Thompson said an investigation by the police chief cleared him of any wrongdoing, but he was still fired.

"I've lived here for 35 years and this is the first time I've ever in my life seen a situation like this," Billie Bowles, another Shoreacres resident said.

After a lengthy back-and-forth between council members and the mayor, the final vote came. It was greeted with many residents cheering.

The council voted 3-1 in favor of reducing the mayor's powers. One alderman abstained from the vote.

"I think that it's premature and think it was more of a personal vendetta than what was in the city's best interest," Kimberly Sanford, Shoreacres' mayor, said.

"This had to do with more of her ineffectiveness in employee management and the fact is every two years we shouldn't (be) giving employee management over to elected officials that may or may not have experience in that field," David Jennings, a Shoreacres alderman, said.

Despite how things turned out, the mayor says she plans to veto Monday night's vote.

A hearing for Thompson is scheduled for Aug. 8.