ARCOLA, TX – Arcola, the small Fort Bend County town of about 2000 people, is unraveling in disfunction.
The city administrator told KPRC 2 Investigates reporter Joel Eisenbaum that Arcola’s city council cannot conduct city business in a regular fashion because a quorum, the necessary minimum number of council members, has not been present at some meetings this meetings.
Only one full-length council meeting has taken place since late January, Dr. Annette Guajardo, said.
A March 12 city council meeting ended suddenly before business was concluded.
Elected city leaders are factionalized and do not get along.
At the center of the controversy, the Mayor, Fred Burton, has leveled an allegation that one city council member, Ebony Sanco, does not live within the city limits.
Burton, unsuccessfully tried to remove Sanco from her post.
Sanco denies the allegation. Voter and DMV records support Sanco’s claim that she lives within city limits.
Unsatisfied, the city, with public funds, hired a private investigator to ferret out Sanco’s true residency.
A Fort Bend County Judge said this week that the Mayor should not interfere with the business of other elected officials.
Three council members brought the suit.