INGLESIDE, Texas — The removal of Ingleside Mayor Ronnie Parker didn't last long. Parker tells 3News he is once again mayor two days after the Ingleside City Council voted to remove him.
The Ingleside city charter appeared to allow City Council to remove a council member or mayor if that person missed three consecutive meetings or six meetings total during their term. Parker missed three consecutive meetings in August and September dealing with a back issue.
However, the language was outdated, according to the mayor, who says he spoke with the city attorney.
In the May election, voters chose to only allow a council member or mayor to be removed if they missed six meetings total. The "three consecutive meetings" language was accidentally left in the city charter's "Muni Code."
"A citizen actually sent it to me and said this is what we approved in the election, and I forwarded that to our city staff as well as to our city attorney," Mayor Parker said. "After several hours of deliberating with our city manager, they wrote the letter notifying the council that they couldn't remove me because I hadn't missed six meetings."
The City Council plans to address the situation first thing at the next council meeting on Oct. 12.
As for the mayor, he says he plans to attend future meetings but might still have to excuse himself depending on his back pain.
"My back is still giving me fits," Mayor Parker added. "I'm still taking pain medication and everything else. I will still go to the meetings and I will stay as long as I can, but if my body gets to hurting me too bad, I'm not going to be able to make good decisions for the city if I'm taking pain medication or in too much pain to be able to concentrate."