By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Deep fault lines in the Del Rio City Council were exposed Tuesday during the attempted selection of a new mayor pro tempore, an item city officials now say will be revisited at a future meeting.
The selection of a new mayor pro tempore was one of the first items on the agenda of the city council’s meeting Tuesday night. The mayor pro tempore is selected by the city council members following each biennial election to stand in for the mayor when the mayor is absent or unable to serve in that capacity. In some cities, the mayor pro tempore is called the vice mayor.
Former Councilperson At-Large, Place A, Steve Webb most recently served as the mayor pro-tem, but Webb was defeated in his bid for re-election to the council by former Texas Department of Transportation administrator Carmen Gutierrez.
After City Secretary Mari Acosta read the heading of the agenda item, “a resolution of the city council of the city of Del Rio, Texas, providing for the appointment of a mayor pro tempore,” Mayor Al Arreola asked, “Do I have a motion for anybody to consider?”
Councilman J.P. Sanchez said, “Mayor, I’d like to nominate Mr. (Jim) DeReus. He’s the senior councilman here amongst us, and he also stepped in when Mr. Webb was out and did an excellent job. I think he’d be great for the position.”
“Do I have a second?” Arreola asked.
Councilman Randy Quiñones gave the second.
When Arreola called for a vote, Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr. said, “Mayor, I’d like to make a motion as well. I’d like to nominate Mrs. Carmen Gutierrez as mayor pro-tem.”
Arreola pointed out there was already a motion and a second on the floor and again called for a vote on Sanchez’s motion to appoint DeReus.
Sanchez and Quiñones voted in favor of the motion, DeReus abstained, and although the mayor did not call for a show of hands against the motion, he, Lopez, Councilwoman Ernestina “Tina” Martinez and Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez appeared to not vote on Sanchez’s motion.
Lopez again tried to make his motion to appoint Gutierrez, but Acosta interjected, saying, “I’m sorry, but there were two in favor?”
“Yes,” Arreola replied
“And who is opposed?” Acosta asked.
The mayor then asked which council members were opposed and said, “Three opposed? Ms. Gutierrez, what is your vote?”
“I’m abstaining,” Gutierrez replied.
“Then I would like to nominate, make a motion for mayor pro-tem for Carmen Gutierrez. I feel that she’s a leader in a lot of community services. I think she would be available in a lot of (inaudible) to represent the city, but that’s my motion,” Lopez said.
Martinez gave the second to Lopez’s motion.
Three council members – Arreola, Lopez and Martinez – then voted in favor of Lopez’s motion. Gutierrez and DeReus abstained, and Sanchez and Quiñones voted against the motion.
When Lopez said, “Welcome aboard, Carmen,” DeReus pointed out that there were not four votes in favor of Lopez’s motion or for Sanchez’s motion.
Acosta asked the council members who had voted in favor of Gutierrez to raise their hands.
The vote again was 3-2-2, meaning three votes in favor, two votes against and two abstentions.
“We do need four votes (for a motion to pass), right?” DeReus asked.
Arreola then asked Clarissa Rodriguez, a member of the city’s contracted legal firm Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech to come to the dais and confer with City Attorney Ana Markowski Smith.
After conferring for several minutes, Smith said, “For clarification, the question was whether or not the city council follows Robert’s Rules of Order, and it hasn’t been the case, and I don’t think you all (the council) have adopted that.
Smith added, “That’s the question, and as far as I know, you don’t, so if you don’t, then it’s a majority vote, three (votes) to two. If you follow Robert’s Rules of Order, you have to have a legal reason for an abstention, and that’s what we’re trying to figure out, but it’s my understanding that you don’t follow Robert’s Rules of Order. Is that correct?”
“We try to,” Sanchez quipped.
“You either do or you don’t,” Smith said.
Acosta said the city charter adopts the rules by which the city council meetings are governed and run.
“So the (motion) passes,” Acosta said.
“So Carmen is the mayor pro-tem. Congratulations, Carmen,” Arreola said.
The council then moved on to the next item on its agenda.
However, following the meeting, additional questions arose about the number of votes needed for a measure to pass.
The 830 Times contacted Acosta Wednesday morning after finding a sentence in Article II, Section 25, of the City Charter, published on the city’s website that reads, “Any four (4) members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business and the affirmative vote of four (4) members of the council shall be sufficient and necessary to adopt or repeal any ordinance or resolution unless a greater number be required elsewhere by this charter or law.”
Asked about the charter section, Acosta said, after consulting with the city’s legal department, “The agenda was packed, and this item is coming back before council.”
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
