The Devine City Council formally called for a General Election after accepting the resignation of former District 4 Councilwoman Jennifer Schott during the Regular meeting held last Thursday, January 21.
Election Day is Saturday, May 2, and includes races for the District 1, 3, 4, and 5 Council seats, as well as Mayor.
Mayor Cory Thompson said a number of people had expressed interest in being appointed to the District 4 seat.
“I told all of them, basically, they need to make sure and do it the right way,” Thompson said. “We are already in the election cycle, if they’re really interested to go ahead and pick up a packet, go ahead and sign up, so at least that we on Council can see that there’s intent.”
District 3 Councilman David Espinosa said Schott would be hard to replace.
“I enjoyed having her here,” Espinosa said.
Schott submitted a letter of resignation on Jan. 15 after District 2 Councilman Steve Lopez called for a point of order regarding her place of residence during the Special meeting held Jan. 14.
Schott’s home in District 4 sold in December 2019.
Section 22.008(b) of the Texas Local Government Code states, “If a member of the governing body changes the member’s place of residence to a location outside the corporate boundaries of the municipality, the member is automatically disqualified from holding the member’s office and the office is considered vacant.”
According to City Attorney Tom Cate, because the statute is not self-enacting, a formal complaint would have to be filed with the District Attorney’s office and Schott’s residency outside the district established before her seat became vacant.
Schott claimed in her resignation letter to be living in a home in District 4 while her new property outside the City limits is renovated.
District 5 Councilwoman Debra Randall said she felt like Schott had been “bullied” off the Council.
“The fact that she’s saying she was staying within her district means she was under the rules and regulations of being a Councilperson,” Randall said. “She did not say this to me; I’m saying this is my perception – that she was bullied into resigning the very next day after the last meeting.”
A Lopez-Espinosa motion to accept Schott’s resignation passed 2-1 over Randall’s objection.
By Marly Davis
Staff Writer
