Hawk Cove, Texas, December 11, 2018. Some ordinances wait for a vote. The 5th Revision of Ordinance 100-11, the City’s permit and fee schedule, lists its own date on the title page: “(5th Revision 12/11/2018)” (p. 1). Its last page says: “PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HAWK COVE, TEXAS, ON THIS 12th DAY OF December, 2018” (p. 5). The Mayor and City Secretary lines under it are blank. A second printing of the same last page in our copy leaves the date blank too: “____ DAY OF ________, 20___” (p. 4).
December 11, 2018 was a Tuesday, a regular Council night. December 12 was a Wednesday.
The agenda for December 11
The posted agenda for the December 11, 2018 regular meeting lists, under Old Business, the wastewater treatment plant update, “Amended Ordinance 05-100 regarding Setback Requirements and Square Footage,” and “Possible Changes to Ordinance 06-110-1 Regarding Pets.” Under New Business: “Changing City Hall Operating Days” and “City Hall Staff pay changing from Hourly to Salaried.” The executive session is staff pay. It was certified as posted “Friday, December 7, 2018 at 4:05 p.m.” over the typed name of Patricia Pendergraft, City Secretary.
Ordinance 100-11 is not on it. Neither is the word “fee.” We hold no minutes and no recording of the December 11 meeting, and no agenda, notice, minutes or recording of any Council meeting on December 12.
What the 5th Revision changed
The fee page filed with our 4th Revision copy (12/11/2017) and the 5th Revision differ in these lines. That fee page carries no revision number of its own, so we compare the wording, not the labels.
| Line | Fee page with the 4th Revision | 5th Revision (12/11/2018) |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor permit | “Door to Door or Street Vendor permit (90 day permit)” $35.00 (p. 3) | “Door to Door, Street Vendor, Donor / Solicitor permit (annual)” $35.00* (p. 2) |
| Charity | No waiver listed | “Permit fee may be waived for valid charitable organizations or vendors performing a legitimate charitable function.” (p. 2) |
| Who sets other fees | “For any permit or fee issues not addressed by this ordinance, the Chief Building Official has authority to establish regulations or fees on as-needed basis, until finalized by City Council Action.” (p. 3) | Not in the 5th Revision pages we hold |
| Unpaid fees | “may be added to sewer account or a lien placed on propert[y]” (p. 3) | “may result in a Lien placed on property and Citation issued.” (p. 3) |
| Yard sale; special use | $20.00; “Special Use / Event Permits” $150.00 min. | $5.00; “Special Use Permits” $100.00 min. |
The 5th Revision also drops the line that told the Chief Building Official his fees last only “until finalized by City Council Action.” The new version simply says the Council finalized it.
Four days later
On Saturday, December 15, 2018, the Police Department wrote citation No. 002667 to the potato guy: “SOLICITING WITHOUT PERMIT,” issued by “W GUFFEY 204,” with no ordinance number on it, returnable to Municipal Court “ON OR BEFORE 1/9/2019” (ticket; the full story is in Free Potatoes Found to Require a Permit). Among the 100-11 copies we hold, the word “Solicitor” first appears in the 5th Revision. Because the ticket cites no ordinance, we cannot say which version, if any, the charge relied on.
The earliest copy of the 5th Revision we can date is a photograph of a City-printed title page taken January 4, 2019, from its photo data. The 5th Revision appears in no City records response we hold. Our copies are photographs of paper, so they carry no file dates from the City’s computer.
The record, in order
| Date | What the record shows | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Jul 10, 2017 | 2nd Revision: “PASSED AND APPROVED ... THE 10th DAY OF July, 2017.” Mayor and City Secretary lines blank. | 2nd Revision, p. 3 |
| Oct 9, 2017 | 3rd Revision: passage date “____ DAY OF ____, 2017,” unsigned. A sticky note on the title page: “Replaced by #4 12/11/17.” | 3rd Revision, p. 2; p. 1 |
| Dec 11, 2017 | 4th Revision title page. Its last page is not in our copy. | 4th Revision, p. 1 |
| Dec 7, 2018 | Agenda for December 11 certified as posted, 4:05 p.m. No 100-11 item. | Agenda, Dec 11, 2018 |
| Dec 11, 2018 | The date the 5th Revision gives itself. We hold no minutes or recording of that night. | 5th Revision, p. 1 |
| Dec 12, 2018 | The date the 5th Revision says the Council passed it. We hold no record of a meeting that day. A second printing leaves the date blank. Both are unsigned. | p. 5; p. 4 |
| Dec 15, 2018 | Citation No. 002667, “SOLICITING WITHOUT PERMIT,” “W GUFFEY 204.” No ordinance cited. | Ticket |
| Jan 4, 2019 | Earliest dated copy of the 5th Revision we hold (photo of a City-printed title page). | Photo data |
| Jan 8, 2019 | Regular meeting: “We have no old business.” Later: “We have no executive session.” | Meeting video, about 0:22 |
| Jan 9, 2019 | The ticket’s court date. The Municipal Judge later wrote: “I HELD COURT ON JANUARY 9TH OF 2019 AND THE ILLEAGAL ORDINANCE 100-11 WAS STILL IN PLACE.” | Judge’s letter |
| Feb 12, 2019 | Agenda, Old Business VIII-D: “Discuss/Consider/Act on modification and amendments to Ordinance 100-11 Regarding Fees.” We hold only the first page of the minutes, which ends before the business items. | Agenda; minutes, p. 1 |
| Feb 12, 2019 | 6th Revision. It voids “Ordinance 2017-001 which was misnamed and was actually Revision 3 of this Ordinance.” Passage date blank, unsigned. | 6th Revision, p. 1; p. 2 |
| Mar 22, 2019 | Special session agenda: “POSSIBLE REMOVAL OF MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE.” | Agenda |
| Mar 26, 2019 | The judge resigns by letter (quoted below). | Letter |
What the Municipal Judge wrote
On March 26, 2019, Municipal Judge Anthony C. Cuciniello resigned. His letter to the Council says: “IN DECEMBER I NOTIFIED THE SITTING MAYOR , BRIAN PROCK THAT ORDINANCE 100-11 WAS CHANGED WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE COUNCIL AND IT WAS INSTRUCTED BY THE CHIEF OF POLICE VIA THE CODE ENHANCEMENT OFFICER TO MAKE THE CHANGE. THE PURPOSE OF THE ILLEAGAL CHANGE WAS TO EFFECT THE OUTCOME OF AN UP COMING COURT CASE. MAYOR PROCK IGNORED MY FINDINGS. THE CHANGE WAS NEVER BROUGHT AND PLACED ON THE AGENDA UP FOR REVIEW UNTIL FEBUARY.”
Those are the judge’s words, not a finding by any court or agency. His letter does not name the Chief of Police, the code officer or the court case. The rest of his letter is in Municipal Judge Resigns, Leaves His Reasons in Writing.
Who held which job
- W. Guffey, badge 204, signed the ticket. The state’s peace officer records list a William W. Guffey with the Hawk Cove Police Department since January 22, 2015 (TCOLE license lookup).
- Rhonda Mckeehan certifies City agendas as “City Administrator” (for example May 31, 2023, p. 3). On March 25, 2019, three months after the 5th Revision’s date, a USDA Rural Development email referred to “Rhonda (Police Chief/City Administrator)” (email).
- Patricia Pendergraft was City Secretary on the December 2018 and February 2019 agendas. The City Secretary line on both 5th Revision last pages is blank.
No record we hold shows who typed, printed, dated or handed out the 5th Revision. No record we hold shows Ms. Mckeehan or Mr. Guffey doing any of those things, or saying anything about it. If the City has the December 11, 2018 minutes, its recording of that meeting, or a signed 5th Revision, we would be glad to post them.
Highlights
- The 5th Revision dates itself December 11, 2018 and says the Council passed it December 12, 2018.
- The December 11 agenda lists pets, setbacks, the sewer plant, City Hall hours and staff pay.
- Both last pages we hold are unsigned. One has a date and one does not.
- The ordinance reached an agenda on February 12, 2019, as “Old Business.”
- To be fair to December, we also hold no minutes for July 10, October 9 or December 11, 2017. The 5th Revision is simply the only one for which we hold the agenda of the night it names.