GALVESTON — Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas extended her own emergency powers for another seven days Wednesday morning after a fight between two council members broke the four-person quorum necessary for the group to take any action.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Beeton questioned the mayor’s request to extend her emergency powers, saying the city needed to return to a representative form of government as soon as possible to give the city’s residents a voice in the decisions their leaders are making.
Councilman Danny Weber told Beeton she was clueless about how to operate the city during a disaster and accused her of trying to turn the city’s operations into a media circus. The inability of the council to pass a simple motion about the disaster declaration, because of Beeton’s questions and criticism, proves the mayor still needs to be the only one calling the shots, Weber said.
Weber then pushed his chair back from the makeshift council meeting table, set up in the lobby of the Galveston County Justice Center, and said, “I’m out of here.”
Without having a quorum of council members, the mayor has the authority to extend her own emergency powers for another seven days. Thomas begged Beeton to change her mind.
“Please don’t do this, Elizabeth, please,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion and her eyes filling with tears. “I can’t even explain how heart-rending the decisions are that I have to make. But please don’t cut this city off, please.”
Beeton wanted to extend the declaration for just two more days, giving the three absent council members time to get back to the island to help make decisions.
But City Attorney Susie Green said she did not know whether state law allowed the council to extend the declaration for any period less than seven days.
Thomas, Beeton, Weber and Susan Fennewald apparently are the only council members in the city. Thomas said she did not know where Linda Colbert, Tarris Woods or Karen Mahoney were.
Beeton commended Thomas and City Manager Steve LeBlanc for doing a fabulous job dealing with Hurricane Ike and its aftermath. But she questioned Tuesday’s decision to cancel the “look and leave” policy.
Property damaged by the storm is deteriorating rapidly, and residents have no way of keeping the damage from getting worse if they can’t get on the island, she said.
“Every day that passes, it’s getting worse for them,” she said.
LeBlanc said he understood how badly residents wanted to get back to the island but insisted the city wasn’t ready for an influx of people.
But before the city council meeting, he hinted the city was working on a new look and leave policy that would allow people to come back gradually, based on their addresses. But no information was released about the plan.
Beeton also said the city was showing favoritism in allowing contractors for big businesses through the causeway checkpoint while homeowners were being kept out.
She also criticized Thomas and LeBlanc for providing services like food, water, power and medical care to city workers and not residents.
Water service has been partially restored to many portions of the city behind the seawall, but the service is not consistent.
Crews were driving trucks through neighborhoods offering residents water they can wash and clean with.
