Conroe councilwoman is target of recall election
A group of Conroe residents, including the wife of the former mayor pro tem, is seeking to remove from office Councilwoman Marsha Porter, criticizing her decision two weeks ago to fire the city administrator and force the resignation of the city's finance director.
Theresa McDonald, wife of former Mayor Pro Tem Raymond McDonald, who lost his bid for a second term to Councilman Howard Wood, announced on Facebook Aug. 23 that petitions were being signed to recall Porter. Porter, along with council members
Wood and Harry Hardman, voted on Aug. 11 to fire City Administrator Paul Virgadamo Jr. while Director of Finance Steve Williams resigned.
Neither Theresa nor Raymond McDonald could be reached for comment. Their recall effort does not include Wood and Hardman.
In the Facebook post, they said Porter led the effort to fire Virgadamo, claiming she put personal interests ahead of residents.
"She claimed 'a lack of
transparency' though she and Howard Wood executed their plan after work hours and without warning. Not very transparent," the post states. "Many of Marsha Porter's supporters were at the meeting pleading with her to not go through with the terminations but those pleas fell on deaf ears and cold hearts."
Recall guidelines
Porter said she stands by her decision. Her concerns about Virgadamo range from accusations of a toxic work environment to financial mismanagement. Staff, she said, were not allowed to talk to the council and not allowed to present their budgets and needs during council workshops. She also said Virgadamo authorized expenses over $40,000 for a professional decorator to decorate the offices of several city council members. She said the expenses, which are currently being audited, were never presented to the council.
“The only responsible and correct decision was to terminate him,” Porter said this week.
According to the city's charter, voters can call for the recall election on the grounds of “incompetency, misconduct or malfeasance in office.”
A petition for a recall is required to have 30 percent of the number of voters who cast ballots in the city's May election. Just over 5,000 people voted.
Signatures must be validated and presented to the city within 45 days of the start of the petition.
The earliest a recall election could be placed on a ballot would be May, according to City Attorney Gary Scott. As of Friday, the city has not received a petition for a recall election. The city of Conroe, Scott said, has never had a recall election for its city council.
‘This is wrong’
In an interview Thursday, Porter also said Virgadmo negotiated numerous contracts that were unfavorable to the city including the construction contract for the new Hyatt Regency Hotel and Convention Center. She said he also failed to fairly and timely evaluate staff and document employee complaints, as well as provide budget reports to the council.
Virgadamo was given 20 months of pay severance totaling $427,401.67, according to Scott. Virgadamo's annual salary was $256,000.
He has defended his performance and said he was shocked to learn about Porter, Wood and Hardman's concerns.
“Not one council member has come to me and said there was a problem,” Virgadamo said the night he was fired. “To treat a 25-year employee like this is wrong.”
Scott, who is currently serving as interim city administrator, said the council was within its ability to fire Virgadamo. He noted Virgadamo's contract included a clause that he could be fired at any time with or without cause.
“Department heads sign contracts,” Scott said. “Once the contract is signed, there is an understanding that the employee can be terminated for no reason at all.”
Wood called the recall effort “purely political” and “lacking any legitimate reason.”
“The purpose of a recall is to remove an elected official who has demonstrated incompetency, malfeasance, or criminal misconduct,” Wood said. “We made a tough and unpopular decision because we felt it was right. I'd hate to live in a city, county, state or nation where our elected officials can't act in accordance with their own conscience for fear of being unpopular. If we go down this path now, I feel recalls will become routine on the local level as a tool for political revenge, and not for their intended purpose of removing criminal elected officials from the seat of governance.
"I stand by my decision.”