Conroe secretary files suit over ballot issue
Conroe City Secretary Soco Gorjon has filed a lawsuit against the city and several council members alleging retaliation and malpractice by Interim City Attorney Mike Garner surrounding the recent May 4 ballot controversy.
The suit seeks more than $1 million in damages and names Council Members Howard Wood, Harry Hardman and Marsha Porter, along with Garner and the city.
Houston-based attorney Nathan Steadman, who represents Gorjon, filed the suit April 30 in the 270th state District Court in Harris County.
The suit alleges Garner committed legal malpractice by giving Gorjon legal advice when she asked about the ballot issue and then filed suit against her several days later to compel her to reject the council applications of Mayor Pro Tem Curt Maddux and Council Member Todd Yancey.
“Once Garner learned that the city wished to sue (Gorjon) for the same matter for which (Gorjon) sought legal advice, he was under a duty to disclose the conflict to both (Gorjon) and the city and advise (Gorjon) that she may wish to get independent counsel,” the suit states. “Notice of any type of conflict was never provided to Soco nor was she given the opportunity to seek independent counsel on the issue and was blindsided by the city’s lawsuit against her.”
Garner and City Administrator Gary Scott could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Garner has denied any malpractice and said he filed the suit to protect the city.
“My client is the city,” Garner said during an April 11 council meeting. “When I see something against the law, I am to take reasonable efforts to remediate that issue and that is what I did.”
The suit comes after Steadman submitted a demand letter to the city April 4 presenting a compromise that would result in Gorjon’s resignation if the city paid her more than $800,000 in compensation and unused vacation and holiday pay.
Steadman included an April 18 deadline and threatened to file the lawsuit if the city did nothing.
The council met April 11 to discuss the letter and Gorjon’s employment, but after an hour of heated debate, they took no action.
Scott said April 22 no action was taken by the city regarding Gorjon’s demands.
Gorjon remains on paid leave, according to city officials.
In March, council candidate Duke Coon and Shana Arthur filed separate lawsuits against Gorjon after learning the applications of Maddux and Yancey would not be rejected.
Gorjon refused to invalidate Maddux and Yancey’s council applications after she notarized them when they were not present. She said it was a technicality and they would remain on the ballot.
The 9th Court of Appeals ultimately dismissed several lawsuits against Gorjon.
While acknowledging the violation of the notary law, the higher court said the applications should not be rejected on the technicality.
The lawsuit claims Wood, Hardman and Porter violated the Texas Open Meeting Act, alleging the three instructed Garner to file the suit.
Wood and Hardman said they spoke to Garner individually about the ballot issue but did not instruct him to file the suit. The council members also said they did not communicate with each other on the issue.
“My email and correspondence was only with our interim city attorney, after a city employee admitted to concerning actions they took,” Wood said. “I needed to understand if laws were broken and, if so, how to protect our city from the possibility of liability. My email to our interim city attorney is not a violation of TOMA. This is a deflection from accountability.”
Porter also said she did not violate the Open Meetings Act.
“I did not violate any TOMA issues that the lawsuit alleges,” Porter said. “I voted against giving Soco $800,000 in damages because her demand letter expired and there was no lawsuit at the time. I thought it was a poor attempt to reward Soco at taxpayers’ expense.”
Porter said Scott and Director of Human Resources Andrea Houser placed Gorjon on administrative leave with pay according to the city’s personnel manual policies.
Hardman declined to comment on the pending litigation.