Council to vote on cyberattack disaster declaration

City charter gives mayor more power to act unilaterally

TEXARKANA, Texas — During a meeting Monday, the City Council will vote on continuing a declaration of disaster related to last week’s attack on local government computer systems.

By state law, the Council must approve a declaration of local disaster Mayor Bob Bruggeman made Tuesday in order for it to continue longer than a week.

The city charter grants Bruggeman special powers when a disaster is formally declared. The charter allows the mayor to deputize special police officers and broadly defines his or her rulemaking powers under a disaster declaration.

“The mayor shall have authority during the continuance of such emergency to make and enforce such rules, regulations, and orders as are necessary to preserve the public health, safety, and welfare from the threatened danger. During such emergency, such rules, regulations and orders shall have the force and effect of law,” the charter states.

Last week, a cyberattack led to widespread digital outages in city offices in both Texarkana, Texas, and Texarkana, Arkansas, as well as Bowie County. The Texarkana Water Utilities Information Technology Department later identified the crisis as a ransomware attack. Ransomware is generally defined as hostile software used to attack, damage and disable computers and computer systems. It can lock users out of their devices or block access to files until a ransom is paid.

“The Information Technology Department is currently working their way through checking each of the 1,400 devices on the network. While this work is tedious, good progress has been made. Once all the devices are cleared, or identified as needing work, the recovery process will begin. The scope of this event is not yet understood.

“At this time, there is no evidence that personal information of employees or customers has been compromised as a result of this data incident,” a media update from the local emergency Joint Operations Center stated Friday.

Water services, water quality and 911 emergency services have not been affected by the attack.

Other Business

The Council will also vote on approving a 50-year extension of an easement granted by the U.S. Government for water infrastructure at Wright Patman Lake.

The easement allows the city to continue using land on the lake for water intake structures, pumping stations and a 42-inch pipeline.

The Council will conduct a public hearing and vote on an agreement to provide financial incentives for new development at Airline Drive and Richmond Road.

Texarkana Self Storage LLC would receive $100,000 and a 75% property tax rebate for up to 10 years, with a maximum total rebate of $280,000, in exchange for building a storm water detention basin on the site.

The Council will also conduct public hearings and vote on a number of rezoning and permitting matters.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 220 Texas Blvd., and will be livestreamed through the city’s website.