Krum’s city government is in upheaval after the controversial firing of the public works director prompted two City Council members to resign.

Matt Kilgore

Stephanie Thompson

Matt Kilgore and Stephanie Thompson resigned in protest Tuesday, a day after the council voted 3-2 to fire Public Works Director Robert Faulkner. Kilgore and Thompson, who voted against the firing, said they could no longer serve under Mayor Terri Wilson’s leadership.

“The decisions are made based on whatever the mayor wants; it doesn’t matter what’s best for the city,” Thompson said.

Said Kilgore: “Everybody has a time when they feel like they don’t want to be a part of something ... and that’s where I’m at. It’s just moral and ethical reasons for me.”

Terri Wilson

Wilson, who was re-elected last month to a second term, did not return repeated calls for comment Thursday.

The council plans to meet this afternoon in a special session to consider appointing a replacement for Thompson. A vote on Kilgore’s replacement could come Monday, said City Secretary Karen Blakey. The terms would expire next May.

The turmoil has renewed a debate over the direction of the city and whether the five-member council is a sufficient check on the mayor’s power. Wilson, who votes only in a tie, serves as the city’s chief executive officer, but at least one council member dismissed the idea that Wilson always gets her way.

“There have been lots of things that the mayor has brought before the council … and we’ve voted no on,” said council member Doyle Fletcher, who could not immediately provide examples. “I don’t feel that anything she brings before the council would be voted on just because she brought it there.”

Fletcher voted for Faulkner’s firing, along with council members Judy Kindiger and Joe Beall. Kindiger and Beall declined to comment.

Kilgore and Thompson won their seats last year, running as part of a loose alliance of candidates with ties to the Krum Fire Department. Kilgore served briefly as interim fire chief after the previous chief, Troy Mills, was fired in September 2007.

Faulkner said he saw his firing as the latest sign that Wilson is ridding the city of employees who worked under former Mayor Larry Lamonica, whom she unseated in May 2007.

The council fired Mills after an independent audit found the fire department’s expenditures exceeded its budget and caused financial problems for the city, but Mills disputed the findings and later sued Wilson for defamation. The case is pending in a Denton County district court.

“I guess I was next on the list,” said Faulkner, a three-year city employee who maintains he was let go without cause. “I never was told why I was terminated. I guess you’ll have to ask the mayor.”

Faulkner said he was suspended indefinitely with pay May 5 after engaging in an argument with the city secretary but that no one ever officially told him the reason for his suspension. Blakey, the city secretary, declined to comment on the incident, which resulted in a police incident report but no criminal charges.

The council met in closed session May 18 and the next day offered Faulkner a severance package if he would resign, Faulkner said. He rejected it in part because he did not want to waive his right to sue the city, he said. He would not discuss his legal plans.

Fletcher, a council member, said the firing was justified. He could not discuss the reason because the talks occurred behind closed doors, he said.

City records show Faulkner faced discipline in May 2008 for an “outburst” during a council meeting and in April 2009 for using a city phone for personal use. The Denton Record-Chronicle requested the records under the Texas Public Information Act.

Faulkner said he was simply arguing a point during the 2008 meeting, which took place in closed session, and denied acting unprofessionally. He also denied using a city phone for personal use, saying Wilson had unfairly punished him for calling Lamonica to ask questions about water and sewer projects begun during his time as mayor.

Records also show Faulkner faced allegations in 2007 of sharing a co-worker’s private medical information and making inappropriate sexual remarks. Faulkner said the allegations were baseless and came from a disgruntled former employee.

Faulkner said Wilson micromanaged him based on a personal grudge and was looking for a reason to fire him.

“I knew it was coming,” he said.

Filling the seats

Kilgore and Thompson questioned the plan to fill their seats with council appointees, saying they believed the city had to call a special election. State law calls for a special election when two vacancies occur on the governing body of a general-law city such as Krum.

However, the city secretary pointed to a 2003 attorney general’s opinion saying cities could bypass special elections in those cases by filling one vacant seat before formally accepting the second resignation. Resignations take effect within eight days unless the council accepts them sooner.

Calling a special election would leave the seats vacant until November, leaving the council short on members during summer budget talks, Fletcher said.

“We really need the positions filled so we’ll have more people to give their input on the budget,” he said.

Thompson said the city was exploiting a loophole. “That’s another example of how they work,” she said.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com .