A judge on Friday delayed a trial on the Denton City Council term limits lawsuit after realizing the plaintiffs had asked for a jury to hear the case.

Visiting District Judge David Evans had briefly disqualified two of the five plaintiffs after they didn’t show up in court but reinstated them in light of the unexpected delay.

Evans postponed the trial until at least late October after lead plaintiff Bob Clifton objected to the lack of a jury, which he requested in his original suit. The judge heard arguments about whether the plaintiffs are qualified to bring the case but did not say when he might make a decision.

Bob Clifton

The lawsuit claims the city secretary should have disqualified Mayor Mark Burroughs, Mayor Pro Tem Pete Kamp and former Mayor Perry McNeill in the May 10 council election for alleged term limit violations.

Mark Burroughs

City attorneys say term limits apply per seat and don’t carry over to council members who run for a different seat, including mayor, or sit out a term. Plaintiffs disagree, saying the limit disqualifies anyone from election to more than three terms in any position, regardless of a break in service.

Burroughs, who unseated McNeill in a June runoff, served three terms on the council from 1998 to 2004. Kamp was elected to three terms in District 2 but resigned halfway through her last term to run for an at-large seat in May.

The plaintiffs include two candidates in the May election — mayoral hopeful Justin Bell and Kamp rival Mike Sutton — along with Denton residents Richard Jordan, Raquel Gutierrez Bryson and Clifton, a political activist who battled Burroughs’ campaign through his Watchdog Society of Denton committee.

Bell and Jordan missed Friday’s hearing. Clifton said Jordan was under a doctor’s care; Bell said he was working out of town and thought Clifton was going to file a motion to delay the trial.

As in prior hearings, Evans frequently showed his frustration with Clifton, who is representing himself without an attorney and sometimes seems unaware of courtroom protocol.

“Mr. Clifton, do not ask me again how to proceed in this court,” Evans said halfway through the hearing, when Clifton asked how to offer documents into evidence. “I am not going to try your lawsuit for you.”

Later, the judge said Clifton was “wasting time” by complaining about past delays in the case. Clifton filed the suit April 1, but a change of judges and the start of absentee voting delayed action on it until after the election.

A trial was originally set for Aug. 12, but the judge postponed it after getting stuck at a New York airport in bad weather.

Clifton apologized for putting the judge through “misery” and said in the future he would consider hiring an attorney. Clifton, a frequent City Hall critic, also represented himself in past suits against the city, including one challenging the 2006 charter amendment election. The city won that suit.

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