Brackettville City Council Meeting dominated by Animal Control Ordinance issues
By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2015, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.
The City of Brackettville, Texas City Council’s regular meeting agenda held on Monday, June 8, 2015, at the City’s Annex Building was dominated by Animal Control Ordinance-related issues raised by the lawsuit filed by the Brackettville Animal Lovers Association against Mayor Andres Rodriguez and the City of Brackettville regarding the controversial and ill-fated Animal Control Ordinance approved and amended on December 9, 2014, which prohibited the possession of livestock in one discriminatory boundary of the City limits while allowing possession of livestock in another discriminatory boundary of the City limits.
The original lawsuit was filed in the 63rd District Court of Kinney County, Texas in Brackettville, but Mayor Andres Rodriguez and the City of Brackettville removed the lawsuit from state court to federal court in Del Rio, Texas. The lawsuit alleges that the City of Brackettville and Mayor Andres Rodriguez are violating the citizens of Brackettville their due process and equal protection constitutional rights, discriminating against them by establishing arbitrary and capricious boundary areas within the City limits allowing and prohibiting the possession of livestock, constitutes a taking of their property rights, affects interstate commerce, and the disputed Animal Control Ordinance is void and null because the City of Brackettville failed to follow its own municipal ordinance requirements and/or state and federal laws.
The Brackettville Animal Lovers Association and the City of Brackettville and Mayor Andres Rodriguez entered into an Agreed Preliminary Injunction on May 12, 2015, before U.S. District Judge Alia Moses to not enforce the disputed December 9, 2014 Animal Control Ordinance and its controversial boundary areas for the possession of livestock within the City limits, but the parties’ agreement was delayed being implemented as a result of the parties disagreement on the location of the Kinney County Youth Development Association’s swine pen property for students participating in the Kinney County Junior Livestock Show. On Tuesday, June 9th, the parties filed a Joint Advisory to the Court that the parties had reached an agreement on where the Kinney County Youth Development Association swine pen property is to be located, requesting the federal court to enter the Agreed Preliminary Injunction. The Agreed Preliminary Injunction once entered by the federal court will prohibit the City of Brackettville and Mayor Andres Rodriguez from enforcing the disputed Animal Control Ordinance of December 9, 2014 while reverting back to the previous City of Brackettville’s Animal Control Ordinance of May 13, 2007, which allows possession of livestock in the City limits without regard to any discriminatory boundary areas.
Brackettville City Council approved Agenda item No. 6 regarding the designation of Lots 8, 9, and 10, Block 72 in the City of Bracketville corporate city limits as the location of the Kinney County Junior Livestock Show swine property to be used as the sole location authorized for students who are members of the Kinney County Youth Development Association and/or the Brackett Independent School District livestock projects to keep and maintain swine under the May 13, 2007 Animal Control Ordinance. City Council members Aurelia Rivas Garza, Jerry Lee De Hoyos, and Roy Garza unanimously approved this agenda item while Council members Frank Rodriguez was absent and Francisca “Chica” Garza arrived late to the meeting almost towards the end of it and apologized to Mayor Rodriguez stating she had the wrong date for the meeting.
With this important agenda item approved by the City Council, the Agreed Preliminary Injunction between the Brackettville Animal Lovers Association and the City of Brackettville and Mayor Andres Rodriguez final disputed point as to the location of the swine property was ironed out and U.S. District Judge Alia Moses finally entered the parties Agreed Preliminary Injunction on Tuesday, June 9th.
The City Council unanimously denied Agenda item No. 7 calling for the “First reading of Ordinance 2015-06-01 establishing rules of procedure for enacting ordinances, resolutions, rules, and policies in conflict therewith and providing for an effective date. The City was a little disingenuous with the public at the meeting on this agenda item as they presented it as a “clarification” of the City ordinance passage requirements when in fact the City already has established “Rules of Order Nos. 6 and 7” which require that all City ordinances, amendments, and resolutions be read at three meetings before approved. The City of Brackettville has not been complying with these 1928 Rules of Order as it has been approving ordinances, amendments, and resolutions only upon one reading instead of the required three readings. This deficiency and noncompliance by the City of Brackettville was first raised by the Brackettville Animal Lovers Association lawsuit against the City and Mayor Andres Rodriguez as one of the reasons why the December 9, 2014 Animal Control Ordinance is unlawful, null, and void.
The City under the leadership of Mayor Andres Rodriguez was attempting to change the requirement of having to read all ordinances, amendments, and resolutions three times before their approval to only once. But Alderman Roy Garza stated that changing the requirement of ordinances being read to only one time before their approval would not give the citizens of Brackettville sufficient time to review, comment, and suggest their opinions to the City Council regarding their viewpoints on any proposed city ordinances. Newly elected Alderwoman Aurelia Rivas Garza also agreed that the City should require three readings of ordinances before being approved by City Council because often times citizens are unable to attend the first meeting due to scheduling conflicts and would be shut out from expressing their opinions to City Council. New Alderman Jerry Lee De Hoyos echoed the same sentiments. When Mayor Rodriguez called the agenda item for a vote, the City Council unanimously denied changing the City’s existing ordinance passage rules which have been in effect since 1928.
The next agenda item was No. 8 calling for the “First reading of an ordinance readopting Animal Control Ordinance 2001-09-01-AC, as amended May 13, 2007, excluding the prohibition of swine and as modified pursuant to that certain agreement in Cause No. DR-15-CV-45-AM, Brackettville Animal Lovers Association vs. City of Brackettville, Texas and Mayor Andres Rodriguez in United States District Court, Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division.” The City Council unanimously approved the first reading of this readoption of the previously superceded May 13, 2007 Animal Control Ordinance in order to comply with the City’s Agreed Preliminary Injunction with the Brackettville Animal Lovers Association filed in federal court on June 9th. This will require two more readings before the May 13, 2007 Animal Control Ordinance is readopted by the City Council.
The City Council also heard two agenda items in Executive Session including agenda item no. 12 regarding “Consultation with legal counsel regarding (i) pending litigation in Cause No. DR-15-CV-45-AM, Brackettville Animal Lovers Association vs. City of Brackettville, Texas and Mayor Andres Rodriguez in the United States District Court, Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division and (ii) applicability of Chapter 822 of the Texas Health and Safety Code during pendency of litigation, and possible action in Open Session.” The City Council did not take any action in Open Session after coming out of Executive Session regarding this agenda item.
The second Executive Session agenda item was No. 13 regarding “Discussion of personnel matters-Evaluation of maintenance employee Jose Aguirre’s job performance and possible action in Open Session…” The City Council did not take any action on Jose Aguirre’s evaluation of his job performance.
During Police Chief Cordelia Mendeke monthly report she noted an increase of domestic violence cases within the community and that the City was working with local churches to provide counseling to couples and parties seeking counseling and that her recent attendance at an environmental training seminar had been very informative and educational.
It is obvious that the Brackettville’s City Council agenda at the June 8th meeting was dominated by issues relating to the City Council’s decision on December 9, 2014 to approve an amended Animal Control Ordinance which established a two-tier boundary system concerning livestock with one allowing livestock and the other prohibiting livestock within the corporate city limits. The Brackettville Animal Lovers Association lawsuit is bringing out several problems which need to be cleaned up and corrected by the City of Brackettville. It is anticipated that the Animal Control Ordinance will continue to appear frequently in future City Council agendas.
The Agreed Preliminary Injunction filed on June 9th by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses and agreed by the Brackettville Animal Lovers Association and the City of Brackettville and Mayor Andres Rodriguez benefits all the citizens of Bracketville, regardless whether they are members of the non-profit association, because it allows every citizen the possession of livestock within the corporate city limits of Brackettville without any discriminatory boundary areas until a final order is entered in the pending federal lawsuit.
