On the evening of July 11, 2013, the Southwestern Adventist University Pechero Hall lecture room became a virtual gladiator arena as the beleaguered mayor passively attempted to fend off attacks by past and present city em- ployees, former and current city Councilmembers, some audience members and even former allies. The events of the evening began at the City Hall council chambers at 7 pm. The cham- bers quickly exceeded capacity with over 70 excitedly anxious local residents which included local entrepreneurs, current and former city employees, former city elected officials, reporters and attorneys who were then redirected to the more accommodating Pechero Hall venue. A portion of the Mayor’s opening remarks were as fol- lows: “Our city, for the most part, has excellent individuals running the various depart- ments and offices. The City Council and I will continue to support them in every pos- sible way to ensure the city is run in an efficient and friendly manner.” Thirteen residents signed up to speak during the public forum portion of the agenda. Several comments were made in support of City Administra- tor, Bill Guinn and Economic Director, Keith Jilge, whose jobs were in question, while Mayor Ackermann received the tacit support of Bud Findley and Jack Hardwick. The following are some of the remarks, which were limited to 3 minutes: Mark McDonald, Keene resident and owner of Sweet Peppa’s Restaurant: “I’d just like to take a mo- ment to speak about success. As you know, my wife and I own a restaurant in town and we work very hard to make that a successful restaurant for the citizens of Keene. We’re proud of Keene and for the most part, we feel like we’ve had a very positive experi- ence in this town. We’ve been treated very well by the people and by the city government. I measure success in that restaurant based on looking at numbers, how people react to what we do and what people say. …With regard to that, the restaurant won’t be successful if the city isn’t. If we’re hav- ing trouble in the city, it affects every business in town. “I say to you that you need to measure success based on how the city has done over the last several years. It’s my understanding that the city was close to bankruptcy at some point. We now have money in the accounts to pay the bonds, to take care of the business the city needs to, and to move for- ward. Because of that, people like myself have opportunities to come to Keene to grow and to do well and support our own families, as well as give a service to the city. “I urge you and I urge the people here to remember that that is how you measure suc- cess. If there are no griev- ances, if there are no other problems - look at the bottom line of the city; how is the city doing? If it is in better shape than it was and the answer to that question is ‘yes,’ than I think tonight’s meeting will follow its course.” Former Councilmember Chad Aden: “…I would like to say for everyone here, I have not made up news stories, I have not made up any lies in what I have found out and what I have said. I would also like to throw out there - I’m wonder- ing why the questions that (Councilmember) Cheryl Sch- ram brought up that you could easily answer in one council meeting three council meetings ago, are still not on the agenda. They were last week and they were tabled. When are we going to get the answers on where we stand with emer- gency management? “The second thing that I would like to say is there is a business (that) when I was on the council - a business tried to come in and wanted some rules changed and the city didn’t want to pursue that because there was no business plan. Now we have potential businesses coming into town which my understanding is that there is still no business plan. …Let’s see a business plan before we take another busi- ness step or spend another city dime before moving forward on this. Because you don’t have a business plan, the same thing should happen to this potential client that happened to the last one – it shut down! Thank you.” Joyce Shaw, Keene resident and annual election judge: “I’ve live here (Keene) for a long time and been through several mayors and several councils and I wouldn’t move if you paid me to! I appreciate the work that you all put in, the many, many hours that we don’t know about.” Joy Cooper, Keene resident: “I’ve live here for 43 years. My water bills are astronomi- cal, first thing. Second thing, we have holes in our streets. …I do not believe we can support paying approximately $20,000 a year for an office for someone who works for our city. While I am grate- ful for what he (Keith Jilge) contributes, I do not believe that anyone in this town who knows our budget, can fairly say that this should never be voted on…!” Bud Findley, Keene resident and President, Keene Health Facilities Development Board: “Ladies and gentleman, this town needs growth. There’s a lot of people here, staff, city Councilmembers, volunteers, the boards that work hard in trying to achieve growth. My 40 years in this town – plus or minus, I’ve watched all of our legacy industries shut down, move away, close their doors and the jobs have gone with them. And my regret is (that) some members of the team have lost the team zeal and concept; and we need every- body. This can’t be done by one; it has to be done by many. We got 50 miles of streets plus, and in my understanding a $100,000 paving budget. We got problems; we need new industry! And however long it takes and whoever we have to speak to, and however many people we have to bring to town, that’s what we have to do. “And it’s hard, and it’s com- plicated, and we get impatient, and we get frustrated. But you don’t get bigger dollars, bigger industry without spending some money. It doesn’t just drop in our lap. And I would like to get everybody on the same page. And everyone get out of the shadows, get out of the papers, get out of the P.R. business, get out of washing our dirty laundry in front of everyone else and in front of our potential customers. And let’s go about making this city the best place it could be in having the money to make it a show place, please. That’s all I have to say.” Liesl Hoover, Keene resident who is spearheading a mayoral recall petition on the Novem- ber ballot: “Good evening. One of the first times that I spoke in front of all of you, I reminded you all that you sat in the chair that you sit in because your fellow residents here in Keene, voted and decided that we thought that you were best for the job. We have faith in you, we trusted you, and we trusted that you as a council and you Mr. Mayor would be making the best decisions for the citizens and for the City of Keene, as a whole. Boy, take a look at where we are now. We have closed-door meetings, back- door deals, agendas that are self-serving; attempting to ter- minate those that may question or oppose a certain decision or thought that has been brought forward. Is that really where Keene needs to be? “I’ve heard kind of a general theme, everyone wants to be positive and move ahead. I challenge you to take a close look at the cards you have played. I can assure you that my reasons for speaking to the council over a 6-8 week period have not been for personal gain; I really don’t know what I’m going to gain from it, other than right is right, and wrong is wrong! Take a look at it. I wish you all well, we’ll be watching! The citizens of Keene put a lot of faith and trust in you, so I hope that we all make the right decisions. Thank you.” Hoover has until the close of the business day, August 9, to deliver the required paperwork to the City Manager’s office with the signatures of 15% of Keene’s registered voters. Robert Bischoff, former City Councilmember: “This is probably going to be hard for you to believe, but I didn’t intend to speak tonight. …But I’m glad that I did because after listening to the mayor’s self-serving remarks to begin this meeting, I thought that ought to be pointed out. He conveniently was able to talk and put his point forward. STANDARD U.S. MAIL PAID KEENE, TX PERMIT NO. 25 ZIP CODE 76059 KEENE CHRONICLE Volume 01, Issue 22 July 25, 2013 www.KeeneChronicle.com K C Keene the next Qata or Detroit? page 6 Per Issue $ 1 INSIDE Keene Mayor under siege while two city employees retain their jobs Continued: Keene Mayor- Page 3 City Council listens to Mayor Ackermann as he denies he wants to remove Bill Guinn as City Administrator. Wednesday morning, July 17, Pastor Jennifer Scott and family gathered in the office of Carlos Craig, Texas Confer- ence of Seventh-day Adven- tists president, to receive the official call making her the first female senior pastor of the Keene Seventh-day Ad- ventist Church. Constituents received the official announce- ment shortly before noon. Scott currently pastors the Seventh-day Adven- tist church in Shelton, Washington. She fills the vacancy created by Mic Thurber ear- lier this year. Reflecting on this announcement, Pastor Scott had these words for her new church family, “It was so entirely delightful to be with you and enjoy your Texas hospitality. We are thrilled with the op- portunity to serve as Senior Pastor of the Keene SDA Church. We are eager for the rich blessings that ministry brings as we worship together and work together in service to our community. Thank you for your prayers as we move to the great state of Texas.” Pastor Scott earned her Mas- ter’s degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California in 1997. She is a 1991 graduate of Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist University. She is the first female to be “commissioned” in the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and, in her new role as Senior Pastor, will be the first female to assume the leadership role at an SDA col- lege or university church. In July, Pastor Scott and family spent nine days in the Keene area interviewing with the pastoral search committee, meeting with local constitu- ents, and visiting with officers of Southwestern Adventist University. Scott delivered two sermons that Sabbath morning, visited Sabbath School rooms, and attended a Saturday evening reception at Keene Senior Center. The following three evenings, she attended the on-going Vaca- tion Bible School program and continued to meet and greet individuals, answering a multitude of questions in an- ticipation of Tuesday night’s decision by the Texas Confer- ence Executive Committee. The Scott family includes husband Robert, born in San Marcos, and two children, Camryn, 13, and Caeden, 10. Camryn wants to learn to ride a horse, while Caeden is a huge sports fan. Friday, Scott returned to Washington to begin the process of winding down her ministry to make the move to Texas. “We plan to be in Keene the middle of August to search for housing, return to retrieve our things, and be ready to begin ministry in Keene mid-September,” said Scott. She plans to also visit several SDA univer- sity churches and pastors to discuss community, university, and church harmony. Scott previously served as associate pastor for the Loma Linda University SDA Church in Loma Linda, California, working alongside Keene’s favorite son and story-teller Randy Roberts. Through this association, she heard many stories of Texas and its fabled history. Scott will be leaving Shel- ton Valley Christian Cam- pus, home to Shelton Valley SDA Church, Shelton Valley Christian School, and Shelton Valley Christian Child Devel- opment Center. The 25 acre campus is located 50 miles southwest of Seattle, Wash- ington. When asked about their 15- year marriage, husband Robert said with a Texas-size smile, “I prayed to get a godly wife and look what I received!” The Keene community will soon see this godly wife in action, bringing lots of energy, compassion, and fire for the Lord. “Jennifer Scott Accepts Call as Senior Pastor” A Saturday evening meet and greet Pastor Scott and family was held at the Senior Citizens Center in Keene Robert and Jennifer Scott
Transcript
On the evening of July 11, 2013, the Southwestern Adventist University Pechero Hall lecture room became a virtual gladiator arena as the beleaguered mayor passively attempted to fend off attacks by past and present city em-ployees, former and current city Councilmembers, some audience members and even former allies. The events of the evening
began at the City Hall council chambers at 7 pm. The cham-bers quickly exceeded capacity with over 70 excitedly anxious local residents which included local entrepreneurs, current and former city employees, former city elected officials, reporters and attorneys who were then redirected to the more accommodating Pechero Hall venue. A portion of the Mayor’s
opening remarks were as fol-lows: “Our city, for the most part, has excellent individuals running the various depart-ments and offices. The City Council and I will continue to support them in every pos-sible way to ensure the city is run in an efficient and friendly manner.”Thirteen residents signed
up to speak during the public forum portion of the agenda. Several comments were made in support of City Administra-tor, Bill Guinn and Economic Director, Keith Jilge, whose jobs were in question, while Mayor Ackermann received the tacit support of Bud Findley and Jack Hardwick. The following are some of the
remarks, which were limited to 3 minutes:Mark McDonald, Keene
resident and owner of Sweet Peppa’s Restaurant: “I’d just like to take a mo-
ment to speak about success. As you know, my wife and I own a restaurant in town and we work very hard to make that a successful restaurant for the citizens of Keene. We’re proud of Keene and for the most part, we feel like we’ve had a very positive experi-ence in this town. We’ve been treated very well by the people and by the city government. I measure success in that restaurant based on looking at numbers, how people react to what we do and what people say. …With regard to that, the restaurant won’t be successful if the city isn’t. If we’re hav-ing trouble in the city, it affects every business in town. “I say to you that you need
to measure success based on how the city has done over the last several years. It’s my understanding that the city was close to bankruptcy at some point. We now have money in the accounts to pay the bonds, to take care of the business the city needs to, and to move for-ward. Because of that, people like myself have opportunities to come to Keene to grow and to do well and support our own families, as well as give a service to the city. “I urge you and I urge the
people here to remember that that is how you measure suc-cess. If there are no griev-ances, if there are no other
problems - look at the bottom line of the city; how is the city doing? If it is in better shape than it was and the answer to that question is ‘yes,’ than I think tonight’s meeting will follow its course.”Former Councilmember Chad
Aden:“…I would like to say for
everyone here, I have not made up news stories, I have not made up any lies in what I have found out and what I have said. I would also like to throw out there - I’m wonder-ing why the questions that (Councilmember) Cheryl Sch-ram brought up that you could easily answer in one council meeting three council meetings ago, are still not on the agenda. They were last week and they were tabled. When are we going to get the answers on where we stand with emer-gency management? “The second thing that I
would like to say is there is a business (that) when I was on the council - a business tried to come in and wanted some rules changed and the city didn’t want to pursue that because there was no business plan. Now we have potential businesses coming into town which my understanding is that there is still no business plan. …Let’s see a business plan before we take another busi-ness step or spend another city dime before moving forward on this. Because you don’t have a business plan, the same thing should happen to this potential client that happened to the last one – it shut down!
Thank you.”Joyce Shaw, Keene resident
and annual election judge: “I’ve live here (Keene) for
a long time and been through several mayors and several councils and I wouldn’t move if you paid me to! I appreciate the work that you all put in, the many, many hours that we don’t know about.” Joy Cooper, Keene resident: “I’ve live here for 43 years.
My water bills are astronomi-cal, first thing. Second thing, we have holes in our streets. …I do not believe we can support paying approximately $20,000 a year for an office for someone who works for our city. While I am grate-ful for what he (Keith Jilge) contributes, I do not believe that anyone in this town who knows our budget, can fairly say that this should never be voted on…!”Bud Findley, Keene resident
and President, Keene Health Facilities Development Board: “Ladies and gentleman, this
town needs growth. There’s a lot of people here, staff, city Councilmembers, volunteers, the boards that work hard in trying to achieve growth. My 40 years in this town – plus or minus, I’ve watched all of our legacy industries shut down, move away, close their doors and the jobs have gone with them. And my regret is (that) some members of the team have lost the team zeal and concept; and we need every-body. This can’t be done by one; it has to be done by many. We got 50 miles of streets plus,
and in my understanding a $100,000 paving budget. We got problems; we need new industry! And however long it takes and whoever we have to speak to, and however many people we have to bring to town, that’s what we have to do. “And it’s hard, and it’s com-
plicated, and we get impatient, and we get frustrated. But you don’t get bigger dollars, bigger industry without spending some money. It doesn’t just drop in our lap. And I would like to get everybody on the same page. And everyone get out of the shadows, get out of the papers, get out of the P.R. business, get out of washing our dirty laundry in front of everyone else and in front of our potential customers. And let’s go about making this city the best place it could be in having the money to make it a show place, please. That’s all I have to say.”Liesl Hoover, Keene resident
who is spearheading a mayoral recall petition on the Novem-ber ballot: “Good evening. One of the
first times that I spoke in front of all of you, I reminded you all that you sat in the chair that you sit in because your fellow residents here in Keene, voted and decided that we thought that you were best for the job. We have faith in you, we trusted you, and we trusted that you as a council and you Mr. Mayor would be making the best decisions for the citizens and for the City of Keene, as a whole. Boy, take a look at
where we are now. We have closed-door meetings, back-door deals, agendas that are self-serving; attempting to ter-minate those that may question or oppose a certain decision or thought that has been brought forward. Is that really where Keene needs to be? “I’ve heard kind of a general
theme, everyone wants to be positive and move ahead. I challenge you to take a close look at the cards you have played. I can assure you that my reasons for speaking to the council over a 6-8 week period have not been for personal gain; I really don’t know what I’m going to gain from it, other than right is right, and wrong is wrong! Take a look at it. I wish you all well, we’ll be watching! The citizens of Keene put a lot of faith and trust in you, so I hope that we all make the right decisions. Thank you.” Hoover has until the close of
the business day, August 9, to deliver the required paperwork to the City Manager’s office with the signatures of 15% of Keene’s registered voters.Robert Bischoff, former City
Councilmember: “This is probably going to be
hard for you to believe, but I didn’t intend to speak tonight. …But I’m glad that I did because after listening to the mayor’s self-serving remarks to begin this meeting, I thought that ought to be pointed out. He conveniently was able to talk and put his point forward.
STANDARDU.S. MAIL PAID
KEENE, TXPERMIT NO. 25ZIP CODE 76059
KEENE CHRONICLEVolume 01, Issue 22 July 25, 2013www.KeeneChronicle.com
KC
Keene the next Qata or Detroit? page 6Per Issue
$1INSIDE
Keene Mayor under siege while two city employees retain their jobs
Continued: Keene Mayor-Page 3
City Council listens to Mayor Ackermann as he denies he wants to remove Bill Guinn as City Administrator.
Wednesday morning, July 17, Pastor Jennifer Scott and family gathered in the office of Carlos Craig, Texas Confer-ence of Seventh-day Adven-tists president, to receive the official call making her the first female senior pastor of the Keene Seventh-day Ad-ventist Church. Constituents received the official announce-ment shortly before noon. Scott currently pastors the
Seventh-day Adven-tist church in Shelton, Washington. She fills the vacancy created by Mic Thurber ear-lier this year.Reflecting on this
announcement, Pastor Scott had these words for her new church family, “It was so entirely delightful to be with you and enjoy your Texas hospitality. We are thrilled with the op-portunity to serve as Senior Pastor of the Keene SDA Church. We are eager for the rich blessings that ministry brings as we worship together and
work together in service to our community. Thank you for your prayers as we move to the great state of Texas.” Pastor Scott earned her Mas-
ter’s degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California in 1997. She is a 1991 graduate of Columbia Union College, now Washington Adventist
University. She is the first female to be “commissioned” in the Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and, in her new role as Senior Pastor, will be the first female to assume the leadership role at an SDA col-lege or university church.In July, Pastor Scott and
family spent nine days in the Keene area interviewing with the pastoral search committee, meeting with local constitu-ents, and visiting with officers of Southwestern Adventist University. Scott delivered two sermons that Sabbath morning, visited Sabbath School rooms, and attended a Saturday evening reception
at Keene Senior Center. The following three evenings, she attended the on-going Vaca-tion Bible School program and continued to meet and greet individuals, answering a multitude of questions in an-ticipation of Tuesday night’s decision by the Texas Confer-ence Executive Committee. The Scott family includes
husband Robert, born in San Marcos, and two children, Camryn, 13, and Caeden, 10. Camryn wants to learn to ride a horse, while Caeden is a huge sports fan. Friday, Scott returned to Washington to begin the process of winding down her ministry to make the move to Texas. “We plan
to be in Keene the middle of August to search for housing, return to retrieve our things, and be ready to begin ministry in Keene mid-September,” said Scott. She plans to also visit several SDA univer-sity churches and pastors to discuss community, university, and church harmony.Scott previously served as
associate pastor for the Loma Linda University SDA Church in Loma Linda, California, working alongside Keene’s favorite son and story-teller Randy Roberts. Through this association, she heard many stories of Texas and its fabled history. Scott will be leaving Shel-
ton Valley Christian Cam-pus, home to Shelton Valley SDA Church, Shelton Valley Christian School, and Shelton Valley Christian Child Devel-opment Center. The 25 acre campus is located 50 miles southwest of Seattle, Wash-ington. When asked about their 15-
year marriage, husband Robert said with a Texas-size smile, “I prayed to get a godly wife and look what I received!” The Keene community will soon see this godly wife in action, bringing lots of energy, compassion, and fire for the Lord.
“Jennifer Scott Accepts Call as Senior Pastor”
A Saturday evening meet and greet Pastor Scott and family was held at the Senior Citizens Center in Keene
Robert and Jennifer Scott
2 • THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 • WWW.KEENECHRONICLE.COM
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Here is the original group of women that met to formed the SINGLE SISTER IN SER-VICE in Keene.They met at Judy Jamison’s home. Eight of the original group has passed away. SSIS still meets once a month and have grown in numbers and contribute to the betterment of the community.
SINGLE SISTERS IN SERVICE
Sheriff Alford says that on July 15, 2013 deputies had responded to the 4300 block of Conveyor, Joshua a rural part of Johnson County regarding a male subject running around his yard naked. Deputies ar-rived on scene and noticed a white male naked standing in the trees beside FM 917 in full view of the public additionally the male was only wearing a pair of sneakers.The suspect notice deputies
and stepped into a travel trailer where he put his clothes on and then stepped back out. The suspect would only say that he had to use the restroom in the trailer and had no other com-ments.The suspect has been charged
with Indecent Exposure. Larry Portillo white male 46 years old. Bond was set at $500.00
Johnson County Sheriff Dept.
WWW.KEENECHRONICLE.COM • THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 • 3
And I think basically, the whole situation we’re having, the negativity we’re having could be solved by his resigna-tion.”Former Keene City Mayor,
Roy Robinson: “Mayor, City Council and
fellow citizens, when I saw to-night’s agenda, I was amazed! There are 14 items on this agenda. Four of these items seem to be procedural, 6 of these items relate to executive sessions, and only four of these items appear to deal with the city’s necessary business. Two of these executive sessions relate to the employment status of Mr. Guinn and Mr. Jilge. And it seems to me that this is the second or third time we have revisited this situation. If these men have made mistakes, correct them. If they have com-mitted grievous acts, either reprimand them or terminate them, and return the city coun-cil and mayor to the business of necessarily regulating this city. But, to keep revisiting these personnel issues by this council may constitute harass-ment. “I’m calling for a new ap-
proach by each one of us concerning our personal and public conduct. We must all remember that city employ-ees are here to serve the city and to help all of us to have a better life. I believe that our city staffers are dedicated, hardworking and caring people who deserve our respect. And I mean to include each one from the City Administrator to the man who is working in freezing water up to his knees to fix a broken water line - I’ve seen that myself! And while we’re on the subject of respect, I’m going to depart for just a little bit. Folks, these elected officials, the Mayor and each of these council people deserve our respect. When we talk to them, when we talk about them we should not talk in referen-tial tones, but we should talk in a respectful way. We don’t have to agree with them - but we need to respect them!” “So, back to the employee sit-
uation; give the employees the tools they need to do their job. Then step back and let them do it. Each one of us - citizens as well as elected officials - it’s time to stop and examine our hearts and determine that we must make a fresh start in our individual and collective rela-tionships with each other. It is not necessary to agree with each other to be respectful. Respect for our fellow man is the basis, the very heart of our civilization. Unless we learn to hold our tongue instead of spitting out words of violence and hatred, we will continue to become less civil to each other. Let us all pray for wisdom to make good decisions and cor-rect bad ones, and then move on to other important matters. I expect this Mayor and this City Council to act upon the necessary business of this city and not get stuck in the grid-lock that we see in the nation’s capital.”Frank Peterson, former Keene
City Mayor:
“It’s more important to be respected than to be liked.” Greg Shelton, former Keene
City police officer: “I just want to say that I have
had the pleasure of working for this city for many years – over ten years now. And I’ve watched it grow, and I watched the problems it has been through, and I can honestly say that When Bill Guinn joined the city, it changed financially. I saw that man while I was working, coming in trying to get things done; taking a lot of time and working many long nights, – because during the day he had to handle everyday business – taking time away from his family, to get this town straight, which was for years in a very bad situation. “I personally had problems
with my paycheck which was not dealt with for over six months. That man (Guinn) found the problem. Now as far as department head, this city has a wonderful group of department heads; they are dedicated to their responsibili-ties. And they’ve got a good man to look at, and that man is Bill Guinn - he sets the bar. And I think that the people that are underneath him, that have been hired under him are doing a very fine job! I don’t work for the city anymore; I just say that as a citizen - I’m proud! Do I have a high water bill? Yes! But you know what, that was not Bill Guinn’s fault and that’s not the City Council’s fault this time. That was a lack of foresight from this town, way back. “…Now years ago, I even
told Wayne Tomblinson that this industrial park was a white elephant and then I told him I was wrong; that man wanted to make this town good. But I’m going to tell you one thing; I think we need to do due diligence and not let one individual push down anything on us without us doing due our diligence on it! I don’t think a man should be coming into the City Hall and badmouthing or cursing or stomping around talking to city employees who are trying to do their job right; and then because he gets bent out of shape, gets mad and starts a tantrum - I think that is disgusting, and there is no respect in that! Excuse me for being a little emotional about it!”Jack Hardwick, Keene resi-
dent: “…Our council was elected;
they were nominated by the people of this city. As I told you before, I didn’t vote for all of them, but I do respect the fact that they were elected. …The way to get them out of here is to wait for the next election and then vote for whom you think will do a bet-ter job, depending on whose running. And I am in agree-ment with several others; this town needs support. And it does not need people running it down and making negative of everything in this town. We need people who can support it; we need publications that support it. We need to really need to clean up our act. If you can’t support this town and you don’t like this town, move!”Mary Bothe, Keene resident: “We moved here from Dallas
50 years ago and are ever so glad we did! And I hope this town continues to grow. I’m not too happy we made the front page of the Cleburne paper, because surely there are more important things to go in the newspaper. I am so happy to see so many people here I have not met before and I am glad that you all are here.”Gary Voth, Keene resident: “I have lived here about 25
years, most of it below the ra-dar. I recently joined the Type B board for economic develop-ment and I’ve enjoyed working with Bill and with Keith. “I don’t know what kind of
‘gross negligence’ has brought this on, I haven’t seen it! To me, they’ve been very com-petent. If they are terminated,
I am going to resign from the Type B board - it’s as simple as that!”On item #2 on the City Coun-
cil agenda for that evening “Request by the City Council for items to be placed on a future agenda for discussion,” Councilmember Schram stated “I just want to make sure that we get our emergency man-agement item back on the agenda… and continue that process.”Councilmember James
Chapline made the motion on reappointing Nick Chesney, Karl Konrad and Joe Kirby for a 2 year term to the Planning and Zoning Commission. His motion was seconded by Councilmember Lorena Morin while Councilmember Gore abstained from the vote. The motion was carried by majority vote.On item #5 on the agenda:
“Discussion and possible action on rights and responsi-bilities under the City Char-ter regarding employment matters” Councilmember Chapline initiated the discus-sion by stating “now about the City Charter… there are some things that I don’t understand.” City Attorney Robert Brown then interrupted Chapline’s statement stating “It’s not my privilege but your privilege as a Council, so I just want to caution that if you want to go into this (in open session) you certainly can but doing it unilaterally you are in effect waiving the attorney/client privileges and I don’t feel I have the authority to speak un-less the majority of the council says you want me to talk about it in public. …Before you go too far into that, I just thought I needed to say that.” “I think the issue in my mind,
more than anything else” con-tinued Chapline “is we have an ordinance that was passed in 1997 by the City Council. And we have a City Charter that was passed in 1999 by the voters of Keene. And I feel like the Charter has more weight than the ordinance does because it was passed after it and second, it is what all of the voters of Keene voted on - not just the Councilmembers…” Chapline then upon request proceeded to read the section addressing the role, responsi-bilities and scope of author-ity of the City Administrator delineated in the City Charter. “So if tonight we’re going to
fire Bill (Guinn) which charter do we fire him under?” ques-tioned Chapline. It takes 4 or 5 people to fire him, that’s one of the problems. The other is why was it brought up origi-nally? Was the Mayor trying to figure out who hired and fired department heads really without going through the City Administrator?” And I think it’s very clear in both ordi-nances. If you look at section 5.01 under article 5, (Admin-istration) that says powers and duties in the City Charter it says, ‘the City Administrator shall be the administrative of-ficer of the city.’ Chapline then read what these “powers and duties” entail. …What that means, remarked Chapline, “is that the City Administrator administrates the handing of the department and the heads of the departments for all the people under him.” The council proceedings then
unfolded into a high drama, high stakes and “high-noon” standoff pitting the mayor against the two city staffers who’s jobs were in question, Keene Economic Development Director, Keith Jilge and City Administrator, Bill Guinn. “Mr. Mayor, Council and no
disrespect toward my citizens” Guinn declared as he took the floor in his own self-mounted defense, “I want to try to wrap this up as quickly as I can and make sense out of it. As most of you know tonight, item #9 deals with my employment with the city. But that is not to me - or I believe to you - the important item on the agenda,
it’s this item right here (hold-ing up the City Charter), and that is because …we talked about the Charter that was voted on by the citizens and adopted. That is the constitu-tion of the City of Keene. And the constitution says what’s go-ing to happen and how things are to work. Now there are always disputes… but in gen-eral, what the citizens adopted as the constitution that said how this city will run is what is supposed to happen. “Now I do not want to say
anything to jeopardize the attorney/client privilege and I don’t believe I will - but the City Attorney, Mr. Brown whom I have the utmost respect for… made a recom-mendation that essentially said ‘there are parts to this charter that are hard to understand and possible conflict with each other.’ And he is correct; our charter has some issues that need to be addressed… But it is our charter and it is what was to follow. …What the citizen voted on says that ‘if there are issues with certain department heads it needs to go through the (City) Admin-istrator.’ If that were being followed, the item involving Mr. Jilge would not be on the agenda tonight, because that has not come to my attention as an issue as the City Admin-istrator. …What this means is that Mayor/Council, what have you, without any confer-ring with me or allowing me to investigate… and get a full report and recommend back to the Mayor and Council how to deal with it. What is being proposed is that your charter is not going to apply in this one area. Instead, the City Administrator is going to be removed in that position be-tween Council/Mayor and the staff. And the Administrator and the charter was drafted up I believe, to make sure that the Administrator worked with the business of the city department heads to run it according to the policies they passed. But the department heads indi-vidually – that many are sitting around this room – don’t have to worry about picking up the agenda and finding out they have been called on the carpet before the City Council - and they don’t even know what they’ve done wrong and their supervisor doesn’t even know what they’ve done wrong, because no one has sat down and discussed it. “…When the City Admin-
istrator deals with the depart-ment heads as their supervisor, they cannot take any confi-dence in those dealings be-cause they can be yanked out at any moment with no warn-ing; no information given to them or the Administrator and then disciplined directly by the council without their supervi-sor’s involvement. I do not be-lieve the charter is that vague in this area, because it says ‘people, whom the administra-tor is authorized to hire and fire or appoint,’ and in the section of the charter where it lays out the Administrator’s duties, the Administrator is given no authority to hire, fire or appoint anyone. So what this change in policy would do is disregard the charter that was voted. And my question and concern here is: Is the council going to follow that recommendation of the attorney without voting to adopt it as an official policy, so that everyone can know that’s what’s been done, or is that how they’re going to operate and dare someone to sue them over it? And if they’re going to do it with this part of the charter, what other parts of the charter are they going to do it with, without discussing it with you?” This delivery by Mr. Guinn was followed by a thun-derous, 21 second applause by the audience members present.After he concluded in bolster-
ing his argument in favor of the citizen voted and city ad-opted charter, Guinn proceeded to publically defend his threat-
ened position as City Adminis-trator as well as his actions in that role. He further demanded that his dismissal be placed on the public agenda for open discussion and possible action, and that the mayor admit in public discussion “why that is and what should be done… As long as you keep putting it on the agenda, I view it as a threat to my position and you have to do it in open session!”After Guinn’s delivery, Chap-
line admonished Ackerman for interrupting his remarks during his delivery, by recog-nizing and ceding to Guinn the floor. Ackermann apologized to Chapline and stated “I will make sure that you are not interrupted anymore.” “I think we should follow the
City Charter, that’s what the voters put in place. We need to repeal the 1997 ordinance and if necessary rewrite it, because the present charter is very clear.” concluded Chapline. This declaration was followed by a lively affirmation of ap-plause by audience members.City Attorney Robert Brown
observed that the current char-ter - albeit “put together with the best intentions” - appears to have been created with a com-posite of different city charters and is often vague, containing seemingly conflicting provi-sions “which don’t really fit to-gether,” and as such, is subject to individual and subjective interpretations. The following is Brown’s
explanation and interpretation of the Keene City Charter: “Any ordinance that conflicts with the charter - the charter wins. The problem you have with the charter is that the charter was and is confusing. It creates a Council/Mayor form of government – which is pretty rare. …So the task in reviewing the charter is ‘what does this thing mean? What is the intent of the people that voted?’ …Then the only real question is: ‘is the Council powerless to fire a department head, unless the City Admin-istrator makes a recommenda-tion to them to do that?’ …I believe this charter basically sets up a system where the City Administrator is empowered to make recommendations to Council. But I don’t believe the Council is powerless to act without that recommendation. “However” he concluded, “the Council is the ultimate arbiter of the Charter.”Chapline noted that the
Council has the right to fire an incompetent or uncooperative Administrator but in support of Guinn’s position, he added “as soon as you bypass the posi-tion of the City Administrator in handling department heads, then its chaos! …I would like to move” Chapline suggested, “that a committee be appointed to clarify the language of the City Charter” with regard to personnel actions. Added Guinn, “That’s why I’m say-ing this is the most important item on the agenda.” Brown then interjected that in order to “clarify” the charter; an amendment is required - possi-bly through an appointed Blue Ribbon Commission - that “will have to go to the public in a charter election. “At some point” he concluded, “that has to be done.” The Mayor then directed
the Council to item #6 on the agenda: “Discussion and possible action on the recent memorandum from the City Council to all City employees and the circumstances sur-rounding it.” This item per-tains to a memorandum which the City Council was asked to sign. It was drafted by City Attorney Brown, an arbitra-tor ostensibly as an agreement between Ackermann, Jilge and Guinn. “The City Council was asked
to sign a letter that was an outgrowth of a meeting with an arbitrator between Mr. Jilge, Mr. Ackermann and Mr. Guinn. We were given this let-ter with the belief that that was
what was decided on by all three members” stated Chap-line. “After the fact, it came to my attention that two of the members do not think that that was the way that the agreement should have been written. It is also my understanding that Mr. Guinn asked that it not be acted on or distributed until he came back from vacation. And yet we had it on last council’s agenda and we all signed it that night; and it went out in the paychecks. I would like to know number one why that was done. I’ll ask Guinn if I’ve stated that correctly, that it is not the understanding you and Mr. Jilge had.” “That’s correct” responded
Guinn, “it is not the agreement that we reached on May 29 that this Council requested on May 16. ...The request of the Council was that the Mayor, Mr. Jilge and myself meet with an outside party… Because of some of the issues involved with Mr. Jilge having an at-torney, I felt it was imperative that our City Attorney be in-volved so that something didn’t end up being said by myself or the Mayor that could cause more problems for the City. And so I saw Mr. Brown and told him I had been charged with that. The purpose of the meeting, as it was explained to me was that we needed to find a way to move on from those issues of April 4 and April 18 and April 29 which were still revolving around language of how personnel matters work. …This is where what we just discussed is very important; because the problem with the April 4 agenda listed almost all of the department heads. I advised the Council on the way the Charter said, that if you have a personnel issue with the department head, you are to go solely through the City Admin-istrator to deal with that. And the City Administrator had not been advised of a single issue with any of those people. “And again it goes back to if
the department heads cannot rely in dealing with their super-visor, than what good is their supervisor? And so I said, this is not following the Charter. So that item was tabled. It came back another time with language about terminating the City Administrator and the City Secretary; which, those two positions report directly to the Council and they can deal with those that way and as they please. But the rest of these people who are depart-ment heads were being called on the carpet; and the Charter said specifically that the City Administrator is supposed to be involved in whatever your problems are with them - and I knew of no problems. And that’s where the problem oc-curs, because it got ratcheted up with the language that’s on tonight’s agenda. “And the memorandum is
that we agreed in that meeting on May 29th that the Council asked me to participate in and I believed put me in charge of making sure it would hap-pen; was that we find a way to move on beyond the personnel issues and the misunderstand-ing of what had occurred in April. And when we had a meeting, the decision was that if we could draft some type of memorandum from Coun-cil to department heads that stated ‘listen, we want you to know we’re going to follow the Charter and we’re going to follow the procedure laid out in it, which is going through the City Administrator.’ And it was to relieve the minds of the department heads again that they weren’t going to be dealing with the City Adminis-trator, their supervisor - think-ing that everything was ok - and then they get yanked in to a personnel session and the supervisor doesn’t know any-thing about it and they don’t know anything about it. And
Continued: Keene Mayor-Page 4
Continued: Keene Mayor
City Administrator Bill Guinn making his case in to the audience at council meeting. Mayor Acker-mann demanded Mr Guinn turn around and address the council after this photo was taken.
4 • THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 • WWW.KEENECHRONICLE.COM
that was what the letter was to say - it wasn’t to explain what happened on April 4th which is what the letter talks about a great deal. It wasn’t to justify, or to ask for an apology. But to say there was some con-fusion and things could be handled better; ‘we want you to know we value you as employees, your part and the role you play in the City and that going forward, you have no concerns because we will follow the procedures outlined in the Charter.’ “That is not what the letter
said and now you know why, because the intent, without it involving Mr. Jilge or myself. The Council received the letter in June the 3rd. I did not receive it until June the 10th and I did not get to read it until June the 11th. And I was going on vacation on June the 15th. I sent to the City At-torney an email saying ‘sir this is what we agreed to; if it is not what we agreed to, can we talk about it because it was to help us go forward and improve the situation. But the letter that was written was nothing like what we discussed in the meeting. And the City Attor-ney said ‘measured steps, this is what I can get for now - start of the process, not the end of the discussion.’ “I called Mr. Brown and told
him that I was getting ready to leave town on vacation, this is not what we discussed or agreed on, ‘I am begging you please do not let this thing go out until I have a chance to dis-cuss this letter with the Council and we revisit the purpose of the letter which is to give the City Administrator the tools to begin improving relationships and moral with department heads who now never know if they can deal with their supervisor in good faith and think it means anything, or if they’re going to be yanked in before the Council without his involvement.’ “And now you see why the
previous item is so important, because the Mayor decided, I presume, that he was not going to follow the agreement that we discussed with Mr. Jilge, Mr. Brown, Mr. Ackerman and myself where we all 4 agreed that we would do the policy statement that said that we would follow the Charter. And Mr. Ackermann apparently on his own decided that that wasn’t what he was going to do. “So your request for me and
Mr. Jilge to meet with Mr. Brown and Mr. Ackermann to find a way to go forward was totally circumvented by the Mayor and the Mayor alone and you had no knowledge of what the situation was. …And even thought the City Administrator had been calling the Mayor daily in the week leading up to that meeting and there was no return call to discuss the agenda item with the City Administrator despite repeated calls to the Mayor. And it showed a total lack of confidence and ‘I really don’t care what you’re problems are with this, I’m going to move forward with this!’ And it did not follow what the Charter appeared to indicate and that made all the department heads feel, in my opinion threatened. The interesting thing is if you want to go with the theory that it was written the way it was because they thought they had to list everyone that might possible work for me, then you have to ask why was the Fire Chief and the Finance Man-ager were left off of the list. And in the meeting we had on that evening, Mr. Brown stated that it was his understanding that ‘the City Secretary simply forgot to include them.’ And I do not believe that was the case, I believe the Mayor told the City Secretary not to in-clude them. So the explanation for why that agenda was the way it was, I find suspect. …I also believe that was an agenda
item from the Mayor and not from general consensus of the Council.”Prompted by Brown, all
Councilmembers publically expressed a commitment to follow the Charter “as they understand it.” Chapline’s stated “I have no
objections to what the letter said; what I have objections to is that only one person of the 3 people that met agreed that that was what it was supposed to say. It should never have been presented to City Council to be signed until everybody was in agreement. And it’s my understanding that you (Ack-ermann) were aware of that number one, and number two, that the City Administrator was not at the meeting when the discussion took place and it was signed. That’s the point! And that should never have happened. We should not have been asked to sign something in the absence of one of the principals that is a part of this, so that he can agree if that was or was not what he was asked to say. There was not a meet-ing of the minds as we were led to believe - but that’s what we were asked to sign off on.“We did not break the law,”
declared Ackermann defen-sively, in response to Chap-line’s allegations.Chapline commented “It (the
letter) should never have been on the agenda; it should never have been considered or acted on in any way until he (Guinn) came back. I don’t think any of the items that we discussed in closed session in the last council meeting should have taken place without the City Manager. And now we are revisiting every single one of them tonight at the expense of $350.00 an hour (and) it’s more than we need to be spending. So the action was taken. There are two gentle-men telling me that that letter is not what was agreed on. So why did the letter go out with-out these gentlemen being able to be a part of the discussion? So (Mayor), why did you come to us and say that?City Attorney Brown then
in an attempt at humor stated the he would not object to an increase in his $350 rate. He then attempted to explain the intent and the purpose of the letter which he said was to explain to the City employ-ees why their names were on the April 4th agenda and “to explain what happened.” Ackerman then read from his
notes of the agenda reflecting his account of what occurred in that “meeting of the minds.”Keith Jilge, who was accom-
panied by his attorney, was then given the floor to address his issues concerning the letter. “It is important to note” began Jilge in measured tones, “that the purpose of this is very important to note. That the purpose of this meeting was to resolve a problem, and it was mandated by you, Council. It is also important to note that there are three opinions about what this letter said. I don’t care what his (Ackermann’s) notes say, they are incorrect. I did not say that you should apologize to anyone; I said, “It is important that staff understand that you care about them.” It is also important for you to know that I did this trying to help the situation. I went into this and actually paid attention and tried to work through this. I did not have to be asked three times ‘are you listening?’ Because you were doodling, not taking notes, Mr. Mayor! So, as we discuss what the truth is and what isn’t, I’ve just told you the truth!”Jilge later made a further re-
lated statement: “It (the letter) did not meet the criteria for the 3 things that we agreed upon. …And that’s what counts - if I’m involved!” “I don’t appreciate the power
play and I just want to say that I don’t want to see these items on the agenda again” declared
Councilmember Cheryl Sch-ram, seemingly directing her comments to the Mayor. “The way I see it is what we need to do is to clarify this proce-dure and the roles, rights and responsibilities of the Council and of the Administration. I think then, everything else would fall into place. What we really need is a clear chain of command or a flow chart that we can refer to, to clarify this. That’s what I think the answer to this is, and I don’t think we need any special commission or anything else. If you get these things in place, you’re going to know what to do and there won’t be all this jockey-ing around and all this confu-sion. …At this point we don’t even have a starting point!” “I was never given any
information that there was an issue with this” declared Councilmember Gore. “Had I known that the parties involved did not feel comfortable with this memorandum, I would never have signed it, nor would I have ever agreed to have it go out.” “This memorandum was
a wonderful piece of letter to give to the employees,” declared the Mayor in his own defense. “We have a profes-sional attorney that listened to the whole issues that they had and he came up with, on his own; I didn’t have any input on it.” “I’m not saying that there is
anything wrong with the let-ter” Guinn said in addressing a question posed by Schram, “I’m saying that I thought I and Keith Jilge were a part of the process, and I had voiced an objection to it going out until we had an opportunity to discuss it further so we could straighten this out so we would not spend an hour on this is-sue here tonight. And that’s the problem! That we had a meeting at your request and I did not make it clear to Mr. Brown what the purpose of the meeting was; I thought I had and I thought that when we left we were clear. …I don’t want to talk about the specif-ics of April 4; I don’t want to make any statements saying you did anything wrong. I just want an assurance that we can move forward and everyone will know that we are going to operate in accordance to procedure. And if that was the letter that couldn’t be writ-ten, all they had to do was to come back and say, ‘we really can’t do it that way!’ …I still don’t see why with Mr. Brown, knowing that I objected to it - why it had to go out before we had a chance to talk about it. You the Council requested that meeting on May 29th, and we never had an opportunity to follow up in a discussion of what happened and what the expectation was …about that.”Chapline then stated “I want
to state what my problem is. When the Councilmembers received this memo for us to sign, I believe it was a joint involvement with those three gentlemen that all agreed with the words of that letter and that’s why I signed it. If I had known that there was not an agreement whatsoever, I would never have signed it. That’s my objection to it; not what the letter said.”Ackermann then recommend-
ed closing item #6 (“Discus-sion and possible action on the recent memorandum from the City Council to all City em-ployees and the circumstances surrounding it.”) and reopen-ing item #5 (“Discussion and possible action on rights and responsibilities under the City Charter regarding employment matters”).Councilmember Chapline
made the following motion which he asked Mr. Brown to restate in legal terminol-ogy: “Mr. Chapline’s motion” explained Brown, “as I under-stand it, is that ‘the Council will interpret and administer its Charter in such a way that
the Council will not take any employment actions on depart-ment heads until one of three things have happened: (1) The City Administrator has brought a recommendation to you to do something, (2) you have asked the City Administrator to make a recommendation to you and he has done that, or (3) you have asked the City Adminis-trator to make a recommenda-tion to you and he refuses to do it, or he doesn’t bring it back in a reasonable time.’ One of those three things has to hap-pen as a prerequisite, before you feel that it’s proper for you to take any action on the Charter to take on an employ-ment matter.”Chapline’s motion, above
was then seconded by Coun-cilmember Perez which was summarily unanimously passed by the Council.The Mayor then directed the
Council to item #7: “Discus-sion and possible action on the status and/or continuation of the contract between Harry McQueen and the City for eco-nomic development support.”Chapline made the following
statement regarding item #7: “When we passed this, I had not had the opportunity to read the contract - I’ve since done that. And I would like to point everyone’s attention to (the agreement). …What we have done is taken an independent contractor (Findley) and hired him an executive assistant (McQueen). I think that’s an improper way to spend funds and I think we need to termi-nate the agreement.” Chapline then made his statement in the form of a motion. However, even though Chapline’s motion was seconded by Gore, it failed a majority Council vote. Based on the action that was
taken on item #5, allowing Mr. Guinn to have direct involve-ment on any personnel actions, Chapline observed “#9 (“To deliberate the appointment, employment, evaluation, reas-signment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of Keith Jilge, Eco-nomic Development Director”) is off the agenda completely.”Councilmember Gore then
suggested that as it was very late in the evening and out of respect for the players in-volved, he would like to see item #11 (“To discuss or delib-erate the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property, and as authorized by Section 551.087 of the Texas Govern-ment Code, to discuss or de-liberate regarding commercial or financial information that the City of Keene has received from a business prospect, and/or to deliberate the offer of financial or other incentives with a business prospect.”) deferred and taken up at the next Council meeting. The following City Council
exchange/discussion then ensued regarding Guinn’s request to place item #10 (“To deliberate the employment, evaluation, reassignment, du-ties, discipline, or dismissal of William Guinn, City Adminis-trator.”) on the open agenda for public discussion:Chapline: “Mr. Mayor,
you’ve been trying to fire Mr. Guinn since sometime in April and ever since then.”Ackermann: “That’s not true,
in one incident I wanted to see, to run properly and be account-able to the citizens. And its issues that have been brought to you and others and you decided to do nothing about it and you had asked this council for this agenda item. And the attorney asked ‘what did you want on the agenda?’” Chapline (responding to Ack-
erman’s assertion): “I didn’t ask for it, and nobody on this Council asked for it. You put it on the agenda, so whatever thoughts you have, put ‘em out!” Morin: “I just wish, when
you all talk to the newspaper …that you realize that at the end of the day, you’re hurt-ing our community.” Morin
further expressed concern that publicity would “hurt econom-ic development” in the city of Keene.Guinn: “Well I think that
if had this just continued on in the spirit of the May 16th meeting, the newspaper wouldn’t have been talking to me. Again, the language was overly aggressive and I agree with Mr. Chapline, Mr. Acker-mann wants me fired and you may think that that’s not true and Mr. Ackermann may not agree to it or admit it, however, everything indicates that be-cause he ran the language back up on this agenda item. I don’t believe that the Council has.”Chapline: “The Mayor has
put this on the agenda three separate times and we went along with it this last time and I don’t think you can hold the Council or find anybody that asked for it to be put on the agenda.”Guinn: “If you wanted to
discuss things with me about my management, or issues needed to be addressed, it should not involve my termi-nation. The Mayor and I shook hands and he said we were moving forward and the next thing I know, he’s trying to rush a special session to have this language on there. So let’s figure this out, are there issues of cause or is there just lack of confidence? It’s your decision, I work for you, but I’m not go-ing to keep being subjected to this termination thing when all we are wanting to talk about is business management. And I thought that we had all agreed that … we’re going to try to find a different way to discuss it. And we did, and now we’re back to the prior meeting and the prior language which caused the problem to start with. …If you really want me terminated, I am your manager, let’s talk about the issues. …The consensus is ‘this isn’t working anymore and it’s not going to!’ There is a contract in place to resolve that, we don’t have to drag that in pub-lic at all! …I have always told you that I enjoy working for the city, I want to work for the city and I want to find a way to move forward to make this better.” Schram: “I do not have a
problem with someone be-ing pushed to the wall and speaking to the paper on their behalf. I think if someone has a problem with that, then they need to look at what drove that person to do that. And we have to come to some solu-tion to this tonight because I personally do not want to see these items on this agenda, in this manner again.” Schram’s comments were followed by a round of applause. Schram then expressed her endorse-ment for “freedom of speech.” “But” she added, “I do believe that there are thing that we need to talk about confidential-ly.” She further expounded on the urgency for city economic development.Morin: “I do not have a prob-
lem with you, Mr. Guinn.”Perez: “I think you are doing
an excellent job.” Gore: “…The only people
that are really curious about what goes on in Keene are those communities that touch us. I’ve talked to numerous businesses and people that I have met in my 27 years in the Military. Those businesses that are looking at us really don’t give a rip about what goes on internally. They are looking at a few things: can they come to Keene, can they get a deal, and can they play. OK?” Gore went on to endorse Guinn and his performance as City Administrator. “There was never any inten-
tion to keep him (Bud Find-ley) out of a public meeting” responded Guinn to a concern posed by Janes regarding the “perceived” banishment of a certain individual (Bud Find-ley) from City Hall. “A meet-ing was requested with you,
the Mayor, Mr. Chapline who was present during this event and myself. That meeting was requested by the individual involved. It was cancelled at his request and I am still wait-ing for him to reschedule it or request that it be rescheduled, which he had indicated to me that he would do.”Responding to an inquiry by
Janes regarding the status of a City code enforcement item, Guinn responded “The Code Enforcement Officer (Johnny Coker) on the two biggest complaints …have been given notice to correct the situation. This has not been done and the matter has been referred to Municipal Court.”Chapline: “Bill (Guinn), I
don’t have anything against what you have been doing for the City. …I personally would like to say that I believe Mr. Guinn is doing an exemplary job and I think we should let him know.” This statement was followed by applause.Perez: “I believe that you
have done an excellent job at what you do.”Chapline (directing his com-
ments to Ackermann): “You have had this on the agenda 3 times, you stated to me your-self that you were going to fire Bill. …And now you finally get the opportunity and you’re not saying anything. I’ve lost all respect for you Mr. Mayor.” This statement was followed by a round of applause.Ackermann: “This agenda
item was put on by the Coun-cil, not by me. …For you to continue to have a vendetta against me is not fair.”Former Councilmember,
Chad Aden: “I would like to know why this is continuing to come up, and come up and come up? …You keep throw-ing it back on the City Council that it’s at their request. Who was the first person who requested for these executive sessions to start up?” …That’s all we want to know is why did this start? And again, Mr. Mayor is just going to avoid answering the question!’Keene resident Liesel
Hoover: “You guys are saying that when we talk to the press and when we talk to the media, it makes Keene look bad. I got news for you, you all didn’t do a good job tonight of making it look good! Answer the ques-tion, that’s all we’re asking. If you want us to shut up and not talk to the media anymore, an-swer the question: Mr. Mayor, did you want to fire Mr. Bill Guinn, yes or no? It’s very simple, we’re not stupid, and we just want the truth! I will continue to talk to the media until there is answers, how about that!”Chapline (in response to the
inquiries above): “The Mayor has put it on the agenda the first time, he lobbies for it, he lobbied to others and it was his idea to put it on the agenda.” Hoover: “Yes, thank you
(Chapline) for being honest!” Bud Findley: (Regarding his
recent “adamant and animated outbursts” at City Hall for which he was censured.) “I’m sorry but, I really am inter-ested in keeping our customers with a good attitude about our community. And if I became overzealous in any manner to any one, I apologize.”Keene resident and former
City Mayor, Dan Roberts: “So do Bill Guinn and Keith Jilge have a job tomorrow?” The council and mayor refused to respond.At the end of a marathon
evening, after all was said and done, none of the executive sessions were convened and the City Council did not come to a final resolution regarding the status of the Guinn and Jilge’s employment with the City of Keene.
Continued: Keene Mayor
WWW.KEENECHRONICLE.COM • THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 • 5
Mayor’s remarks/public fo-rum (The City Council invites citizens to speak on any topic; however, unless the item is spe-cifically noted on this agenda, the City Council is required under the Texas Open Meetings Act to limit its response to one of the following: *Responding with a statement of specific factual information or recit-ing the City’s existing policy on that issue; or*Directing the person making the inquiry to visit with City Staff about the issue. (No Council deliberation is permitted.)
Request by the City Coun-1. cil for items to be placed on a future agenda for discussion.Consider approval of pre-2. vious minutes. Review of the Drinking 3. Water Quality Report and Public Participation.Discussion and possible 4. action on a request from Allied Waste Services for a rate increase modification. Consider approval for the 5. Mayor to order the City of Keene’s General Election for Tuesday, November 5, 2013.Consider approval of TLM 6. IEBP Healthcare Benefit Plans Renewal for City Employees. Discussion and possible 7. action on appointing Chad Aden and Lauren Castania to the Athletic Association for a 2 year term.Discussion and pos-8. sible action on appointing Donnie Beeson and Roy Robinson to the Keene Community Development Corporation.First reading of and consid-9. eration and action regard-ing Resolution No. 2013-299, Resolution by the
City Council of the City of Keene, Texas approv-ing the issuance of a note by the Keene Community Development Corporation and making certain find-ings related thereto.Second reading of and 10. consideration and action regarding Resolution No. 2013-299, Resolution by the City Council of the City of Keene, Texas approving the issuance of a note by the Keene Community Development Corporation and making certain findings related thereto.Discussion and possible 11. action on a procedure and or policy for placing items on the City Council Agenda. Discussion and possible 12. action on authorizing the funds that were not used for rent this year for the economic development of-fice to be used for furnish-ings. Discussion and possible 13. action on Emergency Management Action Plan for the City which shall include, but not limited to, the following; Chain of Command, Emergency purchases, Emergency ordinance, and Conditions for declaration of an emer-gency, and where the City currently stands with the plan, including the quali-fications and/or training required for the position. Discussion and possible 14. action on obtaining fund-ing for Emergency Man-agement programs and/or personnel.Discussion and possible 15. action on allowing the Citi-zens to bring tree limbs, or
yard waste to be mulched at Public Works. Review and approval by 16. the Council of the financial statement as of May 30th, 2013.Review by the Council of 17. reports by the Water, Sew-er, Public Works, Police, Court, Code Enforcement,
and Fire/Ems Departments detailing monthly activity within each department Council may consult with department personnel, the City Administrator, and the City Accountant regarding the report.Executive Session -- 18. (Closed to the public as
provided by Texas Govern-ment Code) As authorized by Section 51.071(2) of The Texas Government Code, The Workshop, Special Called, Or Regular Meeting may be convened into Closed Executive Session for the purpose of seeking confidential legal
advice from the Attorney on any Agenda Item listed herein.Reconvene into Open 19. Session for possible ac-tion resulting from any items posted and legally discussed in Executive Session. Adjourn.20.
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Morris Lowry, a local resident and retired history professor, taught for many years on the campus of Southwestern Ad-ventist University. He earned a Master of Arts degree in His-tory from Texas Christian Uni-versity. In his 1951 Master’s Thesis entitled “A Background of Seventh-day Adventism and its Early Development in Texas,” he traces the tumultu-ous history of Adventism in the Lone Star State as well as the humble, early beginnings of the Adventist education move-ment in Texas. The following is the third in
a series of successive articles, proudly and exclusively pre-sented by the Keene Chronicle, containing Mr. Lowry’s histori-cal account:The embryo educational
establishment also had rules pertaining to the comfort of the students: 3. Students must abstain
from indecent or disorderly behavior; from profane or unbecoming language; from visiting billiard rooms, saloons, and gambling places; from the use of tobacco and alcoholic drinks; from card playing, and from all improper associa-tions…10. Unrestricted association
of the sexes is not permitted, and all students are expected to maintain a proper degree of reserve in their association with those of the opposite sex. Gentlemen must not escort la-dies on the street, or to or from public gatherings. 11. Attending parties, the
theater, or any entertainment of an objectionable character, in-terferes with the student’s work and exerts a wrong influence in the School. It is therefore for-bidden. Frequent attendance upon evening gatherings of any kind is not in harmony with the plan of work at the school, and may be made a matter of discipline at the discretion of the Faculty.Work of an agricultural nature
was one way a student might utilize a portion of his time. According to the Third An-nual, the school had 135 acres
in its farm of which fifteen acres had been cleared and an orchard started. In addition to nine hundred peach, plum, and apple trees, there were seven hundred grape vines and five thousand blackberries. The school had under its jurisdic-tion seventy more acres which could be bought if the need arose.Six day a week school work
was to be carried on. By having recitation on alternate days, provision was made for meditation, for reading, and for attendance at religious and secular meetings. In every course of study the student would have four lines of regu-lar work; however, exception was made for the preparatory course. In the curriculum reci-tation for the difficult subjects was to be held four times a week and for the others, twice. The students who had consci-entious scruples against school work on Sunday might be excused through a permanent permit given by the principal. Some conception of the daily
routine may be gotten from the following:Daily Program for the HomeRising Bell - 6:00 A.M.Morning Worship (attendance
P.M. First Retiring Bell - 9:20 P.M.Lights Out - 9:30 P.M. In the summer following
the opening of the school in 1894, it was decided to erect a structure in which the students might live. This structure was completed soon after school began that year and was a building four stories in height and thirty-two by sixty-four feet laterally. Within its rooms sixty students might be ac-commodated. The attendance at the school by the middle of the year was large enough that it was thought the capacity of the school building needed to be increased. Therefore the regular school program was interrupted for a period of three days, and with older students, men in the village of Keene, and the leaders of the school working together, another building was placed by the original structure which doubled the capacity of the
building and thus an edifice forty-four feet by forty-seven feet was made. The partition between the two edifices was taken away, and in the lower part an auditorium was arranged know as the Assembly Hall, in which church services were held. A transfer of the school to the
control of the General Confer-ence of Seventh-day Adventists was made in the latter portion of 1895 so that it could be a training institution for all of the Southwest. W. C. Sisley, the man who served as superin-tendent and architect in the construction of a Seventh-day Adventist college at Lincoln, Nebraska, made a visit, with some officials of the General Conference of Seventh-day-Adventists, to Keene Industrial Academy and the decision was made to build Academy Hall. The work progressed with sufficient speed that before the year was over, the structure fifty feet by seventy-eight feet, was used although still uncom-pleted. The building was three stories in height, with an attic and basement. On the first floor were located the elemen-tary grades, the commercial room and the business office; on the second floor there were the principal’s office and the
chapel which had room for 250 seats. A small library was on the second floor, too. The third floor was the location for a print shop and the recitation rooms.The decision was reached in
1916 to make a fourteen grade school of Keene Academy and the next fall Southwestern Junior College opened under the presidency of W.E. Nelson. Southwestern Junior College is not the largest school Seventh-day-Adventists have in the Southwestern Union, which is composed of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.The net value of the institu-
tion, not including the College Mill, and based on depreciated figures, is over $669,000.00. In 1951 the enrollment in both the Academy and Junior Col-lege was around 450 students.It is not possible to estimate
accurately the beneficial influ-ence this school has exerted. Teachers, Bible workers, and ministers may be found in dif-ferent parts of the country who received instruction at Keene. Christian workers, both men and women, have traveled from it to other countries to
work for Christ.The growth of Keene Indus-
trial Academy may be taken as an example of the growth of Seventh-day Adventism in Texas. But a retrospective look may be cast that will help trace the growth of the movement in this country. William Miller before 1844, was the outstand-ing proponent in the United States of Christ’s Second Advent.To be continued…
Louis J. Rael, 90 year old Keene resident and gradu-ate of the class of ‘53, laid the brick for this outdoor light fixture which still stands on the Southwest-ern University Campus, near the Mizpah Gate.
From the Pen of Morris Lowry (part 3):
City Council Agenda for Thursday July 25, 2013
6 • THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 • WWW.KEENECHRONICLE.COM
by Danny Earl Roberts 1. June 1999B.e. Energy, Inc. Formed
Principle Office at 10497 Town and Country Way, Suite 200, Houston Texas. This company ceased to exist in March 2002 as a result of tax forfeiture. 2. June 29, 2009 MOBILE, AL – A federal
jury today ordered a Baldwin County company (Cello) to pay more than $10.4 million to a New York- based paper company that invested $2.5 million in an effort to turn vegetable matter into biofuel.Parsons & Whittemore
Enterprises sued after con-cluding that Montrose chemist Jack Boykin had lied about his claims. Baldwin Country businessmen Jack and Al-len Boykin show cased their operation in Bay Minette. A jury ordered their company on Monday, June 29, 2009 to pay more than $10.4 million in a fraud case. “We are pleased with the jury’s verdict, “said John Leach, a Mobile lawyer who represented Parsons & Whittemore. “We are glad that the jury found Boykin was perpetuating, trying to per-petuate, a massive fraud, and awarded substantial punitive damages.”3. June 21, 2011 City of
Keene, Texas “Deal Memorandum” signed
by: Greg Bowman, President of B.e Energy, Inc. Note: Corporation not yet filed. Donald Gullian, VP Business Development of B. e. Energy, Inc. Note: No corporation filed yet. Timothy Williams VP Business Development of B.e Energy, Inc. Note: Corpora-tion not yet filed. Jon Bianco, Catalyst Capital Advisors. John Ackermann, Mayor City of Keene. Bill Guinn, Keene Economic Development Cor-poration. The proposed facil-ity will use proven, operating technology to convert wood pulp (waste product) into kerosene and diesel fuel. 4. Article dated February 13,
2011In 2009, a federal jury in
Mobile awarded $10.4 million to a company that owned a pair of paper mills in Monroe County and invested $2.5 million in Boykin’s suppos-edly revolutionary technology to turn wood chips and other plant matter into cheap fuel. Two years later, testimony at
the federal trial indicated that the Cello Energy plant in Bay Minette had never been com-pleted and had produced just $17,000 worth of fuel. Lab testing showed that a batch of Cello’s fuel contained no bio-mass material. Today the plant sits quiet in Bay Minette, AL. No one answered the phone last week.5. November 3, 2011 City of
Keene, TexasContractor Agreement be-
tween Bud Findley and City of Keene signed. 1% of any verifiable increase to the tax bases of the City, to be paid by the City to Bud over a period not to exceed 10 years for the properties occupied by business entities which begin or expanded their busi-ness operation in the city as a direct result Bud’s registered economic development ac-tivities. This will be based on appraised values determined by Johnson County Appraisal District. The contract expires November 3, 2013. 6. November 9, 2011 City of
Keene, TexasB.e Energy presentation
claiming wood chip to fuel Technology. Jack Boykin (creator of Cello) and Cello Energy loses law suit ($10.4 Million) in 2009. This is the Technology that is purported to be used by B.e Energy in Keene.7. November 9, 2011 City of
Keene, TexasKeene Industrial Devel-
opment Corporation signs “certificate of Resolution” with B.e Energy: For the purpose of issuing Bonds in the amount of $135,000,000 (contract stipulates this amount may escalate if both parties agree) to build a plant as follows: The Keene Texas project will utilize a proven commercial technology for the propose of producing an inter-mediate that will yield a clean ASTM certified transport fuel derived from cellulosic material (trees). The design capacity of the plant will be 50 (fifty) million gallons per year with a physical plant size, including all land parking lot etc. Of 30 (thirty) acres. The anticipated taxable value of the plant is not known at this time but the value may be close to $80 (eighty) million dollars. Signed by Gregory Bowman, President B.e Energy. Note: No “Inc.” after company name.8. December 1, 2011B.e. ENERGY KEENE
LLC filed corporation papers in Delaware, file number 5073353.B.e. ENERGY USA LLC
filed corporation papers in Delaware, file number 5073349.B.e ENERGY ALABAMA
LLC filed corporation papers in Delaware, March 28, 2012. All three corporations
Ceased good standing June 1, 2012 Tax Due: $ 1,008.00 9. April 12, 2012 United States Bankruptcy Court Southern AlabamaB. e. Energy tells bankruptcy
court that they are in discus-sions with Keene Industrial Development Corporation. The plan is to have the corpo-ration issue $500 million in industrial revenue bonds for them. The Keene Corporation has already issued a Cer-tificate of Resolution to B. e. Energy.9. May 13, 2012 Article
from AL.COMA trial in Mobile’s federal
court in 2009 appeared to expose a Baldwin County company’s alternative energy operation as a fraud, but that has not stopped investors’ interest in the bay Minette-area plant. Trial testimony indicated that Boykin’s plant had produced just $17,000 worth of fuel and that lab tests showed that a batch of the fuel contained petroleum rather than biomass.Nonetheless, a startup named
B.e. Energy, which its founder runs out of his Ontario home, has been intrigued by Cello and wants to buy it. At a hear-ing this year in the bankruptcy case, B.e. Energy president Greg Bowman and chief development officer ex-pressed “extreme confidence” in the remained optimistic even though he was aware of the civil judgment against Cello. Bowman testified “de-bottlenecked,” allowing it to produce commercial quantities of fuel from wood chips. He did not explain the de bottle-neck process.10. February 15, 2012
Keene, Texas“Deal Memorandum” Signed by: James Massa,
CEO of Texas Enhanced Oil
Keene Texas, LLC Timothy Williams, Business
Development Executive of Texas Enhanced Oil Keene Texas, LLCJon Bianco, Managing Direc-
tor of catalyst Capital Advi-sors Note: Listed on memoran-
dum but did not sign, he did sign for B.e Energy.Jon Bianco, Managing Direc-
tor of Catalyst Capital Advi-sors Note: listed on memorandum
but did not sign, He did sign for B.e Energy.John Ackermann, Mayor City
of KeeneBill Guinn, President of
Keene Industrial Development Corporation This would be an Oil re-
covery, reclamation, and remediation facility which incorporates the patented Carbonator ™ Technologies. The proposed facility will oc-cupy approximately 50 acres and incorporate a multi-unit Carbonator ™ oil produc-tion plant with tire shedding
operations and applied oil usage technologies. Will use waste seam to produce nearly 2 million gallons of petro-chemical solvent equivalent to light crude oil, over 13 million pounds of carbon black, nearly 3 million pounds of conden-sate gas and will recover 1.5 million pounds of steel from nearly 2 million used tires annually.No records of Texas En-
hanced Oil Keene, Texas LLC can be located in Texas or Delaware.12. February 8, 2013Keene Industrial Develop-
ment Corporation forfeits its corporate existence.Keene Healthcare Develop-
ment Corporation.No record of this company’s
existence in Texas13. May 6, 2013B. e. Energy Keene, LLC
This company does not exist in Texas. Also see December 1, 2011On July 10, 2013 in the
afternoon Bud Findley, Harry McQueen, Jr., Mayor Acker-
mann, Gilbert Perez, Lorena Marin, Cheryl Schram and Donnie Gore met in a private meeting in the Pechero Hall boardroom. It was broken up in a 1:30pm session and another 3:30pm session in order to NOT violate the TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT. A teleconference with the officials of B. e. Energy to give an update to the council as to their position on com-ing to Keene. Bud and Harry met with both groups. B. e. Energy was coming to Keene to produce diesel fuel from biomass, trees. Now, it is told that the operation has changed to converting natural gas to diesel fuel. There is only one plant that uses an WWII technology and it is located in Chicago. It is a “demo” plant that is running at test levels just two or three times a year. This plant was built with tax-payers money for $25 million. The EPA has approved the concept for the Chicago plant but has not approved of the concept in Johnson County.
There are no records on file to prove otherwise referenc-ing Johnson County. With Johnson County in an EPA NON- ATTAINMENT area it will take years to get such a technology approved, sources tell the Keene Chronicle. So far the record for converting gas to liquids is spotty. The newest and largest plant in operation, Royal Dutch Shell’s giant Pearl plant in Qatar, cost the sum of $19 billion, more than three times its original projected cost, and has been plaqued with unexpected maintenance problems. The handful of gas to liquids plants worldwide together produce only slightly more than 200,000 barrels of fuels and lubricants a day, less than 1% of the global demand for diesel.If it is such a great deal for
Keene, why are the meet-ings conducted behind closed doors? Will Keene be des-tined to be the next Qatar or Detroit?
Do you feel the time has come
to make City Hall realize “things need to change?”
Make your feelings known…..Sign Recall Petition for Mayor Ackermann
on the November ballot.
This will send message to current council members that you want professionalism and quit the pettiness that continues in our City Hall.
Make sure your voice is heard….Call me - Liesl Hoover 817-823-8468
Open: Thursday 11 am - 7 pm Friday 11 am - 6:30 pmSaturday ClosedSunday 11 am - 6 pm
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Remit to: P.O. Box 135 Keene, TX 76059
2-Story building lost in overnight fire Photos by Nick Chesney2-story building on FM 3136. Sunday Night until Monday Morning. Building was a total loss.
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KCGrumps Burgers on North Main Street in Cleburne opened on Tuesday to a wait-ing at the door line of custom-ers. Just up the street towards Lowe’s… Dickey’s BBQ is doing the last minute comple-tion items to get their doors open for their Cleburne cus-tomers. There was a rumor that Chick-fil-A was coming to North Main Street, but it ap-pears to be just a rumor.Growing Garrett Hopps cel-ebrated his 5th birthday with a big swim party and lots of friends at his home on 4th St this past Sunday. Garrett and his brother played so hard they slept in on Monday morning, which is not like those two young boys. Just ask their mama!Watch out next month… you
will begin seeing construction start on the bypass to make it four lanes and a service road from Keene to North Main in Cleburne. Survey crews have been seen placing markings on the pavement in prepara-tion for the construction. You can always take Business 67 into Cleburne to avoid those construction delays.Don’t forget to attend city council this week…it looks like the council is preparing to spend another $200,000 to purchase 5 acres at the corner of South College Drive and Hwy 67. That will bring the total of raw land expenditures to $1,522,000.00 in the past few months. And they wonder why they look so foolish in the Cleburne Times Review! Go figure!!!
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8 • THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2013 • WWW.KEENECHRONICLE.COMG
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113 S Fairview St…Keene… Nice 3 BR on 300 foot deep lot. Currently leased. A great buy at……..$84,500
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Lillian Davis Celebrates 90th Birthday July 21st
Over 70 friends and family gathered on Saturday night to wish Lillian Davis a happy 90th.
It’s tough to get everyone on the same page! Is that right Aquilla?
Even at 90 they still have to blow out the candles!
Sunday brunch...l-r James & Mrs The, Kathy Davis No-mura, LILLIAN DAVIS, Greg Davis, Dustin Davis, Dallas Davis and Randy Nomura
Over 70 friends and family celebrated the 90th birthday of Lillian Davis Saturday night at the home of Dan E Roberts on Oakhill Drive. Lillian’s daughter Kathy and son Gregg flew in to North Central Texas to share the night and Sunday with Lillian. Kathy Nomura and her husband Randy, came from Greenville, TN. Greg,
Lillian’s son, along with 2 grandsons, Dustin and Dallas, came from Paradise, CA. Lil-lian and Lyndon Davis moved to Keene in 1957. Many memories were uncovered by all the friends that came to share the evening with Lillian. Guests were served lots of fruit along with chips and dips. Aquila Read played
happy birthday on the white grand piano as the group sang to Lillian. Lillian received over a 120 texts and greetings from friends and other family around the US that were read to her. She is now looking forward to her 95th birthday party!
