Don't get Confused by the WORDING on the Ballot!!!

A RECALL Vote
FOR = Removal of your Councilmember
AGAINST = Keeps your Councilmember

Vote FOR to
TAKE BACK OUR CITY

Scroll to the SECOND page of the ballot. Make sure your councilmember is on the ballot. If not, ask for another ballot....DO NOT HIT THE CAST BALLOT BUTTON if you have questions....If you do, you can not get your ballot back!!!!

Why our vote FOR recall is needed!!!

Any Questions???

Former LaMarque employees file whistle-blower suit against city

Article Reported in The Southeast Texas Record
10/5/2010 11:17 AM By John Suayan, Galveston Bureau

http://www.setexasrecord.com/

GALVESTON - Two Galveston County women claim the city of La Marque fired them four months ago because they engaged in whistleblowing, recent court documents say.

In a lawsuit filed Sept. 13 against their former employer in Galveston County District Court, Lydia Alcala-Garcia and Janet Solis claim the city refused to address the reportedly illegal activities of City Manager Eric Gage and terminated them in June for filing a report with the Galveston County District Attorney's Office.

Alcala-Garcia was the city clerk while Solis worked as the director of human resources and court administrator. They held their positions until June 14, according to the suit.

Alcala-Garcia states she went to the La Marque City Council at the beginning of the year with allegations that Gage was deleting e-mails from an Open Records request to which she was responding. Among her job responsibilities is replying to such requests, she says.

The suit points out that Gage sat at Alcala-Garcia's desk and erased the e-mails, adding he ignored her pleas not to. The city council did not fully explore the issue, Alcala-Garcia claims.

A month after the city council meeting, the plaintiffs sought the assistance of the district attorney's office. They alleged Gage violated the state's Open Record and Open Meeting laws, committed payroll fraud, and used government property for personal gain.

According to the complaint, the accusations were also reported to La Marque Mayor Geraldine Sam, however, the defendant dismissed Alcala-Garcia and Solis shortly afterwards. The plaintiffs claim the only reason given for their termination was "using the city computer for political purposes," the original petition says.

Alcala-Garcia and Solis argue that the discussion and vote of their terminations was not fully disclosed to the public and the city acted out of retaliation to them reporting violations of the law.


Consequently, each complainant seeks at least $500,000 in damages as well as a jury trial.



Attorney Anthony P. Griffin of Galveston is representing Alcala-Garcia and Solis.

The case has been assigned to Galveston County 56th District Court Judge Lonnie Cox.


Case No. 10-cv-3018

They were terminated by the Three Amigos for trying to report the questionable actions of the City Manager!!!

Then the Three Amigos rewarded the City Manage for his questionable actions by passing the Golden Parachute Contract???

Now it’s our turn to give them a reward!!!

Please remember A Recall Vote is

FOR = Removal of your Councilmember

Or

AGAINST = Keeps your Councilmember

Ever wonder why the information being reported on seams to be so one sided?

From: Eric Gage
Sent: Wednesday, September 02, 2009 2:35 PM
To: Dept. Heads
Subject: No Public Comments

Department Heads:

Official statements to anyone – paper, city, citizens etc. without coming out of the City Manager’s office will not be tolerated. Please keep this in mind if you are asked anything about City business.

Regards,

Eric W. Gage

City Manager

City of La Marque

1111 Bayou Road

La Marque, TX 77568

Phone: 409.938.9200

Facsimile: 409.935.0401

Email: e.gage@ci.la-marque.tx.us

Well that makes sense we would not want anyone telling the truth about the questionable actions of our City’s Leaders.

Why would the Fire Chief be at odds with the City Manager and the Three Amigos?

Let’s take a look and see

Email Notice to the Mayor and City Council of his intentions to remove the Fire Marshals position from the Fire Chief to get around the collective bargaining contract?

The City Manager was notified about the possible violation of the City’s adopted fire code if he removes Chief Zacherl’s appointment as the Fire Marshal without Cause.

An appointment notice was made without answering the Fire Chiefs questions as to why he was removing his appointment as the Fire Marshal without Cause?

An email notice to the Mayor and Council of the new Fire Marshals Appointment that indicates the individual will now have two full time jobs. One as the Fire Marshal for the City of La Marque and One as the Assistant Fire Chief for the City of Stafford. That’s 80 hours a week.

But he just informed the Fire Chief that the individual would also be starting the Police Academy to obtain his TECLOSE certification.

How many hours are there in a work week???

Has council addressed or corrected the City Managers Violations?

You have to ask your self, are the Three Amigos Really Making the Right Decisions for the Citizens of La Marque???

Article written by T.J Aulds Published in the Galveston Daily News May 23, 2010

Barrett: No-vote on fire contract was retaliation

By T.J. Aulds

The Daily News

You can view this and many other articles about the La Marque City Council at http://galvestondailynews.com

Published May 23, 2010

LA MARQUE — City council members were trying to send a message to the firefighters union when they let a new collective bargaining agreement sit idle for six months, a veteran councilwoman and the lead member of the negotiating committee conceded.

Councilwoman Deanie Barrett also partially confirmed the fire chief’s claims city council members had suggested they would approve the contract if he could have the union president removed. For months, Barrett and the other council members denied their inaction on the contract in September resulted from collusion or from retribution for someone having reported an infraction by Mayor Pro Tem Keith Bell.

Bell, a Galveston firefighter, was suspended after he attended a council meeting wearing his uniform.

Barrett maintains council members did not meet in secret to discuss holding up the contract, but she said the inaction was “more of a stall to prove a point.”

The three-year collective bargaining agreement, which all sides had said was acceptable before it came up for council approval eight months ago, didn’t even receive a motion for approval.

Barrett said no one on council had coordinated the lack of action.

“It just sort of happened that night,” she said.

Lead Up To Battle

The council left the contract in limbo just a week after Bell assailed Fire Chief Todd Zacherl about a proposal to buy a new fire truck. Bell said he thought the proposal included too many unneeded items and was overpriced.

Bell was wearing his Galveston Fire Department uniform during that meeting and was supposed to be on duty on the island at the time. Bell admits he was still in uniform at the meeting but said he had arranged for someone to cover his shift while he was attending the council session.

He later was suspended for wearing the uniform and for leaving his post without permission after his infraction was reported to Galveston Fire Department administrators.

Galveston officials have refused to discuss Bell’s suspension.

Bell, however, blamed La Marque firefighters and union President John Brasher in particular for reporting the infractions.

The next week, the collective bargaining agreement was up for a vote, but it died for the lack of a motion.

Council members Larry Mann and Connie Trube said they were waiting for Barrett — who led the city’s negotiating team — to make a motion before offering a second. Bell said he did not think it was proper he make a motion for approval because he is also a firefighter and considered it a conflict of interest.

Show Of Support

Barrett said the inaction was a show of solidarity for Bell but was not a violation of open meetings laws.

Still, she said she now regrets the move and would not do it again since she and Bell now are on opposing sides of several issues, including a contract for City Manager Eric Gage and giving Police Chief Randall Aragon the added title of public safety director and the responsibility of supervising Zacherl, who has filed a grievance against the city manager.

“You back a person, and it bites you on the butt,” Barrett said.

The firefighters union sued the city and reached an accord on the contract in March.

Union President Stunned

Brasher said he was “floored” by Barrett’s statement.

“It just confirms what we had already figured out,” he said. “I don’t know what to say to that. All it did was cost taxpayers money and us money to hire an attorney.”

On that part, Barrett seemed to agree.

“This fire thing really got out of hand over nothing,” she said.

And it has divided the city, as well as council. Factions have formed in opposition to Gage, Barrett, Mann and Trube for other actions that firefighters said were retaliation against the union and members of the volunteer fire department who supported the paid firefighters.

That overflowed into vicious fights over Gage’s contract, the public safety director position, the hiring of a fire marshal and other personnel moves. There also is going to be a recall election in November after residents successfully petitioned for an effort to oust Barrett, Mann and Trube.

Push To Oust Union Boss

Barrett’s revelation about the contract dispute wasn’t the only disclosure. She also confirmed key parts of an allegation made by Zacherl in complaints he filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stating he had been instructed to find a way to have Brasher removed as union president in order to secure the firefighters’ contract.

Gage also acknowledged it was suggested in a meeting in Gage’s office with Zacherl, Barrett and Bell as they tried to find a way to resolve the stalemate.

Zacherl alleges Gage instructed him to find a way to get Brasher removed. Gage denied that but said during a closed-door meeting last year, “someone in the room did suggest that.”

Asked who made that suggestion, Gage said: “I don’t remember. I was sitting there going through other stuff, and I heard it.”

Asked what was said, Gage responded: “One of the council members, I don’t remember who, said that if (Brasher) was gone, they would get their contract.”

Conflicting Accounts

When asked whether a man or a woman had the comment, Gage said he couldn’t remember. He also said Bell had done most of the talking.

Bell denied he made the statement and said he recalls no such meeting.

“I don’t remember that statement being said,” Bell said. “I don’t remember a meeting of that nature or anything of that nature being said any time.”

Bell said that during a recent executive session, “it could be possible that somebody may have admitted something.”

He would not discuss the matter further, citing the confidentiality of the executive session that was followed by a reprimand of Gage for actions he took in creating the public safety director’s position.

Barrett, however, said she clearly remembers the meeting and that she and Bell made the statement together. She said it was an offhand comment, not a directive.

“The four of us were sitting there, it was just a statement when someone asked, ‘How can we resolve this,’” Barrett said. “I made (the statement) halfway. It was like one person started to say it and the other finished the sentence.”

She did not say who started the comment or who ended it but said it was neither Zacherl nor Gage.

“It was never intended as an order or a demand,” she said. “We can’t do that. It was just a statement, and everyone seemed to agree to it.”

The City Manager and two of the City’s Elected Officials in conference with the Fire Chief and it was not an order or demand it was just a statement???

38 newspaper articles that give you reasons why to vote
FOR the RECALL of
City Councilmember’s Larry Mann, Connie Trube and Deannie Barrett

These are articles printed by the Galveston County Daily News. Please feel free to check The Daily News archives to refresh your memory.

January 20, 2010 Firefighters sue to force City into talks
January 25, 2010 City OK’s deal with firefighters
February 22, 2010 City Council set to discuss City Manager’s contract
February 24, 2010 City close to agreement on firefighters contract
February 24, 2010 Mayor refuses to sign City Managers contract
February 28, 2010 Mayor asks DA to investigate councilmember’s
March 2, 2010 Attorney: Gage’s contract doesn’t follow charter
March 4, 2010 Mayor is right to question contract
March 8, 2010 Group pushes to recall three Councilmember’s
March 9, 2010 New petition drive calls for Mayor’s ouster
March 22, 2010 Mayor, Council still at odds
March 23, 2010 Over due book opens new chapter in council fight
March 29, 2010 City Council set to call special election
April 6, 2010 Petitioners have enough signatures to force recall
April 9, 2010 Third Councilmember faces recall vote
April 9, 2010 Librarian’s Job in question
April 13, 2010 DA investigates allegations of deleted records
April 14, 2010 DA: La Marque City Manager violated charter
April 23, 2010 Gage received warning for violating charter
May 10, 2010 Fight expected over Public Safety position
May 12, 2010 La Marque Police Chief new Fire Chief’s boss
May 23, 2010 Barrett: No-vote on fire contract was retaliation
May 24, 2010 Mayor wants recent vote repealed
May 24, 2010 City to stop collecting firefighters donations
May 25, 2010 Fighting leads to La Marque council walkout
June 4, 2010 City to launch probe to unmask whistleblower
June 16, 2010 La Marque fires two over campaign emails
June 27, 2010 3 suggestions to clear the air
June 29, 2010 Chapter, verses a council power
June 29, 2010 Sam, in spat with Gage; refuses to hold meeting
July 2, 2010 Municipal League didn’t tell Sam to cancel meeting
July 4, 2010 City Council factors call for retreat
July 6, 2010 Grand Jury to probe La Marque struggles
July 7, 2010 Council rancor gives way to compromise
July 12, 2010 Decisive issues back on the agenda
July 13, 2010 Divide remains but debate remains civil
August 25, 2010 Volunteer fire department announces breakup
October 20, 2010 Name that recall tune