[0:22] Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Great to see you guys here today. Appreciate the crowd. We're going to call the order of this August 24th, 2026 meeting, the Wistoff Hall, City Council, and this morning, Councillor Schlack, how's our invocation for us? Good morning. There's a lot of you here today. Before I ask you to pray, I was just going to take a moment to say how grateful I am for our community that we have so many pastors, so willing, and always do such a fantastic job praying for us.

[0:49] So I'm a little nervous. There's a lot of you. I'm not a preacher. Okay, bow your heads.

[0:54] Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for letting us all gather together today.

[0:59] Thank you for the blessings that you've given us.

[1:02] I pray that you give us eyes to see those blessings and hearts to receive them.

[1:06] I pray that you give us wisdom and discernment as we make decisions that are best for your will

[1:13] and for this world that you've given us and your name we pray. Amen.

[1:15] Hey, man. Thank you very much. That was not a surprise. You knew you knew we were going to do that. Okay.

[1:21] Okay.

[1:22] Do you want me to look at the play? I play the League of Engineers to fly by on the United States of America.

[1:28] The Republic for which it stands, one nation on a good road.

[1:36] All right. Let's have a seat.

[1:55] Good morning.

[1:56] Item 4A is a resolution expressing the City Council's intent to schedule one public tax rate hearing,

[2:02] proposing a tax rate to be considered by record vote and establishing the date to vote on the same.

[2:14] Okay, more steel.

[2:15] I wanted Mayor and Council, thank you for taking the time for this item.

[2:19] This gives an opportunity for the Council to formalize what the city is proposing as the budgeted tax rate for next fiscal year.

[2:28] I get it on the record so that we can start communicating it out through all the different channels we talked about before.

[2:32] So the current rate is 0.6825, that's the adopted rate for this year, and the proposed

[2:40] rate is 0.6779, full description of the taxpayer impact is on our agenda listed there.

[2:48] But I'd encourage every taxpayer, if they want to understand how to fix them personally,

[2:53] to go to witchtalk.countytaxrates.com-tax, it's got all the information about your specific

[2:59] property because it may be going up it may be going down or maybe staying the same

[3:03] just depending on your personal situation so we recommend you move forward with

[3:08] that approval. Okay when's the last time we were at that tax rate over 11 years

[3:15] ago 11 years ago so we're lowering the tax rate the property tax rate back to

[3:21] 2015 levels correct okay thank you very much Stephen and if I have any questions

[3:34] I have a motion in a second then to approve a resolution expressing the City Council's

[3:40] intent to get to one public tax rate hearing. Proposing a tax rate to be considered by a record

[3:45] vote and establishing the date to vote on the same Councillor Cogh.

[3:53] Councillor Brooks absent

[3:55] Since today, Councilor Schlack, Councilor Browning, Councilor Taylor, Councilor Badlino, and myself, I have no motion passes.

[4:11] Now, it is 834, and on August 24th, 2026, we're going to journey into executive session in our government code 551074, and then we'll be back.

[4:24] The

[4:53] past was open to the public as required by law.

[4:57] Mayor members of the City Council, the City Attorney's Office, has drawn up for your

[5:02] review an execution of a separation agreement with the City of Wichita Falls and Mr. Jeffrey

[5:08] Jenkins, our City Manager will be resigning and this agreement tighties up at all the loose

[5:13] strings.

[5:14] Okay.

[5:15] Any questions up here?

[5:18] Questions from the public.

[5:19] Okay,

[5:22] then I have a motion in a second to approve a resolution authorizing the execution

[5:26] of a separation agreement with City Manager Jeffrey Jenkins, finding and determining that

[5:31] the meeting in which the resolution was passed was open to the public as required by law.

[5:36] All in favor say aye.

[5:37] Aye.

[5:38] All opposed.

[5:39] And that motion passes.

[5:42] Item 4A is a resolution appointing James A. McKecney as City Manager for the City of

[5:48] Council falls in authorizing the mayor to negotiate a professional services agreement with the appointee.

[5:54] Mayor remember to the city council back in 2012 I received a letter from a Mr. James A. McKecney asking for a job.

[6:02] I looked at his references, the best references I've ever had.

[6:07] People loved him and in that time we hired him he did a wonderful job for the city attorney's office.

[6:13] He's acted as the interim city manager for this city, and he's additionally been in the last year acting as the deputy city manager.

[6:24] I'm here today to very happily recommend to you that this council approve the appointment of James A. McKetney as the city manager for the city of Wichita Falls.

[6:35] Excellent. Thank you. Can we any discussion from up here?

[6:41] No, of course, discussion from

[6:42] the public.

[6:54] Name an address? Kevin Hunter, 1647 Hirsch Avenue, which

[6:58] tall falls Texas. Here we go. Mayor and council, today you're voting a promoting

[7:04] James McKessie in the position of City Manager in response to the

[7:08] unexpected resignation of City Manager Jeff Jenkins for unknown circumstances.

[7:13] 4 weeks ago, I shared an anonymous letter with this Council and asked for an independent

[7:19] third party investigation.

[7:21] That request still hasn't been answered.

[7:24] Let me be clear, an anonymous letter isn't proof, and I'm not asking you to treat it

[7:30] like proof.

[7:31] I'm not asking you to publicly condemn any employee.

[7:34] I'm only asking you to let someone outside the city chain of command examine the allegations.

[7:41] that person should have no stake in the outcome.

[7:45] Since then, I've received information that appears to support at least two factual points in the letter.

[7:51] I'm prepared to give that information to a qualified investigator.

[7:56] I am not going to repeat those accusations.

[7:59] That isn't fair to the people that had no control over the situation

[8:04] and it doesn't help us find the truth.

[8:06] I've also received reports of city personnel focused on identifying the author at the airport.

[8:13] If that's accurate, it should be reviewed too.

[8:15] Employees should be able to report their concerns without worrying for the first response

[8:20] to, will be to find who spoke up.

[8:23] And an internal HR review isn't enough when the question involves senior staff in possible

[8:29] conflicts and dependents promote, protect, everybody.

[8:34] If the claims are false and independent review can clear names if they're true, the Council can act on facts.

[8:41] So my request is simple.

[8:43] Do not allow James McKetchy to take over a city manager, authorize an independent review, protect witnesses from retaliation, and require written findings to be reported to the Council, and the public to the extent the law allows.

[8:58] This isn't about embarrassing anyone.

[9:01] It's about whether City Government will allow an external review, release the findings,

[9:05] and most importantly, not allow someone with these possible allegations, more power to influence decisions.

[9:12] Thank you.

[9:13] Anybody else?

[9:17] Thank you.

[9:18] I have a motion in a second to approve a resolution appointing James A. McKecney, a city manager for the City of Wichita Falls,

[9:25] and authorizing the mayor to negotiate a professional services agreement with the appointee.

[9:30] All in favor say aye.

[9:32] Aye.

[9:33] All opposed?

[9:34] That motion passed.

[10:01] Mayor Short, members of Council, I want to thank you for this enormous privilege and responsibility you're placing in me.

[10:06] I accept this role with seriousness of purpose that you and our community expect and deserve.

[10:11] Leading the city is not about a title, it's about the trust that the title conveys.

[10:16] I've had the privilege of serving which it all falls for over a decade.

[10:19] And in that time, I've learned what we do well and where we continue to grow and service to our community.

[10:25] So if you want to know how I intend to keep that trust, here are some principles that will guide my actions and service to which it all falls.

[10:32] Excellence isn't a single grand gesture, it's a thousand small things done well, over and over without a pause.

[10:38] The pothole filled before it becomes a complaint, the permit processed on time, the call returned, the budget balance, the equipment maintained,

[10:46] the street swept and the call's answered.

[10:49] None of it is glamorous, all of it matters though.

[10:52] All of it speaks to our ongoing commitment to our residents, businesses, and visitors.

[10:56] You matter, and you deserve excellence in your government.

[11:00] And the months and years ahead, you'll see me build on the fundamental principles of service,

[11:04] not chasing the newest trend or innovating for the sake of appearances.

[11:08] We'll strengthen our departments from the inside out,

[11:11] enhancing what we do well in identifying pathways for improvement where it is needed.

[11:16] We will hold ourselves to a standard where good enough is never enough.

[11:19] Each new day will dedicate ourselves to one simple question.

[11:23] What can we do today to build a better tomorrow?

[11:26] When we do this each and every day we create a responsive, engaged, and focused government where

[11:30] every person in this city can count on us. Not some of the time but every time.

[11:35] And I mean every person, the family on the east side, the family on the west,

[11:39] the lifelong resident and the newcomer.

[11:42] The neighborhood that gets noticed in the one too frequently in the past didn't.

[11:47] The city does not have first-class citizens or second-class citizens.

[11:52] When we fill the pothole, process the permit, answer the call, it's all for you.

[11:56] No matter your street, your zip code, or your station.

[12:00] Every part of which doll falls deserves a city government that shows up.

[12:04] Stability is discipline.

[12:05] In showing up and doing the job well on the days, it's easy, and more importantly on the days, it isn't.

[12:11] That's the culture I intend to build, and it starts with me.

[12:14] To this council, thank you for your confidence.

[12:17] To the employees of this city, thank you for the work you do every day, that often goes unseen.

[12:23] And to the people of which golf balls, all of you, this is your city.

[12:27] My responsibility is to make sure that your city government serves you well and I intend to earn that trust every day, thank you.

[12:34] Thank you, James.

[12:43] God bless you, James. Thank you very much. We appreciate you and all you do.

[12:48] You earned it. There's nothing else before this council then we are adjourned.

Aug 24, 2026 Special City Council

Transcript