Breaking news, Tuesday, Aug. 5

Police chief sites beef with Brown, steps down; Brown says he’ll vote to break ties

By Phil Reynolds

South Jetty reporter

 Port Aransas Police Chief Sam Russell has resigned, citing differences with Mayor Claude Brown. Russell, who was hired on the recommendation of consultants in May, 2005, said in his letter of resignation that Brown “is out of control and lacks integrity or ethics.”

Brown, responding to the resignation, said, “I’m glad he can pick out a target, because if that’s what he needs, that’s fine.”

Russell’s last day on the job will be Friday, Aug. 29.

 

Meanwhile, citing a city council that turns a deaf ear to his agenda items, Brown this week filed an affidavit with City Secretary Esther Arzola saying he would no longer suggest items for the council agenda, nor would he cast votes except to break a tied council.

Brown said he’s spent much personal time sifting through old city codes and making suggestions to modernize them, including, most recently, an idea to make owning a dog that constantly barks and annoys neighbors a criminal offense.

“The code was already written, but it was written when the population was 336 instead of 3,336,” Brown said. “When the code books can address hippopotamuses and giraffes and monkeys and rhinoceroses but not barking dogs, and I introduced a phrase to clarify, the phrase that was used to me was, ‘What more do you want? We’re wasting time.’ We’re not wasting time, we’re trying to clean up the code book. But if the council doesn’t feel justified in that, then I’m wasting my time.”