Sheppard’s office will be the subject of scrutiny during an executive session at Monday’s scheduled city council meeting.
The meeting was originally scheduled for last Tuesday night, following the session that resulted in O’Dwyer’s removal, but the meeting was cancelled because not enough council members could attend.
Sheppard, who was the lone supporter for O’Dwyer during his 13-month tenure as mayor, may meet the same fate.
During O’Dwyer’s hearing last week, it was revealed that members of the city council plotted through e-mail correspondence to have O’Dwyer and Sheppard removed from office.
The e-mail, which was written Sept. 11, 2007, by Councilwoman Charlotte Heinze to Councilmen Ray Don Clayton, Fred Harris and Mark Peterson, and City Attorney James Thompson asked for guidance to remove Sheppard and O’Dwyer from office.
That e-mail and others that may have been generated in response are the subject of an open records request generated by the Temple Daily Telegram seeking those records.
Sheppard, who spoke about the issue last week after O’Dwyer was removed, said he believed the council was after him because of his ardent support of O’Dwyer.
Although Sheppard said no one with the city or on the council had ever spoken with him about the agenda item, he did have his suspicions why it was there.
“I don’t know what it is, but I have a good idea,” he said.
However, council members who spoke after the meeting in which O’Dwyer was ousted last week declined to comment on the scope of the executive session.
“I don’t know what it’s about and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you,” Harris said.
Mayor Pro-Tem Robert Reeves also declined to go into any detail on why Sheppard’s position would be discussed in executive session, or who placed the item on the agenda.
Meanwhile, Sheppard said if the council decides he needs to be removed, he will not subject himself to a public hearing similar to what O’Dwyer endured.
“We won’t be going into that much detail,” Sheppard said.
The council will convene at 7 p.m. in City Hall Chambers.
