Curtis said he followed orders from city attorney Roger Gordon to avoid legal penalties. At the meeting, councilman Jack Day charged several times that the check was illegal and should have been cleared by city council first, Curtis said.
“I did exactly the right thing to protect the city against legal action. I wrote that check on the advice of the city attorney. I could not get Karen Machalek and Jack Day to understand the applicable law,” Curtis said. “They aren’t capable of understanding the federal law that requires we pay that.”
Reached at home, Jack Day refused to comment. Ms. Machalek did not return two phone messages.
Curtis said Day urged him to resign or face proceedings to have him removed. He said that Ms. Machalek and Day have acted unreasonably since he took office 18 months ago.
“I had every intention of serving out my term but they just made it impossible. I resigned because I’m tired of battling against this constant ignorance,” Curtis said. “I’m really just sick and tired of the abuse I received from Jack Day and Karen Machalek.”
The employee for whom Curtis signed the check, former city manager Koni Billings, left Troy two months ago and now works for the city of Bruceville-Eddy. Curtis said she left for the same reason.
“Koni was an excellent employee, extremely intelligent. She had issues getting along with these same two people,” Curtis said. “Ultimately that’s why she left. She didn’t see a future there butting her head against the wall and not getting anything done because you’ve got these two people who don’t make wise decisions.”
Haroldine Early has followed Troy city politics through the voice of her publication, the Troy Country Sun for the past 21 years. She said when these things happen, the community suffers.
“Troy cannot move forward until we stop fighting with each other,” Ms. Early said. “That holds true for any community, any organization. As long as there is dissension inside, they cannot move forward.”
Calling the contentious council meeting a fiasco and embarrassing, Ms. Early said this wasn’t the first time Day and Ms. Machalek had problems with the mayor.
“It was almost as if they were doing everything they could to get him out of office. They didn’t want him to be able to do anything. To make any decisions to have any rights whatsoever,” Ms. Early said.
The mayor pro-tem who is in line to assume Curtis’ role - Harriet Prinz - did not return a phone message. Two other city council members could not be reached.
In the end, Curtis said he wouldn’t change anything.
“I did not ask council. I would not ask council again,” Curtis said.
“What is the chief executive office of the city for, if not to make decisions?”
This isn’t the first time this small community of 1,400 just north of Temple has been embroiled in controversy. In 2006, the city fired the entire police force - four officers - and for protection relied on the Bell County Sheriff’s office for a couple months.
Again, Ms. Early says it’s sad when people don’t pull together. Regarding the former mayor, she said: “He could have done the city a lot of good.”
