By LYNETTE SOWELL-STEVENS
Cove Leader-Press
With the clock ticking until the Nov. 9 recall petition deadline, citizens spoke during the Oct. 6 Copperas Cove city council meeting – some for and some against recalling city Place 3 council member Howard Hawk.
The petition committee has cited issues with Hawk’s remarks made during a Sept. 1 council meeting referring to toxicity and negativity, and that Hawk violated the Texas Open Meetings Act with his remarks to citizens.
Jonathan Brown, one of the committee members, used his time to begin with an apology to the city’s budget director and her husband for remarks he made during a prior forum.
He said that the recall committee was not making the recall a “personal” matter.
“In fact, Mr. Howard Hawk was not even on the radar for recall until he spoke at the middle of the meeting, September 1,” Brown said, adding that there are limits to First Amendment speech or “cautions,” for those in elected office.
“Will this recall succeed or will it fail? I don’t know... I will tell you, however, we are not stopping here. This is the first of many that’s coming your way. There is a petition coming for the change of the city charter. There’s a change coming for recalls of different fees.”
Brown said he has done an “in-depth dive” on every one of the council members, and when the council is passing budgets that increase more debt to this city, they are not taking adamant responsibility of the taxpayers’ dollar.
“When we are spending more money towards our personal wishes for the city versus losing sight of what needs the city to function, which is our infrastructure. So, I will say, none of this is personal.”
TaNeika Driver-Moultrie, president of the local area NAACP, also addressed the council. She said that those who are so disgruntled should run for office, and take the energy and put it into being part of the solution and not the problem, and that the NAACP does stand and continue to stand with Hawk,who is an NAACP member.
Shannon Dodd spoke and said she believes that Hawk has been misunderstood.
“When Councilman Hawk talked about toxicity, he was not calling the citizens of Coppers Cove toxic. He was talking about behavior. He was talking about actions, and quite frankly, I agree with him because I’ve seen it. I’ve seen people go online and call the mayor a pansy. I’ve seen people walk out of the chambers and call someone a liar over something that had absolutely nothing to do with council business.
“I’ve seen an employee’s family dragged into conversations over how he was spending time with his family after he had been working nonstop to deal with the water main break, and I’ve heard people stand here and say, ‘We are finding your flaws. We are finding your personal stuff, and we’re going to find more, and we will release it.’ That’s where I have a problem.
“As citizens, we can agree with a decision. We can question a council member. We can be angry, we can hold them accountable, and we should. But there is a line: when you drag families into it, put people’s personal information out there, make threats, or try to intimidate someone, that’s no longer civic disagreement. That’s toxicity, and those are the kinds of actions Councilman Hawk was talking about.”
Fred Chavez spoke on the matter as well.
“ I’ve been involved with the city, on committees, on different boards for the past 20 years, on and on, and it’s helped me understand what everyone does,” he said. “Anybody can do that. There is no committee. There is no cabal. There is no group organized against the citizens. If you want to be a part of the solution in this town, step up. Anybody can lob a grenade into a room. Anybody can destroy things. Anybody can make accusations, and apparently they don’t have to be true. I ask that my fellow citizens, all of them, if you don’t like what you’re seeing, get involved. Being involved does not include sowing chaos, threatening people, and challenging someone who was merely availing themselves of their First Amendment rights, just like you. Remember, First Amendment-that sword cuts both ways.”
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