ustxtxb_obs_1995_10_13_50_00022-00000_000.pdf

Taylor’s court order lifted his ‘suspension, and when he returned to work he was accompanied by a pair of less-than-impressive bodyguards, recruited from nearby Kaufman. Bill Clark was at city hall that morning and witnessed the excitement. “Taylor came back this morning,” Clark told the breakfast crowd at the Dairy Queen. “And he was flanked by Dumb and Dumber.” That afternoon, Taylor terminated popular police chief Tommy Smith, after thirteen years of service. Taylor accused Smith of siding with the mayor, of failing to arrest disrupters at city hall, and of providing police escorts for the protesters who had picketed the homes of Taylor and the council members. Smith responded that he had dispatched an officer to the proteststo prevent violenceand that he can’t just throw someone in jail because some city official ordered him to. Smith is looking into suing the city, not only in response to his termination, but for earlier official reprimands and pay-cuts by Taylor that followed decreases in traffic ticket revenue. Bill Clark worries that in the end, no one will go to jail. “And that would be a shame, too,” Clark said, “Because we’ve got a council full of folks eligible to attend….” By the September 26 meeting, the national media and network news reporters were elbowing their way through a crowd of four hundred, some of whom watched proceedings on TV monitors set up in front of the city hall. At the meeting, Smith’s attorneys, Martin Bennett and Hank Skelton, and City Attorney Barney Knight, questioned the legality of Smith’s termination, suggesting that proper procedure had not been followed. The council proceeded to approve, by a three-to-two margin, the firing of the veteran police chief. The council also votedthree-to-two and against the city attorney’s adviceto give Allan Taylor a three-year contract. And they were informed that, because of recent problems related to personnel, the city had lost its liability coverage for personnel matters. Though Taylor sent a letter to Smith, advising him of his termination, the following morning it was vetoed by the mayor. But things could get worse. This is a council with relatively limited power. In January, the citizens of Gun Barrel City, which currently operates under General Law, will vote on adoption of home rule. According to state law, a city needs five thousand bona fide citizens to qualify for home rule, and by census, Gun Barrel City has only three thousand, six hundred. No matterthe council simply voted that the town contains the required five thousand. For the folks down at the Dairy Queen, home rule would be a mixed blessing. “Oh, lordy,” said Bill Clark, “I can’t imagine giving these buffoons any more power. The only good thing about home rule is that then the citizens have the right to petition for a recall. Right now, the only way to get rid of them is to prove them incompetentand that would be hard to do, since they’ll have a jury of their peers.” On October 2, the Concerned Citizens of Gun Barrel City filed a temporary injunction against Taylor and the The Three. The group represents some six hundred and fifty peopleover twice the number who voted in the last election. Mayor Agnes also filed a libel suit against Taylor and councilman Simmons, accusing Taylor of planting the bomb under his own van in an attempt to discredit the mayor. Meanwhile, Clark said he and the denizens of the Dairy Queen intend to monitor the situation closely. They have to,because it’s the only entertainment in town. “After all, we don’t have a bowling alley.” CLASSIFIEDS ORGANIZATIONS PERIODICALS WORK for single-payer National Health Care. Join GRAY PANTHERS, intergenerational advocates against ageism and for progressive policies promoting social and economic justice. $20 individual, $35 family. 3710 Cedar, Austin, TEXAS AIDS NETWORK dedicated to improving HIV/AIDS policy and funding in Texas. Individual membership $25, P.O. Box 2395, Austin, TX LESBIAN/GAY DEMOCRATS of Texas Our Voice in the Party. Membership $15, P.O. Box 190933, Dallas, 75219. SICK OF KILLING? Join the Amnesty International Campaign Against the WORK FOR OPEN, responsible government in Texas. Join Common Cause/Texas, 1615 Guadalupe, #204, TEXAS TENANTS’ UNION. Member ship $18/year, $10/six months, $30 or more/sponsor. Receive handbook on tenants’ rights, newsletter, and more. 5405 East Grand, Dallas, TX 75223. CENTRAL TEXAS CHAPTER of the ACLU invites you to our noon Forum, the last Friday of every month, at Luby’s, 2233 North Loop, Austin. For information call HELP STOP CLEARCUTTING and protect roadless areas in our National Forests!! Join the largest nationwide coalition of groups, businesses, and individuals united to protect and restore America’s wild and natural forests. For a free brochure contact Save America’s Forests, 4 Library Court SE, Washington, D.C. 20003; 202-544-9219. LIBERTARIAN PARTY Liberal on personal freedoms, but conservative in ecoNATIONAL WRITERS UNION. We give working writers a fighting chance. Collective bargaining. Grievance procedures. Health insurance. Journalists, au thors, poets, commercial writers. Forming Austin local. Noelle McAfee, 4500705; Bill Adler, 443-8961. PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS. Join The Texas Civil Rights Project, 227 Congress #340, Austin, Texas 78701. $20/year. Volunteers also needed. Contact Jim Harrington or Fara Sloan. EMPLOYMENT Experienced canvass director and/or organizers wanted for new, innovative campaign to give progressives a way to be heard! Positions starting in California, offices opening across the country. Send resumes to: 3303 Pico Blvd. #C, 264-5437. COALITION FOR JUSTICE in the MaquiladorasBillingual Program Director needed. Call 210/732-8957 in San Antonio. WILD FOREST REVIEW. Radical reporting from the front lines of Newt’s war on the environment. WFR offers substantive, uncompromising, not entirely humorless, provocative coverage of the war over America’s remaining wilderness. “First rate reporting.”Alexander Cockburn, The Nation. P.O. Box 86373, $25.00 for nine issues; sample, $2.00. SERVICES MARY NELL MATHIS, CPA, 20 years experience in tax, litigation support, and other analyses. 400 West 15th, HIV ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION WE BUY MEMORY!! New/used computer memory, simms, cpu’s, 256k, soj’s, & hardware. We will beat any price. 731-1112. EDUCATION RECEIVE SCHOLARSHIP MONEYLet us work for you. Fee charged. Money back guarantee. Mortgan Enterprises 1-800-401-8226. CLASSIFIED RATES: Minimum ten words. One time, 50 cents per word; three times, 45 cents per word; six times, 40 cents per word; 12 times, 35 cents per word; 25 times, 30 cents per word. Telephone and box numbers count as two words, abbreviations and zip codes as one. Payment must accompany order for all classified ads. Deadline is three weeks before cover date. Address orders and inquiries to Advertising Director, The Texas Observer, 307 West 7th, Austin, TX 22 OCTOBER 13, 1995