Killeen council slated to vote to forcibly remove senior advisory chair

On Tuesday night, the council is expected to vote on whether to remove Patsy Bracey as chair of the city’s Senior Advisory Board following allegations of abuse and misuse of authority.

During last week’s meeting, the council voted 6-0 for a motion of direction to have Bracey removed from the senior advisory board, with Mayor Pro Tem Debbie Nash-King abstaining. This comes after complaints and allegations of abusive behavior and “misuse of authority” made by Debbie Bundy, a Killeen resident who frequents the senior center. It is unclear who will replace Bracey as chair, but Councilwoman Nina Cobb, who is on the board’s subcommittee, says that they will continue working with the board as they find a successor.

Bundy listed a series of allegations against Bracey in two separate complaints Bundy attempted to file with the city, including one complaint that included a petition of 110 signatures asking for Bracey’s removal. Bracey has repeatedly denied the allegations and has said that Bundy has a vendetta against her and the senior center after city administrators told Bundy she was not allowed to organize bus trips at the senior center.

In other business, the council will vote on renaming the municipal court annex after former Killeen Mayor Raul Villaronga, who died last year.

City Manager Kent Cagle said that the project will cost the city roughly $1,700 for materials, though Councilwoman Nina Cobb said that the cost is immaterial to the project.

“We know that a good name is more desirable than any riches that we will ever have,” Cobb said.

Nash-King, who introduced the motion to rename the municipal court building after Villaronga recently, spoke regarding his impact on the community.

“Naming the municipal court annex after him is just a small token of all the deeds and what he has done not only for Central Texas but for our community as a whole,” she said. “As his wife said, he was a game changer — and one person said ‘change lives;’ he has such an imprint in this community that it will go on for the next generation, especially with the citizenship class.”

Also on tap for Tuesday’s meeting will be a Killeen Star award, which is given out several times per year by council members to Killeen residents of their choosing.

Also being voted on Tuesday night will be:

A $512,470 deal with Sports Fields Solution for multi-sport playing conditions for Conder, Stewart, and Phyllis Parks.

Awarding a bid to J.B. & Co. LLC for construction of the Wolf Ditch Drainage Improvement Project for $205,479.

Awarding a bid to American Lube Supply for petroleum products and diesel exhaust fluid in the amount of $90,702.

A $261,206 deal with Iteris, Inc. and Control Panels, Inc. for programming and configuration services, purchasing a wireless broadband communication system for the SCADA Upgrade Project. SCADA refers to supervisory control and data acquisition.

For resolutions, the council will possibly authorize the city manager to develop a regional habitat conservation plan with interlocal entities and vote on seeking legislation allowing for Killeen municipal elections in November.

And for the last item on Tuesday’s agenda, the council will be discussing funding and applications for nonprofits.

The Tuesday meeting starts at 5 p.m. at City Hall. If residents are unable to make it to the event, they can livestream it at https://www.killeentexas.gov/281/Council-Live-Streaming or watch it on Channel 10.

In a separate meeting on Monday, the council is scheduled to continue its discussion with local developers and homebuilders about possibly making more amendments to the Chapter 26 ordinance considering property and subdivision developments.

Discussions began in November but the ordinance has been shifted to give a little more freedoms to developers and homebuilders but there’s still some aspects that developers want to iron out such as traffic impact analyses and the requirment for developers to pay at least a portion of the cost needed to facilitate street improvements necessary to bring local roadways up to code.

The Monday meeting will be at 10 a.m. at City Hall. This will also be livestreamed.