fortbendstar.com

The Charles “Tink” Jackson era as city manager of Missouri City is over, less than five months after it began.

The city council emerged early Tuesday morning after spending hours in executive session and voted unanimously to fire Jackson with cause, albeit with little in the way of discussion.

Councilperson Jeffrey Boney made the motion to terminate Jackson’s employment shortly before other councilmembers made follow-up motions to appoint Sedrick Cole as an interim city manager for up to 30 days as a search firm looks, first for a full-time interim manager before conducting a search for Jackson’s replacement.

Many questions surrounding the decision, including what the city might pay Jackson in severance pay or whether the search firm is contractually required to find a replacement without additional pay, remained unanswered as of press time Tuesday morning.

The city council’s decision brings to an end a controversy that began when the city council placed Jackson on paid administrative leave after receiving a letter containing allegations against Jackson for his hiring and firing decisions.

The city hired Austin-based DeChurch & Associates to investigate the claims against Jackson. The city will pay the firm $315 per hour for the investigation, according to Tara Powdrill Crain, a spokesperson for the city.

Missouri City has fought the release of information about the allegations against Jackson. The Fort Bend Star on April 6 filed an open records request, seeking the letter detailing allegations against Jackson that led to the council placing him on paid administrative leave while the Austin-based law firm conducts an investigation into the claims against him.

James Santangelo, the city’s assistant city attorney, on April 20 filed an appeal to the request with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, attempting to withhold that document from public view.

In that appeal, Santangelo asserts the city should be allowed to withhold the document because it could lead to a lawsuit.

Whoever replaces Jackson in charge in Missouri City would be the city’s fourth administrative leader in just two years.

Just weeks prior to the council placing Jackson on administrative leave, Mayor Robin Elackatt and Jackson had said they hoped to return stability to the city.

Jackson earned a yearly salary of about $210,000, in addition to a $600 per month vehicle allowance and a $90 per month phone allowance, according to public documents.

The city council authorized spending $23,000 on a search firm before it hired Jackson, whose two predecessors, Anthony Snipes and Odis Jones, were given severance payments totaling almost $1 million. Snipes was fired in a 4-3 vote by the city council in February 2020, and Jones’ subsequent tenure ended with a 5-2 vote to fire him in April 2021.

Jackson arrived in Missouri City after most recently holding the same city manager post in La Marque, which sits in the middle of Galveston County.

Jackson, who had served in the role there since 2019, resigned in July 2021, shortly after the city council met for hours in an executive session to discuss whether to fire him, according to the Galveston County Daily News, which covered the story.