The City of Kemah faces lawsuits, allegations of selective code enforcement, and failure to produce requested documents to the courts, public, and media.

Kemah City Hall. Image from Google.

Gale’s letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison of the Southern District of Texas is in relation to a federal lawsuit filed against the city last year over alleged unconstitutional takings, including property housing popular local bar Palapa’s, a food truck, and short-term rental units.

Although the city was supposed to have turned over communications related to the case, Gale wrote that she had “firsthand knowledge of documents that exist but have been concealed by the city from the court, in the form of email correspondence, as well as call and text messages” that she had authored while serving as mayor.

Gale said that emails withheld by the city include those between her and then-Building Code Officer Brandon Shoaf and City Administrator Walter Gant, as well as documents she had requested as mayor regarding permits for the Palapa’s Bar property from the Galveston County Health District.

Along with her letter to Edison, Gale also included a copy of a deposition given by Mayor Carl Joiner in the case as well as documentation posted by City Council Member Doug Meisinger for a city council meeting agenda for January 4, 2023 that includes multiple emails from Shoaf that the court sought but never received. The emails in question allegedly contradict sworn depositions provided by Shoaf, Gant, and Joiner regarding building code enforcement.

Gale also wrote that she had firsthand knowledge of an email sent to the city council from City Attorney Dick Gregg just prior to the January 4 meeting. Allegedly, at the request of defense attorney Bill Helfand, Gregg instructed the council not to discuss Joiner’s depositions or Shoaf’s emails until after the next hearing before the federal court, since the information would be damaging to the city’s defense.

Although Gale has previously provided sworn statements related to the case, her latest letter is considered an “ex parte” communication not solicited by the court, and as such will not be considered in the pending motion to dismiss. On Thursday, Edison issued an order allowing the parties an opportunity to voluntarily respond to the allegations.

Representing the city, Helfand responded the following day that it was “disappointing to read that a city council member may have revealed privileged communications to Ms. Gale,” but argued that the communications revealed by her or Meisinger had no bearing on the issues before the court. He also accused Gale of having animosity towards Joiner after losing to him in the 2021 election, but did not address or deny any of the allegations included in her communication.

The plaintiffs have not yet filed a response.

The city administration has struggled to comply with open records requests, and citizens have complained that requests failed to produce responsive documents.

After email communications from the new Building Code Officer Alfonso Acosta were leaked to The Texan, the city failed to provide the same communications in response to an open records request. In a followup query, The Texan asked the city to recheck databases for responsive documents, after which three additional emails were produced, but not the leaked communications. The city did not provide an explanation for the exclusions and did not appeal to the Texas attorney general for exceptions or exclusions as required by law.

According to the attorney general’s handbook, the Texas Public Information Act “criminalizes the destruction, alteration or concealment of public records.”

“Section 552.351 provides that the willful destruction, mutilation, removal without permission, or alteration of public records is a misdemeanor punishable by confinement in a county jail for a minimum of three days and a maximum of three months, a fine of a minimum of $25.00 and a maximum of $4,000, or both confinement and the fine,” it reads.

Among the communications the city did provide to The Texan are heavily redacted text messages sent and received by Shoaf, Gant, and Acosta. Furthermore, phone records turned over to The Texan are incomplete and do not match the actual records.

In addition, records of Acosta’s text messages show that he sent or received more than 100 texts to or from Gant’s personal cell phone. During Gant’s deposition under oath he admitted to making city phone calls on his personal phone, but claimed he did not know if he had also exchanged text messages using his personal cell phone.

The records the city did provide show that in April 2021, Shoaf texted to Kemah Technology Director Bobby Hurman a screenshot of a statement former Mayor Matthew Wiggins posted on social media accusing Palapa’s bar of not having permits for remodel work. Other comments refer to towing of the food truck for which the city council had voted to give a variance in August 2020.

These messages, however, do not appear to have been turned over in the federal lawsuit.

Other partial records turned over to The Texan include phone records for building code officials and Gant, but with completely redacted phone numbers. Under Texas law, phone numbers called by law enforcement officials may be redacted, but other numbers are part of the public record except in unusual circumstances.

The city had not responded to requests for legal justification for the redactions at the time of publication.

In a previous affidavit, Gale testified that a file for the Palapa’s property had been inappropriately given to Wiggins in March 2021. Council Member Robin Collins also confirmed to Gale that all council members were aware that the city’s Palapas file had been given to Wiggins.

Additional concerns over document management surfaced in February 2022 as the city council learned that files related to a private property owned by Mark and Veronica Crow had been altered by someone at city hall, an act Council Member Darren Broadus called “criminal.” Despite the council’s instructions to install a door and implement a sign-in procedure, in July 2022 the file room had not been secured and a door that had been installed was removed again and left in the hallway.

In an additional email chain provided to The Texan, local contractor Robert Kelly stated that he had to “go behind Walter [Gant]” to obtain a copy of an engineering report for the Crow’s property, which Kelly then sent to the personal email addresses for Broadus and Meisinger.

Last year, Meisinger, Gant, and Police Chief Holland Jones were secretly recorded discussing alleged selective code enforcement and a document made and given to Meisinger by Shoaf listing properties owned by Wiggins with alleged code violations.

Although copies of the document have been provided to The Texan, in response to open records requests the city says no such official document exists.

Kemah has also filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Ken Paxton after he ruled the city must turn over an investigative report on allegations against Jones.

 

A redacted copy of Shoaf’s text messages can be found below.

Click to see phone text messages - 159 pages of images