Forest Hill council member’s suit alleges that others on council want to silence her
Forest Hill council member Beckie Duncan Hayes, who was suspended in November for failing to get a permit for repairs at her home, is suing four council members and the city, alleging that they are trying to silence her and to have her serve as little of her term as possible.
Hayes filed her lawsuit in Tarrant County district court late Thursday afternoon. Council members Malinda Miller, Racquel Belle, Carlie Jones and Ozell Birks were named in the suit. Mayor Clara Faulkner and council members Sonja Coleman are not being sued.
The suit alleges that the four council members who voted to suspend Hayes violated her right to due process and are acting outside of their authority as elected officials.
“The divisions on the Forest Hill city council have a long history, but the current actions taken against Beckie Hayes are unprecedented in their level of pettiness, and go beyond any rational grounds for discipline of a council member,” according to the lawsuit.
Interim city manager Venus Wehle did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Monday morning.
Hayes was suspended until March 17 following a lengthy hearing that lasted until after midnight on Nov. 17. While she is on suspension, Hayes will not have access to her city-issued cell phone and email and must communicate with the interim city manager regarding her mail.
During the Nov. 16 hearing, Frank Hill, an attorney representing Hayes, admonished the council, saying that the charges were unclear and “constitutionally vague.”
“My point again is not to be threatening but to alert you that you are about to embark on an unlawful constitutional proceeding without sufficient clarity of the charges and without clarity in the ordinances as to what she has allegedly done,” Hill said during the hearing.
According to the suit, Hayes hired a contractor in April to repair damage to her home from February’s winter storm.
An underground pipe burst, sending sewage into Hayes’ home. Because the break was close to the line that the city would be responsible for, Hayes contacted city employees, who came out and inspected the damage, and knew that repairs were needed, according to court documents.
Hayes also hired a foundation contractor, Cory Gray, who told her the repairs were cosmetic and that she did not have to have a permit. Gray was hired in April and finished the work in May.
Hayes also contacted the city to make sure that she didn’t need a permit for the repairs, and was told that she did not need one, according to the lawsuit.
Besides the foundation repairs, other work was underway at her home. Tommy Thompson, Forest Hill’s chief code enforcement officer, drove past the home daily, but said he did not see anything that required a permit.
However, in June, former city manager Sheyi Ipaye told Hayes that a neighbor complained that she didn’t have a permit for the work at her home. When Hayes asked who complained, the suit stated, Ipaye did not tell her.
Hayes asked her contractor to submit the permit paperwork, which was done in September.
“At no time did Ms. Hayes claim that as a city council member she didn’t need a permit, nor did she ever attempt to avoid complying with city policies and ordinances,” according to court documents.
Hayes also alleged that when a male council member was suspended for misusing his city credit card, he was told he could not vote or sit on the dais at meetings.
Hayes is requesting a hearing seeking a temporary injunction against the council members, and to be reinstated to her council seat.