VON ORMY, Texas – A small South Texas town remained shut down Monday. The reason appeared to be small-town politics and big time personality conflicts.
Von Ormy, located in South Bexar County, has been shut down since last Thursday when Mayor Trina Reyes ordered the offices closed due to a "hostile working environment" caused by members of the city council.
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"I just want to move the city forward," Reyes said. "This is not what I ran for mayor for. I ran for mayor to get this city moving forward to make sure the people had the necessities they need."
Reyes gathered with her supporters Monday afternoon under a 600 year old live oak tree where Santa Anna camped with his troops before laying siege on the Alamo.
Reyes said there's a siege taking place on her city now and she blamed three city council members for being behind it.
"The city is operating in the sense that we can get things done, it's just that we can't get things done that are prevalent to getting the city moving," Reyes said. "I would like to think that I'm in charge but I have got city council members that are determined to take away my powers."
The council members Reyes is feuding with, Carmina Aguilar, Jacqueline Goede and Verna Hernandez, are all currently under indictment. They were arrested in May and accused of violating the state's open meetings laws.
Despite the indictments, which were sealed until the May elections were held, all 3 were reelected to the council.
"With the hand I've been dealt I am doing the very best I can, Reyes said. “There is a court order from a judge that I am still the mayor even though I believe they tried to take me out of the equation at that Sept. 16 meeting."
After several raucous meetings in recent weeks, Reyes canceled last week’s council meeting, blaming a failed fire marshal’s inspection on the building where the meetings are held.
The council held the meeting without Reyes. The next day, she shut the city offices down.
Reyes claimed some employees were harassed Monday and threatened with being arrested when they showed up at the city's temporary offices located in a mobile home manufacturer's trailer off I-35.
"They were treated very bad. As a matter of fact the councilwoman, Jaqueline Goede, wanted them placed under arrest," Reyes recounted. "This is the harassment that has been going on for months and months and months."
The mayor is now pinning her hopes on a November ballot initiative to change the town from a Mayor Council form of a government to a Mayor Commissioner style of government, leaving her in power and firing the five-member council and replacing them with two at-large commissioners.
"God willing the problem would be over," Reyes said. "But that's up to the voters."
The main service provided by the city is law enforcement but Reyes said the council voted to disband the group of reservists who were doing the bulk of that job. At this point Bexar County Sheriff's deputies are responding to calls in Von Ormy.
The issues between the mayor and council members have divided the small town, some calling for the mayor to resign others calling on the council members to do the same.