MARION, Texas – Read the latest election and political headlines on the Vote 2024 page.
Marion’s city council ran into new dilemmas over the last year as internal mistakes led to the city missing an election and multiple people leaving their positions, including the mayor.
Recommended Videos
Now, residents have the chance to elect five new council members in the 2024 general election.
Mayor Daniel Loyola left his role with the City of Marion, effective July 1, 2024, with an email announcing his resignation. In his resignation letter, Loyola said he was “done” and cited a “constant undermining of decisions.”
Loyola also mentioned that it was “disheartening” that he was the second mayor to resign within a year, though not for long.
Resignation - Mayor Loyola 07-01-24 by nkotisso on Scribd
In a phone call with KSAT on July 4, Loyola said “there’s a lot of finger-pointing” and he said the “citizens don’t need this.”
After Loyola resigned, City Secretary Suzanne Gonzales also resigned. She cited a “toxic” work environment as her reason for resigning.
The reason the City of Marion didn’t have a City Council was because Gonzales failed to put out a notification for an election. KSAT spoke with Gonzales about her lack of calling an election in an interview on July 5.
“That is a failure on my part, and I’ve taken responsibility for that,” Gonzales said. “Immediately upon realizing that I made that mistake, I reached out to our mayor. I reached out to our city attorney and the voters office in Guadalupe County. So, I wasn’t trying to hide anything. It was certainly not intentional.”
However, the mistake was made months prior to Gonzales’ resignation.
Her resignation stemmed from what she described as “the Mayor Pro Tem’s (Abigaile Maberry’s) intimidation by emails, bullying in emails, unsubstantiated accusations,” among other things like “toxicity” and “hostility.”
Resignation CS.pdf by nkotisso on Scribd
Maberry informed KSAT that once Loyola and Gonzales resigned from their positions, there was no one left in the city who was able to sign a check because, according to Maberry, Gonzales and Loyola named themselves the only two people on the accounts and neither changed that prior to resigning.
Months later, an anonymous city employee informed KSAT that Loyola walked back into City Hall and “took his position back.” The employee said Loyola simply walked back into the office and went to work as if he hadn’t resigned.
KSAT has reached out to Loyola several times by call and text message and has not heard back.
Although the issues within Marion City Council have not been clarified as “resolved,” Maberry previously informed KSAT that more than one resident was interested in running for City Council so the city’s November election should run as a typical election cycle.
Five City Council seats are up for election. The candidates include:
- Jerry Penshorn
- Jena Rodriguez
- Carl Martin
- Karen Mills
- Kerry Gutierrez
- Jeremiah Burns
- Jorge Olea
- Phil Karrer