Three Aldermen Showed Up. Trinidad's Budget Meeting Needed Four.
Trinidad's council came to vote on a budget and $291,723.78 in water meters Tuesday night. The meeting ended on a quorum count before either vote. Video of the meeting comes out today at 2:00 PM.
Table of Contents
Tuesday night's agenda had two big items: an ordinance adopting the city's 2026-27 budget, and a $291,723.78 purchase of new water meters.[1] The Council voted on neither.
How the Meeting Went
Before the meeting started, I handed council members a sheet asking them to check that the budget vote would be legal.[2]
Mayor Dennis Haws called the meeting to order and took the roll. Three aldermen answered: Velma Womack, Steven Stearman and Marie Bannister. "Leah Melton is absent tonight," he said. The fifth seat on the Council is vacant.[2]
The meeting went ahead. After the invocation and the pledges, the mayor opened citizen comments, and two Trinidad residents spoke in favor of the meters. Then he opened the public hearing on the budget.[2]
The Quorum
At the hearing, I told the Council I believed it had no quorum. "You have three, not four, you do not have a quorum," I said, and cited Local Government Code §22.039.[2]
That section reads: "at a called meeting or at a meeting to consider the imposition of taxes, two-thirds of the number of aldermen established by that section constitutes a quorum."[3] Trinidad is a Type A general-law city with five alderman seats, so two-thirds means four aldermen, and the empty seat still counts.[4] Tuesday's agenda was titled "City Council Called Meeting Agenda."[1]
The city attorney looked up the section and agreed. "You only need a majority to pass anything," he told the Council, "but since this is a special meeting, it appears that we do need it." The mayor's next words were "We're done, folks."[2]
No budget vote, no meter vote, and nothing else on the agenda was taken up.[2][1]
The Video
I'm releasing video of Tuesday's meeting today at 2:00 PM. You definitely won't want to miss it. Watch for it on my Facebook page.
Sources
- 1.^ abc Trinidad City Council called meeting agenda, October 27, 2026 (opens in new tab). City of Trinidad. October 27, 2026.
- 2.^ abcdef Livestream video of the October 27, 2026 Trinidad City Council called meeting. Jennifer Combs, Facebook. October 27, 2026.
- 3.^ Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 22, Type A General-Law Municipality (opens in new tab). State of Texas.
- 4.^ City of Trinidad profile, Texas Municipal League directory (opens in new tab). Texas Municipal League. Lists Trinidad's government type as General Law Type A.
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