Rusk Gathers to Pray After a Year of Turmoil at City Hall

After a year in which Rusk lost its police chief, its city manager and its mayor, Rusk residents did something simple. They got together and prayed.

Local pastors, residents and newly appointed city officials gathered for a community prayer and worship service on Tuesday evening, KETK reported. Pastors led prayers for Rusk families and for the local schools.

Pastor Oliver Stearns told the station that the city has been through a great many trials over the past year or so and is trying to get back on track. He said he thanks God for Rusk's new mayor and new City Council members.

Earl Dominy, the newest member of the City Council, said the service felt "like a family." He said meeting together gives neighbors a chance "to sit down together and solve problems instead of creating problems."

A hard year at City Hall

The turnover has been steady. Police Chief Scott Heagney was fired in January, and City Manager Bob Goldsberry left in June, KETK reported. Mayor Ben Middlebrooks resigned on Oct. 9, effective immediately.

Middlebrooks did not give a reason in public. Council member Chucky Pate told KETK he believed it likely stemmed from the city's money problems. Pate said that under Middlebrooks the city fell behind on payments to vendors, including Republic Trash Services and the Rusk Economic Development Corporation, and failed to transfer $700,000 owed to the EDC. Martha Neely, who now leads the city, told CBS19 that Middlebrooks resigned for health reasons and not because of the finances.

The U.S. Post Office in Rusk, photographed in June 2019. Photo: Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

New faces in charge

At a special meeting on Monday, Oct. 19, the council made Neely, then mayor pro tem, the mayor. The posted agenda for that meeting describes the appointment as one to complete the existing term through May 2027. CBS19 reported that the council also voted to fire the employee serving as both interim city manager and city secretary. The agenda lists that person as Victoria Minton. Thomas Timpson, a longtime employee who oversees water and sewer operations, is now interim city manager, and the city is searching for a permanent one.

The same agenda also listed internal financial controls, a new master fee schedule, a take-home vehicle policy for police and a proposal for the police department to join the federal Department of Homeland Security 287(g) Task Force Model Program. Dock Line could not find a report of how the council acted on the 287(g) item.

Four days later, the council met again. The Oct. 23 agenda called for filling the District 4 seat Neely left behind, naming a new mayor pro tem and removing Minton and Middlebrooks as signers on the city's bank and investment accounts. KETK identifies Dominy as the new District 4 council member.

"I want to be very transparent with the citizens because I think they deserve that," Neely told CBS19. She said the city is putting stronger financial controls in place and looking for ways to cut costs. Voters will choose a mayor in May.

Rusk is not the only Texas town working through a change at the top. Breckenridge is losing its city manager and police chief at once, and Killeen just hired a new city manager.

Our view

There is something right about a town that answers trouble at City Hall by going to its knees. Prayer is not a substitute for audits and balanced books, but it is a good place to start. Scripture tells us to pray "for kings, and for all that are in authority," and Rusk did just that.

Now the hard work begins. The council owes residents a full, public accounting of what went wrong with the city's bills and the $700,000 that council member Pate says never reached the EDC. If there is a dispute about the facts, lay out the records and let citizens judge. New leaders who promise transparency should prove it with documents, not just words. Rusk's people have shown good faith. Their city government should return it.