Posted on 01/07/2003 4:35:48 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Seabrook Councilwoman Margaret Kidd Duncan resigned as mayor pro tem Monday, a day before council members were to vote on removing her from the position for cursing at police officers during a traffic stop.
During the Dec. 20 traffic stop, she cursed two Seabrook officers and a police dispatcher. Mayor Robin Riley said council could censure Duncan or start the process to remove her from office at tonight's special meeting.
Duncan, 40, is accused of violating the city charter, which specifies that council members should deal with city employees through the city manager to keep members from giving directives to employees.
Duncan said Monday night her actions were wrong and she has apologized to fellow council members and the officers involved. It's time to move on, she said, and she will not resign from council.
She said she has been under great stress and was dismissed just before Christmas as a stockbroker with Morgan Stanley.
Duncan, elected to council in May, blames her firing and her council troubles on her support of the Houston Port Authority's planned $1.2 million container and cruise terminal in the Bayport Industrial District.
During taped phone conversations with police dispatcher Shannon Swatman and Sgt. Sean Wright, Duncan demanded they contact Police Chief Nona Holomon immediately during the early morning of Dec. 20.
In the expletive-laden conversations, Duncan tells the two men she is the mayor pro tem and called her traffic stop retaliation for her support of the port's planned Bayport project just north of Seabrook.
The mayor pro tem fills in as mayor when the mayor is not available.
"You're harassing me on behalf of our white trash mayor, Robin Riley, and those white trash people on council," Duncan tells Wright.
Wright told Duncan that neither he nor Officer Charles Skinner, who pulled her over for speeding and running a stop sign, knew who she was.
"Of course, you do. I'm white," Duncan tells Wright. "There's one woman on the City Council. I'm a white woman on the City Council. You know who I am. Everyone in town does. Everyone in the Clear Lake area does."
Wright and Skinner are black.
The project has sharply divided the southeast Harris County community and led to the recall of the mayor and three council members in February 2000.
Police said Skinner stopped Duncan about 12:15 a.m. Dec. 20 for speeding in the 2300 block of North Meyer and also noted that her 1994 Volvo sedan had a defective brake light. Duncan drove about a block into the driveway of her home before stopping.
Skinner said he asked Duncan for proof of auto insurance, and she handed him a business card that read: "Margaret Kidd Duncan, Mayor Pro Tem of Seabrook." The officer said Duncan handed him a business card three times, and each time he placed the card on her dashboard.
When asked if she knew why she was stopped, Duncan replied, "It was for payback," Skinner's report says. "I asked her what she meant and she said the police department could not stand the fact there were white rednecks on City Council and this was their way of getting them back."
Duncan went inside her home and called the police station. After asking to speak to Holomon, Swatman told Duncan the chief was not available but that she could speak to the sergeant on duty.
"Well, listen, ... hillbilly. I am the mayor pro tem of the city of Seabrook," Duncan says.
"Ma'am, I don't care who you are," Swatman responds.
"(Cursing.) I want to talk to Nona right now. Nona Holomon. Have her call me," Duncan says.
Skinner said Duncan was screaming at him while he attempted to reach Wright on his cell phone.
"She continued to tell me she was the mayor pro tem, she was the only white woman on the city council and I was out to get her," he wrote.
Wright's report said Duncan was visibly upset and immediately started using profanity when he arrived at her home.
"Ms. Duncan did not want to talk, she wanted and did yell, scream and cuss at me," Wright says. "I decided we should leave because any problem she was having could not be properly addressed or solved. I instructed her to go inside."
Duncan was not given any citations.
Margaret Kidd Duncan-Morgan Stanley*** Margaret Kidd Duncan is a vice president and financial consultant for Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, investment management and credit services. A certified financial planner and certified investment management analyst with over 16 years of industry experience working with both individuals and institutions. She has recently returned to her hometown of Clear Lake after a successful career on Wall Street. She and her son reside in the community, and she has plans to run for Seabrook's City Council in the near future.
"I have always been civically active, and was very impressed by CLAEDF and its initiatives to promote growth in the Clear Lake community," Duncan said. "I believe true community leadership begins with the people and I look forward to doing my part to help CLAEDF recruit business and brand the Clear Lake region as a wonderful place to live and work."***
I'm not going to gloat too much though. Our city council here in our little burg has a few winners on it also..
Maybe people should start turning out for local elections, which they don't.
I have some friends who live in that area. Apparently the speed limit on all of Seabrook's residential streets is low (20 mph?), and the Seabrook cops are known to enforce them very strictly. IOW, this is not a surprise.
It is, however, a good example of why one shouldn't attempt to pull rank.
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