Bellmead council picks Neal as mayor after 3-month deadlock

Resident Charlie Morgan spoke during the meeting’s public comment section before the vote and said he is disappointed in the council’s indecision.

“I have been asked by people who are not residents of the city of Bellmead what is going on with the city council and the fact that they cannot complete the simple task of electing a mayor,” Morgan said. “It seems that y’all have turned that simple task into a service, and other people are taking notice. So if y’all cannot accomplish a simple task, why should we, the citizens of Bellmead, have confidence that you can handle complicated issues that arise in the future?”

Morgan said a person should only be elected based on whether they are qualified, willing and able to serve, rather than basing the vote on race or gender.

Former Mayor Travis Gibson, who led the first part of Tuesday’s meeting, said he agrees it should not be a decision of Black versus white, and he stood by his previous comments on amending the city’s charter.

“We’ve had this discussion before and as I always say it’s one of my main objectives to do a charter review to get the charter amended,” Gibson said. “That way it takes it out of the hands of the council and puts it over to the hands of the people, the citizens of Bellmead, so they can actually vote and elect who they want to represent them as mayor and mayor pro tem.”

The city’s charter, which was adopted in 1955, has only been amended once in 1961, according to a Tribune-Herald article from 2019.

With no discussion from the council, Gibson made a motion to appoint Neal as mayor and Winget as mayor pro tem — the same motion he has made during Bellmead’s last two council meetings. Council Member Karen Coleman seconded the motion.

City Secretary Holly Owens polled the council and called Council Member Gary Moore’s name to vote first, but Moore asked her to come back to him. The motion passed with four votes of approval from Gibson, Coleman, Neal and Winget, this being the first time Winget had sided with the other three. Former Mayor Pro Tem James Cleveland voted no, and Moore abstained from the vote.

After the vote council members shuffled into their new seats, newly elected Mayor Neal picking up the meeting where it left off.

Neal, 32, said in an interview Wednesday that despite some frustration with the struggle the council endured over the past couple months, she is excited to serve the city in her new position. In her third year as a council member, she said being elected mayor was a very humbling experience.

“Being the youngest member on the council I’ve learned so much about city government, and this entire experience has been really good for me, great exposure,” she said.

As a director of a child care facility in her home district, Bellmead’s Precinct 4, one of her main focuses is community engagement including the city’s youth. She said she is also motivated to tackle infrastructure projects and fully supports the city’s initiative to build a new recreation center.

Neal backs Gibson’s idea to review the charter and said she already made attempts to get a review last year, but those attempts were blocked by other council members. In the short term, she said she wants to continue the movement to improve the quality of life for Bellmead’s residents, interact more with the council to come to a consensus and conduct the city’s business in the most professional way possible.

The council’s first failed vote on mayor this year occurred May 16. Gibson made the first motion for Neal as mayor and Winget as mayor pro tem, but the motion failed 3-3, with Winget, Moore and Cleveland dissenting.

Coleman made a second motion May 16 to reelect Gibson as mayor with Neal as mayor pro tem. That motion also failed with the same 3-3 split.

The council sustained its deadlock during its June 13 meeting, with a motion from Gibson for Neal and Winget failing again along the same 3-3 lines. Moore made a second motion to elect Cleveland as mayor and Coleman as mayor pro tem, which also failed 3-3.

Moore attempted a third motion to elect Winget as mayor and Coleman as mayor pro tem, but Gibson did not entertain the motion. Coleman said at the June 13 meeting she did not want to be mayor or mayor pro tem.

Bellmead’s third vote was supposed to be held July 13, but the meeting had to be canceled for a lack of quorum.