FORNEY - Kaufman County Commissioner Skeet Phillips sent a letter to the Forney City Manager stating that the Interlocal Agreement (ILA) for public parking use at the southwest corner of Center and Main will not be renewed by the County this May.
FORNEY - Kaufman County Commissioner Skeet Phillips sent a letter to the Forney City Manager stating that the Interlocal Agreement (ILA) for public parking use at the southwest corner of Center and Main will not be renewed by the County this May.
A letter obtained by inForney.com shows that on March 4, 2024, Precinct 2 Commissioner Skeet Phillips sent a letter to Forney City Manager Charles Daniels stating that the ILA has been in place since 2019, has been renewed yearly as the original contract has expired, and will not be renewed in May. The agreement required a sixty-day termination notice, which has now been provided to the City of Forney.
Commissioner Skeet Phillips put this item on the March 12th Commissioners Court agenda, which had no speakers on behalf of the City of Forney. The Commissioners noted the decision in the record.
Commissioner Phillips told inForney.com that numerous factors led to this decision, the biggest being safety in the parking lot during the recent Primary Election.
“During the recent election, certain candidates and campaigns had tents on the parking lot and cars blocking multiple parking spaces, which created a safety hazard for traffic flow,” stated Phillips. “Furthermore, this led to voters not being able to walk in to cast their votes easily, and also created an obstacle for citizens at the sub-courthouse to conduct business.”
During the early voting process, several complaints were reported to election officials and the County about people in the parking lot and the inconvenience it caused. inForney.com is aware of at least one complaint made to law enforcement about an election worker confronted by an electioneer at the sub-courthouse during early voting.
One candidate, Joshua Feuerstein, allegedly said the City of Forney granted him permission to be on the property with his equipment.
inForney.com reached out to Forney City Attorney Jon Thatcher for comment and was told that Feuerstein was only provided a copy of the ILA and was not granted any special permissions.
“The City provided Mr. Feuerstein a copy of the Interlocal Agreement, which maintains the property as a public parking lot. The City provided no separate permissions or licenses to anyone for the use of that property,” said Thatcher in an email to inForney.com.
Commissioner Phillips told inForney.com that while the county isn’t renewing this agreement, downtown businesses and patrons can still utilize the parking lot.
“Nothing is changing by terminating this agreement except that now the County will be in control and be able to ensure insurance and proper safety precautions are taken on the parking lot when it’s utilized for public and private purposes,” said Phillips.
“As for electioneering, I’m confident that we will devise a solution that protects First Amendment rights and respects safety by the time the next major election occurs.”