BANGS – During a special called meeting Monday night, the Bangs City Council opted to amend the City Code of Ordinances regarding the position of City Administrator, as Erica Cherry has accepted the position with an Aug. 15 start date.

A committee of council members Waymond Sheppard, William Loyd and former mayor and current Economic Development Board president Carrol Wells will work on revisions and bring suggested changes to the ordinances over the next few weeks.

Among the changes discussed were a multi-year contract for Berry, as well as Berry’s ability to make employment decisions, such as hiring and terminating employees, without needing approval from the city council.

Berry’s decision was announced during the meeting by Wells, who Berry reached out to last week with current mayor Rick Phelps out of town. The City Council unanimously approved offering the job to Berry on July 6. The last time the Bangs City Administrator role was filled was more than five years ago.

“Her contract was not renewed, and she wants to come to work at the City of Bangs as an accepted offer, but she would like a (multi-year) contract,” Wells said during the meeting of Berry, who was hired last August as the Llano City Manager on a one-year, $100,000 contract. “She contacted our city attorney, and they were in town over the weekend looking at property and their house is already listed on the market in Llano.”

Phelps confirmed following the meeting that Berry had accepted Bangs’ offer of a $90,000 annual salary with 75% to be paid by the city and 25% coming from the Economic Development Corporation, for which Berry will also serve as director.

The ordinance amendments will be presented for approval at the next city council meeting on Aug. 9, with Berry set to start in her new role the next week.

Also Monday, the Bangs City Council unanimously approved a motion made by council member Greg Parrott following executive session to “present pending lawsuit information to TML for evaluation by their risk management pool with the intent of them picking this up and representing the City and our Chief of Police.”

No additional details were provided regarding the agenda item that stated, “consultation with attorney for legal issues regarding pending or contemplated litigation on claims brought by Lacie Leigh Ramirez against Robert Garcia individually and as the Chief of Police.”

Garcia was hired by the City of Bangs as the Chief of Police in November 2021.

“It’s a lawsuit that’s been filed here in Brown County that named our Chief of Police,” Bangs City Attorney Mark Bessent said following the conclusion of the meeting. “We’ve asked TML intergovernmental risk pool to take a look at it and provide council defense.”

Also Monday, no information was provided regarding the executive session consultation with Bessent involving “legal issues regarding or contemplated litigation on claims made by former police chief Jorge Camarillo, regarding his employment with the City and termination of the same,” according to the meeting agenda.