City Council - Special Meeting

Okay, today is May 26, 2026. We're going to go ahead and call the special meeting, Church City Council meeting into order at 6 p.m. We're gonna go ahead and start by the opening prayer and pledge of allegiance, the flags of the United States and the state of Texas. For everybody, please stand and bow your heads. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight with gratitude for the opportunity to serve our community and for the freedoms and responsibility that local government represents. We ask for your guidance and wisdom as we gather to canvas the results of our election and carry out the will of the people. Tonight marks both an ending and a beginning. We give thanks to the service and dedication and sacrifices of our outgoing council member, Alison Hayward. We are grateful for the time, effort, and commitment given to the citizens of our city, and we ask that you bless her and her family in the next chapter of her life. We also welcome our newly elected council member, Sarah Dietz, and ask that you grant her wisdom, humility, integrity, and courage as she takes the oath to serve the city of Shirts. Help all of us who serve to lead with respect, unity, compassion, and commitment to doing what the what's right for the people we represent. May tonight's meeting be conducted with professionalism, civility, and purpose. Help us to remember that while opinions may differ, we are all working toward the betterment of our city and its future. We ask your continued blessings upon our residents, our first responders, our military, and all those who work each day to keep our community safe and strong. In Jesus' mighty name we pray, amen.

United States of America, and to the Republic from which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state, under God, one and indivisible.

Thank you all for that. So as many of y'all may know, our air condition's out, so we're gonna have to bear the heat a little bit. So we're gonna go ahead and move on to hearing of residents. All remarks should be addressed to the council as a body and not to any individual member thereof. Any person making personal, impertinent, or slanderous remarks while addressing the council may be requested to leave the meeting. All handouts and or USB devices must be submitted to the city secretary no later than noon on Monday, preceding the meeting. Handouts will be provided to each council member prior to the start of the meeting by the city secretary. All USB devices will be vetted by the city IT staff to ensure city property is protected from malware. As I call your name, When you come up and you get ready to speak, if you'll please state your name and your address for the record, please. First, we have Tiffany Gibson.

Tiffany Gibson, 6939 Hallie Loop, Sturris, Texas. Good evening, mayor, fellow council members and citizens of shirts. I respectfully come here to honor a woman who served in her service has elevated, not just our city, but the entire state of Texas council member, Alison Hayward has served on city council since 2018. And in that time, she has never stopped reaching higher. not just for the citizens of Shirts, but not just also for herself. She holds a budget certification. She served on the TML Budget and Audit Committee and championed first responders pay, restructuring and the safety infrastructure right here in the city of Shirts. But her impact extends far beyond our city limits. She served as a TML president, representing over 1,100 cities statewide, the first, the very first, of shirts official has ever held that honor. Allison, you are a living example of a servant leader, a woman who chose people over politics, progress over comfort, and purpose over recognition. The word of God reminds us in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 10. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in various forms. Council member Hayward, you have been a faithful steward. Church is better because of you. God bless you today and always. Thank you.

Next, we have Bob Jameson.

Bob Jameson, 4504 Brush Creek Drive, in shirts. I just came up to say thank you, Allison. We appreciate everything you do for us. The citizens couldn't be happier. And thank you.

Next we have Dana Eldridge.

I didn't want to have to walk quite so far. Dana Eldridge, 2628 Gallifox Drive, Surge, Texas. Three small items on the calendar tonight. Sunday, EMS, our shirts EMS showed up at our church. Had a 90-year-old man that passed out. did a remarkable job. Talked to the chief, passed it on to the city manager. Church EMS did a marvelous job Sunday morning for us. Second thing is, Sarah, congratulations on being here. You're hearing a lot of stuff about kinda what you gotta do when you sit in that chair up there. I'm sure you can do it. Congratulations on your win. Allison, eight years ago, We met a young lady in our community and talked her into running for office. Was told that she was not the right horse to back. And I told an individual he was backing the wrong horse. Allison won with 73% of the vote that year. She's done seven and a half years serving the city of Schertz, serving the state of Texas as TML president. We should all be proud of what she represents for the city of Schertz, what she's done. And I just want to commend her, even though you told us we couldn't speak directly to people on the dais. That's what you're getting tonight, Mayor. So, Allison, thank you very much for everything that you've done.

Thank you. Next, we have Chris Hecox.

Chris Hecox, 768 Clearbrook, Shirts, Texas. Good evening, Mayor and all you council members. I'm not speaking to you directly. I'm not coming to praise Allison as a council member of all the wonderful things she's done for the city of Shirts, for the state of Texas. But just for the person that you are, for the things you did. for me when I was at a very low point in my life with my sister, that you stepped out, not because of what you could get, from me owing you anything, just because of your heart, your heart of a servant, and the integrity that you brought to the office that you have, and to the City of Shirts, I thank you.

And last, we have Brent Bolter.

Brent Bolter, 2633 Cloverbrook Lane, Beaumont Park subdivision. Real quick, Allison, you know how I feel about you. A quick thanks. Sarah, congratulations. Tonight I thought it was an opportunity to speak about expectations now that we have our new city council in total after tonight. In 45 years of service to the Air Force as an enlisted person, as a contractor, as a civilian, it was never about me. It was about the mission of the Air Force. Whatever they asked of me is what I did. When I served on the Shirts Housing Authority, it wasn't about me, it was about the people that we served. When I was a neighborhood watch chief for Belmont Park, it wasn't about me, it was about every person that lived in that community. When I was in the board of directors for the HOA in Belmont Park, it wasn't about me, it was about everybody that lives there. Not just my neighbors, not just the people that I knew, everybody, right? Then I became a coach of soccer team, my grandson's soccer team. It's not just about my grandson. It was about every boy on that team that plays for me and is going to continue to play because I'll be coaching again in the fall. So what I wanted to say tonight to everybody on council is you're there for everybody in shirts. You're not there just for one special interest. You're not there just for a handful of people. You're there for everybody in the city. And I just wanted to say, and I thought tonight was a good opportunity since you have a new member coming on board, that's my expectation. That's how I've lived my life of service. It was for everybody that I was there to serve. And I would ask council that you remember it's about everybody in the city. It's not just about a handful of people. It's not about special interest. It's not about aggrieved former members of the council or former people that sat in that seat. It's about all the current residents of shirts and what you guys can do that helps everybody in the city move forward. So that's what I'm asking you to do tonight going forward, especially as we bring a new member on. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. And that brings us to the end of hearing our residents. Moving on to discussion and action items. First on our agenda, we have resolution 26-R-064-approving the canvassing of the election returns and declaring the results of the May 16, 2026 runoff election for place six. We have our city secretary, Sheila Edmondson.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, Mayor, Council, and city staff. Tonight, I bring forward Resolution 26R064 to approve the canvassing of the special runoff election held on May 16, 2026 for the unexpired term of place six. The candidates in this runoff election race are Sarah Dietz and Raquel Gutierrez. The official final vote count from the runoff election are as follows. Sarah Dietz received 887 votes, or 59.05% of the vote total. Raquel Gutierrez received 615 votes, or 40.95% of the vote total. The total votes cast during this early voting and personal appearance and absentee votes was 1,205. On runoff election day, there were 298 votes cast. The total number of votes cast for this runoff election was 1,503. Staff recommends that you approve resolution 26R64 with the vote total of misdeeds winning the majority of the vote.

Okay.

Thank you.

Council, I have any questions? Can I get a motion? So moved.

I'll second.

Okay. I have a motion made by Council Member Allison Hayward, seconded by Council Member Paul Macaluso. Can I get everybody to cast their votes? Yep. Last one. All right. Can I get the votes published, please? Okay, having seven yeas, no nays, motion passes. Moving on to the oath of office. Sarah, if you'll step up. Okay, if you'll raise your right hand, put your left hand on the Bible. And if you'll repeat after me. I state your name.

I, Sarah Dietz.

Do solemnly swear.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will faithfully execute.

That I will faithfully execute.

The duties of the office.

The duties of the office.

Of council member place six.

Of council member place six.

Of the city of shirts.

Of the city of shirts.

And will to the best of my ability.

And will to the best of my ability.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

Preserve, protect, and defend.

The constitution and laws.

The constitution and laws.

Of the United States.

Of the United States.

And of this state.

And of this state.

So help me God.

So help me God.

Congratulations.

Good evening, mayor, council, city manager, and residents of Schurz and my family. I am truly honored and humbled to stand before you tonight as I am sworn in to serve the residents of Schurz as your city council place six representative. First and foremost, thank you to the voters of shirts for your trust, your encouragement and your belief in me for holding signs for all the things. I do not take this responsibility lightly and I am committed to serving our community with integrity, transparency and heart. I also want to sincerely thank the shirts police association and the shirts fire association for their endorsement and support throughout the campaign. Your dedication and service to our city help keep our community safe every single day. And I'm incredibly grateful for your confidence in me. To our children, the Deets bunch, Allison and her husband, Zach, Darren and his fiance, Maya, Landon and Hayden, and to our daughter, Isabel. She's a PICU night nurse, so she's on shift tonight, so she's going to be watching on live. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for putting up with me. Thank you for putting up with seeing my face on every corner and for holding signs in the rain or shine. You five are my why, and I hope you know you inspire me every day. And finally, to my husband, thank you for standing beside me and pushing me to be the very best version of myself. Through every event, every challenge, and every victory, your support and love made this journey possible. I truly would not be standing here without you. I look forward to this new chapter, to working with the mayor and council, and to keep CHIRTS the city that we all love. Thank you again. I'm here to serve and go Spurs go.

We're going to go ahead and do a pen presentation for our newly elected council member by council member Alison Hayward.

So Sarah, I'm going to pin you with the shirts pin, but I want to tell the story first. So when I ran in 2018, Tim and I were standing out, and he had the shirts pinned, and I said, hey, Tim, I want one of those pins. He said, you win, I'll get you a pin, and I'll get every council member a pin. And from that moment on, I started giving every new council member a pin because of Tim. So I'd like to pin you as my last official thing. I'd like to pin you with the shirts pinned.

And you can come up and take your seat. And we're going to go ahead and come down and give a presentation for our council member, Allison Hayward. First of all, we want to honor Allison with a street sign. And it also has a lot of members' writings in the back, giving her best wishes. And her favorite color is red. So we didn't make it red for her. So Allison, congratulations. So we also have a plaque that we want to present Allison. And the plaque has the name Councilmember Allison Hayward. In recognition of your dedicated selfless service to our beloved city and surrounding communities, you have our deepest gratitude. City Council Place Six, November 2018 through May 2026, thank you for leading with integrity and heart, making Church one of the safest cities in the nation and a place we can proudly call home. Congratulations.

Put the mic here. You're going to have to slide your right a little bit. So Councilwoman Hayward, Allison. So my third night here, I don't know if you remember, we spent about an hour and a half talking about all the big dreams that we have for the City of Shirts and how we were gonna do those things and we were gonna accomplish them and make this a great community. And it's been a true pleasure over that last three and a half years working on every one of those things with you and making those a reality. And I also wanna say, I know there's been a lot of comments about being the president of TML But what was one of the first things that I said is a challenge for the staff and for, and you really took that up as a council member, is to...

Brand the city of shirts.

Build the brand of shirts and... I think it doesn't go recognized enough how much Allison has done to build the brand of shirts in terms of making us known as a community around the state. Being the president of TML is not only a tremendous honor, but during the last legislative session, she really spearheaded and created a lot of things that TML presidents had not done in the past in terms of creating a legislative committee made up of mayors and council members to really advocate for cities because it is something that's critical and important for us every two years to make sure that we do. And you did a tremendous job at that. And I'll always remember that. And I'll always remember serving with you. So it's a tradition that when someone does outstanding on the staff, does something just incredible, they get a city manager coin. And I want to present that to you now for doing an outstanding job.

I'm coming behind the podium because I'm sure many of you see me in an ankle brace and I need to give my foot a rest because I probably shouldn't be in these high heels. I just want to say it's been an honor and a privilege serving as a council member in the city of Church. The residents trusting in me for seven years to be able to bring Church where it needs to be and I pray that it moves forward and keeps going forward the way it is. I just want to also thank my family, my husband and my kids. My husband couldn't be here tonight because duty called. He went to San Diego to be with a friend who lost his wife. So that's why he couldn't be here. My son came to help me in his stead and be here for me. And I want to just say that I want to thank my friends all in the back corner and all the people that I've met and made connections with over in the middle. It's been tremendous to know that I have friends that will always have my back and will be there for me when I'm having moments of being doubtful. They're just kind of lifting me up in words of encouragement. Even when residents are angry, they were there to help build my spirit up and say, hey, you got this. Just get back on that horse and keep on going. I want to thank the rest of my council, mayor, Serving as a council member and being with them and knowing that I always told everybody that church had the best council in any city. Because no matter how much we disagree with each other, we can still come off the dais and still be friendly and have conversations. And occasionally after the Christmas parade, we can go and have dinner together. Because we realize that it's not about us, it's about the city of church and we need to do what's right. And we do. And I just truly appreciate the staff becoming good, close working relationships with all the city staff and being able to really say that I like to call some of them friends. The knowledge that they have, the knowledge they're willing to impart, the knowledge, the times they are willing to sit down when you don't completely understand something to explain it. It has been truly an amazing time for me, and I am trying not to be overly emotional. It is bittersweet, but I know that it is in good hands with Sarah in that seat. And I know some people have told her she had big shoes to fill, but she doesn't. She has to fill her own shoes, not mine. And I know she will do just that. I know that she cares about the city of shirts. It shows with the things that she does. And with that, my next... adventure is to be a staff member of the little Italian redecorators. That is my grandchildren. They all have Italian names. So I, when they come over, I call them the little Italian redecorators because my house gets redecorated very often. And I just want to say thank you to everyone. And it's been a pleasure and an honor. And I look forward to the next chapter and I'm going to be looking forward to finding places to volunteer in the city of shirts. Because a title council member doesn't mean I can't still serve in some capacity. And you will see me around. And I just want to say thank you again for everything. And I am truly blessed and honored to have had that title. Thank you.

Told myself I wasn't going to get emotional. Got close. But definitely want to say thank you to Allison. I've only been on DIAS for six months, and she's been a tremendous leader. She's given me a lot of guidance, been there with me every step of the way, and definitely very much appreciated. And I'm not going to say bye because I'm going to do everything I can to keep her busy within the city, in the community. Which to her, that's not a chore because anytime you call up on her to serve, she always says, what would you like me to do? So, Allison, we're just going to give you a couple weeks to enjoy yourself. And then we're going to see what we can put you to work. All right. All right. And this will adjourn tonight's special meeting at 631. Take pictures. Get to meet Sarah and her family. And we'll see you down there in the conference room.

And the AC works back there.