City sues citizens in the name of debt

Mayor Smith and the city council appear to have lost their marbles and our activists in Friendswood have sounded the alert. The City of Friendswood has not been able to get voter approval for bonds the council wants to issue, so the city council has gone to court to ask if state law allowing for the issuance of tax revenue certificates of obligation without voter approval trumps the Friendswood City Charter which prohibits issuing CO's without voter approval. They will be in Travis County District Court on Monday, 179 miles away from the Citizens of Friendswood (over 350 miles round trip). So much for citizen participation…

This lunacy is best explained in this report by the Lone Star Times, and in this story in the Friendswood Journal. The following is from the Friendswood Journal article:

"Friendswood Mayor David J.H. Smith said during Monday's session at City Hall, 'We're the plaintiffs. We sue the citizens, per se, the citizens of the state of Texas…'"

Cities are not political subdivisions of the state, and that is why they have city charters. The voters of Friendswood changed the city charter for a reason, prohibiting city leaders from issuing non-voter approved bonds. Now we see why. Friendswood is carrying $74 million in debt (principal plus interest) and has a population of only 33,486 … that represents city debt of $2,242 per man, woman and child.

From AFP Texas