Ricky Minton PO Box 759 Palestine, Texas 75802 Tel: (903) 373-4947 Fax: (888) 724-0174 rickyminton@me.com May 27, 2014 Teresa Herrera Secretary, City of Palestine 504 North Queen Street Palestine, Texas 75801

Re: Request and Petition to the City Council of the City of Palestine for Deannexation of Property

Dear Ms. Hererra: The following is my request and petition to the City Council for the City of Palestine to de-annex property (“subject properties”), more particularly described by the true and correct legal descriptions, as follows:

Tract One: All that certain lot, tract or parcel of land, being 2.0 acres of land, situated in the Daniel McKinzie Survey, A-527, in Anderson County, Texas and being more particularly described by metes and bounds in Exhibit “A” attached hereto and made a part hereof. Tract Two: All that certain lot, tract or parcel of land, being 13.12 acres, SAVE AND EXCEPT 10.273 acres, in the Daniel McKinzie Survey, A-527 and the Wm. Kimbro Survey, A-34, in Anderson County, Texas, as described by metes and bounds in Exhibit “B” attached hereto and made a part hereof. Tract Three: All that certain lot, tract or parcel of land, containing 0.03 acres of land, situtated in the Daniel McKinzie Survey, A-527, in Anderson County, Texas, as described by metes and bounds in Exhibit “C” attached hereto and made a part hereof.

An aerial photograph of an approximate depiction of all three tracts subject to this request as well as an approximate result of newly defined corporate limits of the City is attached (dated June 25, 2012). This Request and Petition is being made in accordane with the City Charter for the City of Palestine, more specifically, Sec. 1.5 Rules for contraction of boundaries, which provides, in it’s entirety:

Whenever there exists within the corporate limits of the City of Palestine adjoining the outer limits thereof, any territory not suitable or necessary for orderly planning and development of the city, the city council may, upon a petition signed by a majority of the qualified voters residing in such territory, if the same be inhabited, or upon the owner or owners, if the same be uninhabited, by ordinance duly passed, deannex such property as part of said city; from and after entry of such ordinance, said territory shall cease to be part of said city.

The subject properties meet the requirements of Sec. 1.5 as follows:

1. The subject properties adjoin the outer boundaries of the corporate limits of the City.

2. The subject properties are not suitable or necessary for orderly planning and

development of the city:

a. The subject properties are located on a “dead end” street with the location of the residence preventing further development of the street;

b. All properties North of the subject properties are “landlocked” with access

only available from a legal easement provided by me;

c. The subject properties are currently divided by the corporate limits of the city with only the primary residence located within those corporate limits and some structures on the subject properties partially located within and outside the corporate limits of the city.

3. I am the only owner of the subject properties and no other properties not owned

by me with be affected by this Request and Petition. The reason for this request is as follows:

1. The City Charter for the City of Palestine, more specifically, Sec. 6.1 states, in its entirety: The council, by a majority vote of the entire council, shall appoint a city manager who shall be the chief administrative and executive officer of the city. He shall be chosen by the council solely on the basis of his executive and administrative training, experience, ability, character, and need not when appointed be a resident of the city. However, he shall become a resident of the city immediately after appointment unless otherwise specifically excused by the council. [Emphasis Added]

2. On October 28, 2013, the City Council of the City of Palestine hired Wendy Ellis

as city manager and, in her contract specifically excused her from the residency

requirements of Sec. 6.1 of the City Charter provided that she agreed to “request that the City annex the property where her current residence is located.”

3. The city manager has complete control of the city budget and makes spending

decisions using money paid to the city by taxpayers. The city manager should be required to reside in the city so that she be expected to assume a level of responsibility for the budget and tax dollars she controls by actively making financial contributions by being taxed as any other citizen in the City of Palestine.

4. The excuse granted by the City Council for the City of Palestine in the

employment contact for the current city manager is intentionally vague so as to allow the city manager to perpetually live in the county while serving as city manager.

5. The city manager has exhibited a total disregard for fiscal responsibility in

expenditures made using tax money.

6. The city manager has made no real effort to request that her property be annexed as required by her employment contract despite an obvious expectation of the tax paying public that she becomes a resident of the city as required by Sec. 6.1 of the City Charter.

7. On January 31, 2014, in response to public criticism that the city manager was not

a resident of the city and that the city manager had not requested annexation as required by her employment contract, Mayor Therrell Thomas said, “By annexing property, the city gains a larger tax base. By placing this stipulation in Ms. Ellis’s contract, the city council stayed true to the City Charter and found a unique solution to filling our personnel needs.” Mayor Thomas has failed to stay true to the City Charter by requiring the city manager be a resident of the City, despite his claims to the contrary.

8. As a citizen of the City of Palestine, I expect the city manager to be a resident of

the City of Palestine as required in Sec. 6.1 of the City Charter and if this requirement will not be enforced, I do not wish to remain a resident of the City of Palestine.

Therefore, I, by this Request and Petition:

1. Request the City Council of the City of Palestine to commence de-annexation proceedings of the subject properties described above;

2. Request that, after de-annexation, the subject properties cease to be part of the

City;

3. That Richard Farris, Jr. recuse himself from any discussions and voting on any matters regarding this request that may be had with the Planning and Zoning

Commission for the City of Palestine because he is not a resident of the City of Palestine;

4. Acknowledge that the City will continue to provide water service to the subject

properties at a rate established by the City for customers outside the corporate limits of the City and that this rate may change from time to time at the discretion of the City;

5. Acknowledge that the City retains the right to, if the subject properties should

later become suitable or necessary for the orderly planning and development of the City, re-annex the subject properties with or without the consent of the territory or the inhabitants annexed.

Thank you, in advance, for your immediate attention to this matter. Respectfully submitted, Ricky Minton Owner Enclosure Cc: Wendy Ellis, Manager, City of Palestine Jeffrey Lyons, Director, Development Services Bob Herrington, KNET Editor, The Messenger Editor, Palestine Herald-Press Gary Richards, News Director, KYYK/KNET/YourEastTexas.com Hon. Therrell Thomas, Mayor Hon. Adam Harding, Councilmember, District 1 Hon. Vernon Denmon, Councilmember, District 2 Hon. Vickey L. Chivers, Councilmember, District 3 Hon. Joseph Thompson, Councilmember, District 4 Hon. Mark Price, Councilmember, District 5 Hon. Steve Presley, Councilmember, District 6

EXHIBIT "B"

EXHIBIT "C"

Ricky Minton’s Request and Petition for Deannexation of Property June 25, 2012

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Aerial Photograph (226 Wall Drive, Palestine, TX 75803)