Residents press council on EDC concerns as members discuss amending MPEDC articles

Several residents urged the Mount Pleasant City Council on Thursday to investigate allegations about the city’s Economic Development Corporation and to act on information they provided to council and the city attorney.

The remarks came during public comment and were followed later in the meeting by a council discussion — in executive session and in open session — about proposed amendments to the Mount Pleasant Industrial Development Corporation’s articles of incorporation, including a name change to Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation and changes to board composition and residency requirements. Council did not record a vote on the proposed amendments in the public record.

An unidentified resident who addressed the council during public comment said volunteers compiled documents about the EDC and delivered them to the council and the city attorney more than six months ago, and said staff had not fully reviewed the materials. “Either you’re ignoring the information and you’re complicit with what we found or you just don’t care,” the resident said during public comment. The speaker called for investigations and potential charges if the documents proved true.

City Attorney (name not specified) told the council she had “seen some of that information” but said she had not reviewed it “in grave detail.” Resident speakers repeatedly asked for a complete review and for the council to say publicly what steps it would take to examine the materials.

Ray Bunch, who identified himself as a Mount Pleasant resident, urged the city to change EDC bylaws so directors must reside in Titus County and to bar directors from profiting from transactions that come before the EDC. “If we’re rewriting their bylaws, I think one thing that should be put in there is they must live in the city or county of Titus County,” Bunch told the council.

After an executive session, City Secretary Miss Lee reported that the only item on which action was being considered was a proposed amendment to the articles of incorporation. Under a draft Resolution 2025-6 presented in open session, the corporation’s name would change from the Mount Pleasant, Texas Industrial Development Corporation to Mount Pleasant Economic Development Corporation. The draft also proposed a revision to Article 8 to allow “up to seven directors” on the board, require each director to be a Titus County resident for at least 12 months before appointment, and limit directors to a maximum of six consecutive years followed by at least two years off the board before reappointment.

Miss Lee told council members that if the proposed changes were approved that evening the articles would be filed with the Texas Secretary of State and the name change would take effect after processing. Council opened the item for consideration but the public transcript does not record a subsequent motion or a roll-call vote on Resolution 2025-6.

Council members and staff did not announce any immediate investigatory steps or specific deadlines for reviewing the documents submitted by residents during public comment. The meeting then moved on to other business.

Community members who said they had turned over records asked the council to confirm receipt and to explain next steps. The city attorney’s statement that she had seen some but not all of the submitted materials and did not “review it in grave detail” remained the council’s clearest public acknowledgement of the submission at the end of the meeting.

The council has scheduled no additional action on the record regarding the EDC documents at the end of the meeting’s public minutes. Any formal action on Resolution 2025-6, or on further review or investigation of the materials residents submitted, would need to be recorded in subsequent meeting minutes or by the city in public filings.