Crandall mayor urges cooperation as Kaufman County tables ESD 7 appointments amid dispute

Mayor David Lindsay of Crandall and former mayor Danny Kirby made public comments asking the court to prioritize cooperation across the city, ESD and county after recent friction over an ESD 7 sales-tax election and annexation-related concerns.

Mayor David Lindsay said the benefits of the proposed development and related sales-tax revenue would not flow only to city residents, and urged commissioners to nominate board members who would work constructively across entities. "We are willing to work with our ESD, and I'm hopeful they're willing to work with us," Lindsay said.

Danny Kirby, who said he was a previous mayor, described problems that began after a new ESD board was elected and warned that some residents and officials were considering legal action; he said the city and ESD need to learn to work together. Kirby told commissioners he had heard attempts to alter annexation-related items "right there at the end" and expressed concern about how candidates for the ESD were being recruited.

Commissioners described meetings with both city and ESD leaders. One commissioner said that, after visiting the ESD board, he found the ESD members to be cohesive and therefore reluctant to remove members midstream; another argued the situation required a cooldown period and that removals now would be unethical. The discussion focused on how to split sales tax revenue and on the appropriate process for filling two open ESD 7 seats.

After extended debate, the court agreed to set a workshop and table the appointments until a follow-up meeting in mid-January to allow city and ESD discussions to proceed and to report back. The motion to table the ESD 7 appointments until the scheduled meeting carried in open court.