Councilman accuses mayor of accepting large donation from man accused of misappropriation; mayor declines to comment

During council comments on Sept. 24, Councilman Eric Contrarus pressed Mayor Teresa Palmer to explain whether a man sitting with her on Aug. 20 had been arrested and whether that person had contributed to her campaign. Contrarus said he had campaign records showing the person contributed more than $11,000 and paid for campaign signs and an event.

Contrarus named the person in the meeting transcript as "Spencer Hodgej" and summarized court documents he said showed a conviction for misappropriation of between $30,000 and $150,000 and that available records indicate no restitution had been paid. He asked the mayor to tell the community whether she had accepted funds that could have come from criminal activity.

Mayor Palmer replied she would not discuss customers or clients publicly: "I don't talk about my customers. Never have and never will." She said she had been endorsed by the Parker County Conservative and called requests to discuss private client matters "gossip." The mayor also said campaign contribution records are public and told Contrarus she would not engage in personal attacks.

The exchange escalated through repeated calls for transparency and an apology from Contrarus and denials and refusals from the mayor. Contrarus also referenced an RFQ related to attorney services from a July 28 council meeting and said he and others had not received answers after 57 days. The mayor and the council did not resolve the questions at the meeting.

The transcript contains the allegations and the mayor's refusals to answer; it does not record any formal motion, staff report, or an investigation opened in response. The claims reported by Contrarus are presented here as allegations described in the meeting; the mayor denied the implication that she would discuss client information publicly.