Cushman resigns from council, Jackson named to fill vacancy

Cushamn resigns: Navasota City Councilman Russell Cushman, shown being previously sworn in, submitted a letter of resignation due to a possible conflict of interest related to his employment. His resignation was accepted during Monday night’s council meeting. Mark Jackson will replace Cushman on the council. Courtesy Photo

BY DAVE LEWIS, Examiner publisher

After accepting the resignation of council member Russell Cushman Monday night, the Navasota City Council voted unanimously to fill the vacancy by appointing former council member Mark Jackson to fill the remainder of Cushman’s term.

“I will regretfully move we accept the resignation of Russell Cushman,” said council member Grant Holt, after other council members and City Manager Brad Stafford had expressed how much they appreciated Cushman’s service to the community.

The resignation came because Cushman said he’d become concerned that his employment with River Haven subdivision developers Joe and Michael Havens might represent a conflict if he remained on the council.

“I began to have questions after I began working for them. I saw myself in the middle and asked the city attorney (Cary Bovey) about it,” Cushman said.

While state law does not specifically prohibit Cushman’s service on the council, the city’s charter does because Cushman is receiving more than 10 percent of his income from his work with River Haven. As a developer, River Haven has reasons to seek city council approval on certain projects. Also according to the charter, Cushman was required to remain a council member until he was officially replaced.

“I saw the train coming and had to get off the tracks,” said Cushman in reference to his decision to resign.

Cushman, who is the general designer for the project, said he will devote his time to River Haven’s design concepts, and wants to help with other projects throughout Navasota. He envisions things like a statue to blues legend Mance Lipscomb, a 30-foot tall guitar fountain, a blues walkway and other landmarks that will signify Navasota’s designation as Blues Capital of Texas.

“Im not a career politician. I’m an artist,” he said when asked if he might consider serving on the council in the future. He was in his second term on the council, having been re-elected in May.

After 20 minutes in closed session, the council returned to unanimously appoint Jackson to fill Cushman’s post.

Jackson has served three consecutive two-year terms on the Navasota council and decided not to run for re-election this year. He is an executive with Kolkhorst Petroleum.

Also at Monday’s meeting, Navasota police officers Michael Mize and Tyrone Valentine were commended for their work in breaking a burglary ring that cleared 16 cases here. As a result, more than $10,000 in stolen property was recovered and four offenders were arrested.

Stafford also noted that the July 4 Independence Daze celebration here enjoyed the largest turnout ever. He also announced the appointment of council member Peter Canney to the Arts Council of Brazos Valley.

After having to re-advertise for bids on the city’s major repaving program, the council voted to accept a bid of $580,392 from Knife River Construction, with O’Malley Engineers, Inc. chosen to engineer the job for $50,000. Combined, the cost was $31,392 more than what had been budgeted, meaning the council will need to amend the budget to reflect the increase.

After agreeing that the three candidates volunteering to serve on the planning and zoning commission were highly qualified, the council voted to appoint Ronald Korner to the position. Gus Gruner and Art Benoit had also volunteered, and the council agreed their names need to be kept in consideration for other appointments should they be interested.

Korner has been with Exxon-Mobil for 24 years and holds a BBA in engineering from Texas Tech.

In other matters, the council: