Collin County Drama Roundup

Fights, felonies(?) and fun.

Collin County has been a source of much drama lately, unsurprising to anyone who has followed Texas politics long enough.

Plano City Council Asks Planning and Zoning Commissioner to Resign (small update)

On Friday, we published the following recorded audio of a conversation between Planning and Zoning Commissioner Bill Lisle and Plano City Council Member Rick Horne.

In the above audio, Horne states that Plano City Council, including the Mayor, wants Lisle to resign due to his inquiry into a specific P&Z job. He even seems to state that there were discussions about forcibly removing Lisle.

We reached out to councilman Rick Horne last week for comment, but we never heard back.

Bill Lisle told us that the request for him to resign seems to come from his issue with Home Depot’s recent addition of a rental equipment center build-out. The build, he says, is too close to residential property.

Recently, we’ve heard that the City of Plano is attempting to claim that the city “owns” the audio Lisle recorded. People with legal expertise we spoke to insisted the city’s claim was ridiculous.

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April Collin County Executive Committee Meeting Gets Physical

Yesterday’s Collin County Executive Committee meeting was not light on drama as usual.

Among new precinct chairs being sworn in, a letter passed around by John Donovan included a letter from the Secretary of State’s office citing a complaint regarding Shelby Williams.

In the letter, it alleges that Williams, who is a candidate for Collin County GOP Chair, “engaged in actions aimed at coercing and bribing his runoff opponent Ellen Loveless to withdraw” from her race.

The letter goes on to state that this offense would qualify as a Class A misdemeanor, and potentially a felony in the third degree. It goes on to ask that a criminal investigation be opened by the Texas AG.

Later in the meeting, a physical altercation broke out between Stephen Kallas and John Donovan. At one point, Kallas was speaking at a microphone to the body and Donovan attempted to snatch the microphone from Kallas. Kallas pulled the microphone back from Donovan, and he then jolted back.

The following video is immediately following the above incident:

The incident happened after Colleen Epstein attempted to pass a motion while possibly being out of order.

The Collin County GOP also covered their Candidate Committee Report which referenced that multiple candidates “aren’t informed of office or don’t know how to run a campaign.”

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Never a dull moment.