Texas Ranger: Mertzon's Rose Demanded Secretary Use Her Bra for Ballot Selection

Clayvorn James Rose, Operations Manager for the City of Mertzon, demanded that a female employee of the city use her bra in an official city function. According to a criminal complaint filed by Texas Ranger Phillip Kemp, Rose commented that a female City of Mertzon employee, whose name is redacted from the complaint, use her bra as a container to hold chits for candidates for the upcoming May 7 election draw ballot positions.

The discussion Thursday at an emergency meeting called of the Mertzon City Council indicated that the female employee was the city secretary, Ginny Rhymes.

The complaint states that Rhymes said that Rose made other “sexually related comments” to her and another female employee, LeeAnna Cavness, the animal control officer. If the employee did not use her bra, the employee understood that she would be fired, the complaint indicates.

In a second complaint, Rose is accused of paying for a 350 cubic inch Chevy engine with a City of Mertzon credit card and then having the engine installed in his personal 1996 GMC pickup. Texas Ranger Kemp noted that Phillip Rhymes informed him that Rose instructed Rhymes to retrieve the engine from an auto repair shop in San Angelo and install it in Rose’s truck. The total cost of the engine was $2,354.

Rose was charged with theft at a value between $2,500 and $20,000, and the charges were enhanced.

Rose faces 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if indicted and found guilty of the theft. For the bra remark, called “Official Oppression” under Texas statutes, Rose could spend a year in jail and be fined $4,000.

Rose is currently free after posting $25,000 in bonds for both offenses.