Ringleader Bill Richardson Holds Final Circus Act Prior to STR Vote

SAN ANGELO, TX — The City of San Angelo’s Short Term Rental ordinance hangs in balance for Tuesday’s upcoming second reading at the first city council meeting of the year. The proposed ordinance allows STRs under tightly governed guidelines and restrictions hammered out between city staff and pro- and anti-STR advocates. The ordinance passed by a vote of 4-3 at the last council meeting of 2016. It is on the consent agenda Tuesday for its final vote and approval.

Citizens agitating against allowing Short Term Rentals (STRs), and the compromise ordinance, held their final pep rally last night masqueraded as Councilman Bill Richardson’s town hall. The meeting, unbelievably lasting just over one hour, featured the normal cast of characters whose rise to prominence in San Angelo politics is defined by the STR fight.

STRs have grown in popularity with the invention of websites and mobile apps like AirBnB.com, where homeowners can easily rent out their residence to strangers and earn extra income. The practice has grown so much that now, some property owners purchase homes to exclusively rent on home sharing websites and apps.

“We want neighbors, not a motel next door!” is the rallying cry of citizens who want to completely ban STRs in San Angelo.

Randal Schkade, who spends countless hours posting anti-STR articles on Facebook then tagging half the town in each post, spent the first 20 minutes arguing that the “grandfather” clause in the ordinance allows existing tax-paying STRs a timeframe to conform to the ordinance once passed. Those STRs, he argued, could be on streets less than the required 30-foot-wide requirement.

The new ordinance allows the planning commission to deny an STR license if the property is located on a street less than 30-feet wide. It is a nod to the idea that STRs only attract renters who will hold wild parties with large attendance requiring street parking.

“If there’s a known safety issue regarding streets of less than 30 feet, why would the city take a chance and grandfather the existing STR (on a street less than 30-feet wide) and assume the liability?” Schkade asked.

Repeatedly, the liability issue arose. What if an STR, with multiple cars parked in front on the street, blocked access of a fire truck to a burning house further down the street?

“I don’t want my taxes jacked up to pay for unnecessary lawsuits,” Schkade warned.

City Planning Director Jon James, who shepherded the compromise ordinance through, tried his best to explain that of the now existing eight “tax-paying” STRs eligible for the grace period, none are located on a street less than 30-feet wide, so the point is moot. There will be no grandfathered STRs on narrow streets, he said.

No one provided evidence of a narrow STR-laddened street where police cars, fire trucks or ambulances were denied access. But Kim Leabo, another anti-STR agitator, said she was carefully measuring street widths on Google Earth where known STRs were operating. Schkade said he had procured a surveyor’s measuring tape.

At this point, City Attorney Theresa James rose, and in the nicest way she could, explained the doctrine of sovereign immunity. The city cannot be sued or held liable unless a plea for jurisdiction was awarded the plaintiff. How the city enforces an ordinance historically, or how quickly fire or police units respond, does not rise to a level to break the barrier of the city’s sovereign immunity.

After Schkade rose to the audience mic the third or fourth time, even Councilman Bill Richardson grew tired.

“Please allow others to speak,” Richardson admonished, holding the mic so close to his lips that the sound scratched and boomed out into the council chambers at the McNease Convention Center.

One citizen rose in defense of STRs.

“We live on a lake, and there are boats on that lake. I am sure there are some who want to ban boats, too,” he said. The hilarity of the comment was lost on the mostly anti-STR crowd excited about the prospect of going home to measure the width of streets with known STRs on their computers and tablets using Google Earth.

There are two issues to watch at Tuesday’s city council meeting. The expectation is that Richardson will pull the STR compromise ordinance from the consent agenda for reconsideration and vote. When he does, city watchers explain that Councilwoman Charlotte Farmer may switch her vote from yea to nay, and defeat the ordinance that passed narrowly, 4-3, at the last meeting. Farmer may be sampling the political winds because rumors are she is contemplating a run for mayor. If she flips her vote, the STR ordinance will go down in flames for the second time.

If the STR ordinance is defeated, city staff explained in countless meetings that rentals less than 30-days long are illegal everywhere within the city limits, unless those properties are licensed as bed and breakfast properties. A bed and breakfast features the landlord residing on-site for the duration of the rental. STRs assume no property owner on premise. The existing ordinance, written years prior to the invention of the sharing economy, does not specifically address an AirBnB.com rental.

The second item is Councilman Bill Richardson’s nomination of Randal Schkade to the planning commission. Item 8 of the agenda is a motion appointing Schkade to the planning commission through January 2020.

However, there are some people who oppose the nomination—in particular, Schkade’s political nemesis, Vice Chairwoman Teri Jackson on the City Planning Commission.

Nonetheless, Schkade is actively campaigning for the job. In a letter written to the City of San Angelo, Schkade warned, “Appropriate civil legal action may be warranted against the city unfortunately. Please forward me a copy of a public document written by Teri Jackson no later than noon, Friday, January 13, 2017, due to the upcoming City Council meeting regarding my worthiness to serve as a Planning Commissioner that she copied at least the entire City Council in one email.”

Schkade continued, “I understand that Teri Jackson drafted a letter/email[ed] and copied the entire City Council in violation of the Open Meetings Act. Teri Jackson should be terminated from the Planning Commission January 17, 2017. Please forward her email document, with any and all attachments forthwith, for legal review,” Schkade wrote.

Schkade also post scripted his note with, “My lawyer is Randol Stout for your reference.”