As City of Mertzon Melts Down, Texas Rangers Move In

At least three members of the Mertzon City Council called an emergency meeting in accordance with the State of Texas Open Meetings Act to attempt to fire Mertzon City Operations Manager Jim Rose.

Texas law permits governmental bodies to call emergency meetings with two hours notice.

Rose, a long-bearded man who was previously on the Mertzon City Council, was hired as the city’s operations manager. Apparently, things were not running as smoothly under the Rose administration as some in Mertzon expected.

He was booked into jail by the Texas Rangers yesterday, charged with theft over $1,500 and under $20,000 by a public servant, a third degree felony, and official oppression, a Class A misdemeanor.

Law enforcement only sent out a statement confirming Rose was under investigation, and had been booked. He is out on bond.

Today at 12:30 p.m., in an emergency meeting of three of the five members of Mertzon’s council and Irion County Sheriff W.A. Estes, about 40 citizens gathered to put together a letter to notify Rose that he was fired.

Estes was there to maintain the peace. “We will accompany you when ya’ll take that notice to Jim, at that time. However, it needs to be someone who has the authority of the city,” Estes told the crowd gathered. Estes stressed that he was there to maintain the peace, not conduct the city’s work.

Sources have told San Angelo LIVE! that the complaints stem from Rose’s alleged treatment of the Mertzon City Secretary and another female employee.  The allegations were confirmed at the 12:30 p.m. meeting today.

A man in the crowd clarified why Mertzon needs to fire Rose. “Because of lies to the council, threats to employees, etc. etc. There’s a lot of stuff going on here that no one should be allowed to walk into a city office and intimidate, threaten, for loss of their job, or even more. And these kinds of things have been occurring.”

“What I have a problem with is with these damned cameras,” a lady in the crowd shouted.

Some at the meeting alleged that Rose had control over a video surveillance system at city hall. “He can watch it on his phone, computer or even his watch!”

The theft charges likely stem from several rumored incidents echoed at the meeting, and off the record to our reporters. No one will go on record in Mertzon.

Among the allegations we heard were Rose took an engine out of a city vehicle and installed it in his truck. Some questioned whether his computer was his or the city’s. And there are allegations that Rose had city employees work for Rose’s personal gain. Specifically, an employee was said to fix a trailer owned by Rose. None of these charges are proven and there is no formal law enforcement complaint available to us.

Calls to Sheriff Estes went unreturned since yesterday. Calls to the Texas Rangers resulted in a statement being released Thursday afternoon by the Texas DPS confirming the investigation and arrest of Rose.

Still, some citizens in Mertzon are hopping mad about it.

Mertzon Mayor Carol Shaw was not at the emergency meeting. Many in the crowd said of her “being on the side of Rose” in this controversy. So far we have not heard her side, or even Rose's. Rose has been a fixture in local politics for decades, and the entire controversy may come down to just a large tussle in small town Mertzon politics. Except this time, the Texas Rangers are involved.

At the end of the meeting, it was determined that no letter could be approved by the quorum because the item on the emergency meeting agenda was only to “discuss” the Rose situation; no action was proposed to be taken.

The Mertzon City Council will hold another meeting and likely address the Rose controversy Monday at 7 p.m. at the Mertzon City Hall.

Mertzon is 35 miles southwest of San Angelo on U.S. 67.