Your trusted source for community news
Residents raised serious concerns about police response times and alleged council member interference in community events during public comments at the Tuesday, Sept. 16 city council meeting, painting a picture of growing frustration with city leadership.
Resident Samantha Neimer told council members that police took 41 minutes to respond to her family's 911 call reporting a man with a gun in a vehicle parked between driveways in their neighborhood on Sept. 13.
"My husband noticed a strange vehicle parked between our driveway and our neighbor's driveway," Neimer said, describing how her husband discovered a man slumped in the back seat with "a handgun with an extended magazine clip" visible in the front seat around 6 a.m.
After calling 911 at 6:02 a.m., the family made follow-up calls at 6:11 a.m. and 6:17 a.m. when no officers arrived. Neimer said a Farmers Branch officer called back at 6:19 a.m. and told them to "calm down and stop calling dispatch," adding that their report "was not a first priority."
"The fact that it took 41 minutes from our first call until any officers arrived on scene is absolutely disappointing and unacceptable," Neimer said. When officers finally arrived at 6:43 a.m., they arrested the man and seized the weapon. Drugs were also reportedly found during a vehicle search.
Neimer connected the incident to what she described as ongoing problems with drug houses in her neighborhood, saying this was the second such incident her family has experienced since May 2023.
"As our city leaders, you all have a responsibility to make and keep our city and the citizens in it safe, no matter which district we live in," she said.
The evening's most heated criticism came from District 1 resident Loretta Almanza, who accused two council members of using their positions to pressure event sponsors to withdraw from a National Night Out event she organized.
"They continue to call every sponsor that was on my flyer and use their position in this city to have them back out of our event," Almanza said, claiming Mayor Terry Lynne and council member Elizabeth Villafranca "completely defunded our D1 event."
Almanza, who has lived in Farmers Branch for 54 years, said she has organized community events including National Night Out, back-to-school gatherings and "tacos with a cop" programs for six years without city funding. She said the interference occurred because a "special guest" listed on her flyer "didn't align with two council people."
"You defunded the most underserved community in this city that you were sworn to represent," Almanza told the council. "Y'all don't represent residents. You represent yourself."
Rick Johnson of Harlee Driver delivered a broader critique of city leadership, calling the current situation "a perfect example of how this town just keeps on going to hell."
"We got council members that are now going after citizens," Johnson said. "We've got individuals who think it's more important for them to be the council person representing a different district instead of the one they got elected in."
Johnson predicted changes would come with upcoming elections, saying residents are "getting tired" of current leadership.
"We have a lot of good workers that do their jobs. Most of them don't live here," Johnson said. "We got management here that they don't live here. They don't care."
On a more constructive note, David Silver proposed several traffic safety improvements, including converting existing traffic lights in school zones to flashing red signals and extending intersection stop lines to improve traffic flow.
"Flashing red traffic signals in school zones could slow down traffic," Silver suggested, noting that violating such signals would be equivalent to running a red light with minimal cost to implement.
Silver also proposed replacing heritage month observances with celebrations honoring various worker categories such as "pilgrims and immigrants, pioneers and non-farm laborers, miners, iron and railroad workers."
The Texas Open Meetings Act prohibits members of governmental bodies from discussing items not listed in the agenda, and as a result, the Farmers Branch City Council members may not respond to comments made during the citizen comments section of meetings.
The public comment session highlighted mounting tensions between residents and city leadership ahead of upcoming municipal elections, with speakers demanding improved public safety response times and greater accountability from elected officials.
The council proceeded to its consent agenda following the public comments.
Local News Matters
Your subscription makes a difference. The Branch Herald relies on reader support to keep local news alive, and strong local news builds strong communities. Please tell those around you about us and ask them to become Premium Subscribers too.
