Roger Estlack

On Thursday, January 19, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), along with the Amarillo Police Department (APD) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), conducted a joint operation to combat human trafficking by identifying and apprehending suspects who were soliciting prostitution.

The DPS reports that as a result of the collaborative effort, the following individuals were arrested, transported to the Randall County Jail, and charged with solicitation of prostitution: Mohamed Sharaf, 31, of Amarillo Travis Brollier, 37, of Clarendon; Steven Shaw, 38, of Borger; Tilar Holloway, 26, of Pittsburg; and Dusty Smith, 37, of Amarillo.

Solicitation of prostitution, a state jail felony, involves an individual offering or agreeing to pay a fee to another person to engage in sexual conduct.

The Clarendon City Council focused attention on streets in the southeast part of town during their regular meeting January 12 as preliminary plans were made for the next paving project.

City Administrator David Dockery said the streets prioritized for improvement are all east of State Highway 70 South and include Third, Fourth, Montgomery, Barcus, Davis, Hartzell, and Wells. The city is asking OJD Engineering perform on cost analysis on those specific blocks to determine what improvements can be made for a maximum of $500,000.

Dockery said the city has that much money on hand through COVID relief funds and through capital improvement funds.

Figuring out how to deal with water drainage in that area will be a challenge, Dockery said, and so engineers will start with a boundary and topographic study of the area in order to address significant erosion issues on the streets in question.

The council’s discussion on future street improvements came after aldermen took no action on proposals for broadband infrastructure improvements. COVID relief money can be spent on broadband improvements, but Dockery said the council wants to see what the state government will do about connectivity issues in the near future.

Last week, the Texas Comptroller’s office released a map showing Donley County as an underserved area for broadband internet service. The map will reportedly help guide the state’s broadband development efforts.

In other city business, the council reviewed applications from candidate for city administrator to replace Dockery, who plans to retire this spring. Interviews of potential candidates are scheduled for January 25 at the Bairfield Activity Center starting at 1 p.m.

The city also contracted with PRPC for future grant applciations

The Hedley City Council accepted the resignation of City Secretary Kim Davis Gossman Thursday night, January 19, and Mayor Carrie Butler said an investigation is underway related to allegations of misappropriation of funds.

The action came at the end of the city’s regular meeting and after the council met in closed session for about ten minutes. Following the acceptance of Gossman’s resignation, the council then approved a motion for the city not to pursue charges against Gossman, and Butler stated that currently no funds are missing from the city.

Following the meeting, Butler said the council’s vote was intended to mean the city would not pursue legal action against Gossman, but she said the sheriff’s office may still pursue criminal charges with its investigation. The funds involved were payroll funds and contract labor funds, Butler said.

Butler said discrepancies were discovered during an audit of the city’s fiscal year 2022, and that Gossman had since returned money to the city. Butler declined to reveal the amount of money in question with the sheriff’s department’s investigation still underway. She also said she is conducting an internal audit herself.

Butler said the funds in question are related to vacation pay.

“The sad part is that if she had brought this to the board, we probably would have approved paying it,” Butler said.

The Enterprise will have more details of the case and a complete report of Thursday night’s meeting in next week’s edition.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the investigation is being conducted by the Donley County Sheriff’s Office rather than the District Attorney’s office.

Howardwick City Hall is pushing back against a 40 percent water rate increase from Red River Water Authority, which will go into effect next month.

City Secretary Sandy Childress said Mayor Tony Clemishire spoke to the Red River board during a hearing in December, but the board approved the rate increase over the community’s objections.

The increase will change the minimum water bill for Howardwick residents from $73.50 per month to $103 per month.

“We’ve got the surveys that show 70 percent of our people out here are below the poverty level,” Childress said. “They can’t pay this.”

Howardwick’s only recourse is to petition the water authority to appeal the rate increase; but since the rate increase affects the entire Red River system, the threshold for petitioning is high.

“We have to get more than 400 signatures of customers, and we only have about 70 in Howardwick,” Childress said, so she is tracking down all the Red River customers she can find and will even take the petition to them if necessary.

In a letter to customers dated December 22, 2022, the Red River General Manager Randy Whiteman said the rate increase is needed.

“The Authority realizes that rate increases are not popular, but to achieve the Utility Division’s basic objective of providing a safe, potable water supply capable of meeting customers’ needs at the most economical cost, the rate increase is necessary,” Whiteman wrote.

Barring a successful appeal, the increase will take effect February 1 and show up on the March billing.

Red River customers interested in signing Howardwick’s petition are asked to call Childress at City Hall at 806-874-2222.