Tonight, the Trophy Club Town Council has announced the hire of a new Town Manager, Mr. Steve Norwood. The vote was 5 to 1 with Councilwoman Alicia Fleury voting against. The 7th council seat is currently vacant as the vote was taken before newly elected Councilman Karl Monger was able to be sworn in.
Mr. Norwood was formerly the Director of Planning & Development for the City of Grand Prairie. Mr. Norwood has also served as Chief Administrator of El Paso County where he was forced to resign or be fired for failing to show up for work. He was also the City Manager of Round Rock, TX and the City Manager of Prescott, AZ.
A source inside Town Hall states that Councilman Jensen handpicked Mr. Steve Norwood to be our new Town Manager. Councilman Eric Jensen’s father, Ron Jensen is currently the Mayor of Grand Prairie where Mr. Norwood just resigned.
Fire Chief Wade Carroll has been acting as interim Town Manager since June, following the vacancy left by Tom Class.
Mr. Class filed for “Whistleblower” protection due to alleged harassment from several members of the council after he cooperated with State & Federal authorities to uncover the potential conflict of interest between former councilman Tim Kurtz and owners of Old Town Development (OTD).
Ultimately, Mr. Class settled the suit with the Town, and the Council voted in favor of giving him $400,000.00 and a letter acknowledging his exemplary service to the town.
Councilman Jensen was the sole vote against the settlement with Mr. Class. Insiders report that Jensen felt Mr. Class should have instead been fired. Many believe that such an action would have likely resulted in a long legal battle which could have potentially cost the town millions of dollars.
The FBI has notified the town that it may be the victim of a crime and an investigation is underway.
Trophy Club is known as a “Home Rule” form of government. More specifically, it is a Council/Manager form of government whereas the elected officials (the Council) act as the Legislative Branch, enacting legislation, adopting budgets, sets policies, and appointing the Town Manager, who executes the laws and administers the government of the town. The Town Manager is essentially the head of the Administrative Branch.
Follow this link: https://epn.xyz/2015/11/04/open-records-show-reasons-for-the-termination-of-steve-norwood/ for a record of the events leading up to Mr. Norwoods removal in El Paso as discovered by an Open Records Request.
The start date for Mr. Norwood has yet to be determined and neither the terms of his contract, nor salary, were disclosed.
Post Author
