In the early hours of Thursday, the Uhland City Council moved to suspend Mayor Lacee Duke’s financial authority after the Texas Rangers arrested her on December 4 for misapplying city funds. The resolution came at the council’s first meeting since the arrest, a moment that sent shockwaves through the roughly 1,500-person community located about five miles east of Kyle.
The Texas Rangers charged Duke with a second-degree felony for misapplying fiduciary property between $150,000 and $300,000. The indictment centers on a $250,000 check she signed from the Uhland Economic Development Corporation to Old Town Uhland LLC, a company tied to the city’s Fall Fest. According to the office of Caldwell County District Attorney Fred Weber, the charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Council members could not immediately strip Duke of all her responsibilities because city business still required her signature. Instead, the council appointed a finance committee to oversee check signatures until a new framework could be established. The committee’s role is to monitor all financial transactions while Duke retains her administrative duties.
The resolution restricted Duke’s authority only in financial matters. It did not bar her from presiding over meetings or accessing city facilities. In a statement read aloud, Duke declared herself a victim of a “perceived effort to force her resignation” and insisted that “the truth will still be known.”
During the meeting, the chamber was packed with a divided constituency. Several residents held signs demanding the mayor’s ouster, while others wore red lapel pins supporting her leadership. Council Member Mary LaPoint asked Duke if she would resign; Duke answered, “No,” flatly.
Outside City Hall, a group of residents displayed signs calling for her removal, and a nearby table held a bowl of notecards and red lapel pins that read, “you make a difference.” The pins were attached to professionally printed notecards claiming the arrest was on “baseless charges.” The event drew nearly 50 attendees, the most the council had seen in a meeting.
Former council member Mark Garonzik noted that a petition to remove the mayor had gathered almost 300 signatures, a number he said was “not about politics, it is about accountability.” He compared the petition’s size to the November special election for LaPoint’s seat, which received 221 votes.
The controversy is rooted in the city’s Fall Fest, a project championed by Duke as president of the Economic Development Corporation. Through a Chapter 380 incentive agreement, the EDC received a $1.5 million loan from the city to help create the festival. The EDC also contributed $500,000 and purchased approximately 89 acres of land on Cotton Gin Road for $2 million. Duke’s 2024 letter to the city advocated for the agreement, highlighting the event’s potential to boost revenue and “put the City of Uhland on the map.”
Council Member Guadalupe Garza set the agenda for the evening. She listed items that would strip the mayor’s administrative, financial, and operational authority and prohibit her from presiding over meetings. She also called for a review of city salaries, credit-card use, and the removal of the mayor as an authorized signer on all city bank accounts. Garza stated, “From the beginning, I have raised concerns about financial transparency, spending practices, internal controls, and the accuracy of the information provided to the public and to council.”
Key takeaways
- The city council has suspended Mayor Duke’s financial authority while maintaining her administrative role.
- The Texas Rangers arrested Duke on a felony charge involving a $250,000 misapplied city check.
- Public reaction ranges from support with lapel pins to petitions demanding the mayor’s removal.
The resolution marks a significant shift in Uhland’s governance amid ongoing financial scrutiny and a divided public.
