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Taft City Manager resigns, motion to fire Police Chief fails

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TAFT, Tx — Taft City Manager Kandi Hubert has resigned.

Hubert had been hired by the council in a temporary capacity.

In 2014, she was fired by the Taft City Council for failing to provide financial records and years later was fired as the Aransas Pass City Manager for a similar situation.

In May, 6 Investigates began looking into excessive overtime paid to city employees, including overtime paid to Taft City Secretary Andrea Gomez.

Documents revealed over two months city staff racked up over 571 overtime hours when they were budgeted for zero

KRIS 6 expanded its investigation and reviewed four months of Gomez's timesheets, which revealed she was paid for 522.42 hours of overtime between September 25, 2023, and February 25, 2024. Some of that overtime was paid while she attended her children's sporting events.

Taft Police Chief John Landreth reported these potential violations to city leaders, including Hubert, who then launched an investigation into him.

That is when Landreth reached out to 6 Investigates for help.

Hubert last month notified the Police Chief he was suspended without pay for 30 days for speaking with KRIS 6 News.

He was notified of this suspension on the same day Gomez was arrested and charged with four second-degree felony counts of tampering with a government record with intent to defraud.

The City Manager was one of several Taft employees set to be discussed during an executive session at a council meeting on Tuesday.

Instead, the council announced she had submitted a letter of resignation.

Landreth was also on the agenda for the closed session, but he requested that the item be held in an open session.

During that meeting, Councilman Chris Keeney told Landreth that he was not allowed to respond to allegations, which would have been a violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Ultimately, Taft's city attorney corrected Keeney and Landreth was allowed to speak.

Keeney made a motion to terminate the Police Chief, which failed.