During the citizen appearances portion of Tuesday night’s DeSoto City Council meeting, five residents addressed city leaders on issues ranging from transparency and public safety to city management and animal control.
Each speaker was allotted three minutes to share remarks, offering a candid snapshot of community concerns and civic engagement.
Dr. Dinah Marks opened the session by urging the council to respond to her earlier proposal for a formal city travel policy, which she said would help ensure transparency and prevent personal benefit from taxpayer-funded trips.
She also announced the fifth annual Fil–A–Tundra Toy Drive, hosted in partnership with Legacy Toyota of Dallas.
The drive, running through Dec. 13, aims to fill ten truck beds with toys for DeSoto ISD families, with a volunteer sorting day planned for Dec. 19.
Marks invited residents to participate and continue supporting local families during the holiday season.
Keisha Nixon expressed fear for her safety, alleging ongoing harassment, retaliation, and intimidation by city officials, members of the council, and the police department.
She said she has been targeted publicly for raising concerns about misconduct and corruption within city operations.
Nixon stated that if harm were to come to her or her family, the city would bear responsibility. Her comments reflect ongoing tensions between some residents and city leadership.
Gary Ravnell commended the council for recent independent decision-making but criticized what he described as a lack of oversight by City Manager Majed Al-Ghafry.
He called for greater accountability in city administration and questioned the manager’s reported $300,000 salary, arguing that such compensation risks setting a poor precedent and may impact employee morale.
Ravnell thanked city leadership for progress on the ARC project but said oversight and communication remain critical.
Mary Bonaparte voiced opposition to the city’s coyote culling program, calling it inhumane and ineffective.
She said the practice disrupts ecosystems and may increase the coyote population.
Bonaparte urged the city to adopt nonlethal management strategies, such as resident education, securing garbage, and using deterrents like noise or scent-based repellents.
Kay Brown Patrick closed the session with sharp criticism of both process and policy.
She accused the council of being misled into approving the short-term engineering consultant list, claiming it was unnecessary for ongoing projects.
Patrick also objected to the recent change relocating citizen appearances to the end of the meeting agenda, saying it violated established policy and was done without a public vote.
In addition, she demanded documentation regarding $112,000 in payments to resident Terrance Maiden connected to the Thorntree Golf Club deal, alleging that four open records requests had gone unanswered.
The citizen appearance segment highlighted a recurring theme throughout recent meetings: public demand for transparency, accountability, and inclusion in city governance.
Full meeting recordings and future agendas can be accessed at DeSotoTexas.gov.
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