OUR OPINION: Seadrift’s local government is coming apart at the seams

Just months after being sworn in, another mayor in Seadrift has resigned. Again.

This time, it was Lori Thomas, who submitted her resignation citing harassment, medical reasons and what she called a “hostile environment” at city hall. Before her, it was Jesse Hubbell — also gone after only three months. Before Hubbell, it was Mayor Elmer DeForest, who opted out of reelection. In the past year alone, Seadrift has burned through two mayors, multiple council members, and more police officers than a department its size can afford to lose.

The cascade of resignations, lawsuits, infrastructure failures, and city council dysfunction has left Seadrift in crisis. This isn’t one scandal—it’s a system that no longer works. And the people of Seadrift are the ones paying the price.

This isn’t just dysfunction. This is civic collapse.

Thomas, in her blistering resignation, wrote:

 “I have been called names, spied on, lied to, set up, recorded, attacked verbally in council meetings and city hall by certain council members... I have had to file two harassment charges.”

She served from May to August 2025.

Mayor Jesse Hubbell — before her — resigned on Aug. 5, 2024. Councilman Geoffrey Hunt quit the same day. That same week, an assistant clerk also walked away.

The Seadrift Police Department has not been immune to the city council’s ongoing dysfunction — and now, it’s at the center of a federal lawsuit. Filed in February and amended in June, the suit names the city of Seadrift, former chiefs Leonard Bermea and Marie Carisalez, and former mayor Elmer DeForest. Plaintiffs Louis Warren and Darla Heath, both former SPD employees, allege a pattern of sexual harassment, retaliation, due process violations and wrongful termination. The suit is currently set for pre-trial conference in April 2026.

It began in 2022, when then chief Bermea allegedly began sexually harassing Heath, who was the police secretary. Heath and then lieutenant Louis Warren filed internal complaints. An investigation confirmed the misconduct, and Bermea was fired in June 2023.

But what followed, the lawsuit alleges, was retaliation. Warren was passed over for promotion and part-time officer Carisalez was appointed as chief.

"On July 6, 2023, less than one month after chief Bermea was fired and interim chief Carisalez’s tenure began, Plaintiff Warren was abruptly terminated from his employment with the Seadrift Police Department,” the suit alleges. “At the time of his termination, Mr. Warren was scheduled to take approved leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) for personal health reasons. The termination occurred without warning or any disciplinary history – in fact, Mr. Warren was a respected officer with a clean record. The City offered no legitimate reason for firing Mr. Warren. Instead, Mr. Warren was handed a brief notice referencing the City’s at-will employment policy as the sole basis for his termination, with no further explanation.” 

While the lawsuit states Warren was fired, he submitted a letter of resignation on June 26, 2023, begging the question of whether this was a forced resignation.

Meanwhile, sergeant Mike Henry also resigned, citing a retaliatory culture and lack of leadership. He specifically criticized city leaders for appointing a part-time officer with no supervisory experience to interim chief over more qualified senior staff.

In July 2024, Carisalez was terminated for dereliction of duties.

Additionally, officer James Easley’s position was put in jeopardy in 2024 when the city opened an internal investigation into him. In June 2025, Easley appeared before council to request the removal of disciplinary actions from his personnel file, claiming he was placed on administrative leave and ordered to attend an anger management class as part of a retaliatory campaign. City council declined his request, and days later, councilman Paul Gonzales called for an agenda item to consider Easley’s termination.

By mid-July 2024, Easley was one of the last remaining officers — until the appointment of interim chief Cheyenne Beaver. A Seadrift native with over a decade in law enforcement, Beaver earned praise for her leadership during Hurricane Beryl.

In December 2024, the Seadrift City Council voted to end the Easley investigation without public explanation, drawing sharp criticism from citizens in attendance, who expressed frustration with the council’s silence and continued lack of transparency.

In that same December 2024 meeting, residents also voiced strong support for Interim Police Chief Cheyenne Beaver, urging the council to make her position permanent. Beaver, who has stepped into leadership during the department’s most unstable period, has managed to steady morale and rebuild some public trust — a fragile victory the city can’t afford to lose.

And let’s not forget:

In 2023, Seadrift had actually held a public hearing to consider defunding its own police department.

K9 unit controversy has further eroded public trust. Warren had requested K9 Roscoe be retired or reassigned following leadership and budget issues. In July 2024, Roscoe was medically retired citing hip dysplasia and arthritis. At a July 9 meeting, Gonzales stated “K9 Roscoe has been looked at by several different police departments, but due to his medical issues, will be medically retired. K9 Roscoe has hip dysplasia and arthritis in his elbow as documented by a veterinarian. We want to be forthcoming with anybody that has come in to look at the dog. This has been a source of contention since we do not know how long the dog will work. The vet has stated that the dog may work two or nine years, but with the ongoing hip dysplasia and arthritis, we are not sure for how long. A forever home has been found for him, so that he can enjoy the rest of his life being a couch potato.” Gonzales thanked the Lavaca River Ranch for taking care of K9 Roscoe.

However, Roscoe’s life as a couch potato was short lived.  By September, Roscoe had been transferred to the Rockport Police Department. A Rockport City Council resolution dated  Sept. 24, 2024 read “A resolution of the City of Rockport, Texas, authorizing the Rockport Police Department to take possession of police apprehension and detection K9 (Roscoe) from the Lavaca River Ranch and formerly of the Seadrift Police Department.”

Open records requests to the city of Seadrift revealed the city had no veterinarian records, transfer papers or chain-of-custody records, sparking concerns of unlawful asset handling.

 A REVOLVING DOOR OF RESIGNATIONS

The city has seen an exodus of leadership. Among the most notable was longtime public works director Robert Bryant, who resigned in December 2024 after 27 years of service. His wife cited health concerns, but residents said the past few years had been a “living hell” for him. Many pointed fingers at the city council, blaming its dysfunction for driving out one of Seadrift’s most dedicated public servants.

 Just months later, City Secretary Gabriela Torres resigned after a decade of service — a tenure marked by professionalism, institutional memory, and a reputation for keeping the city running through multiple administrations. In her farewell, council member Alysa Jarvis described Torres as “a tremendous asset,” and said the attitudes and actions of a few had “soured her desire to work for any civil government.”

 Similar stories surround the resignations of Warren, Henry and others. Some walked away in frustration. Others were forced out. Either way, Seadrift is bleeding talent.

At nearly every Seadrift City Council meeting, chaos reigns.

City council meetings have become battlegrounds. In June, Thomas accused every council member but one of harassment. Meanwhile, she retracted an earlier attempt to unseat Gonzales. The city’s 1984 personnel policy, still unrevised, allows council members to supervise departments they also help manage — a glaring conflict of interest. Council members have accused each other of overreach, and formal complaints have been filed over citizen access to secure files. Governance has ground to a halt under the weight of mistrust and dysfunction.

 This isn’t a new thing. In 2023, council member Rainer Brigham, who once oversaw the police department, was stripped of that duty by then mayor DeForest, reassigning him to oversee the fire department. Brigham was also asked to resign in a heated exchange with Gonzales. Brigham was not reelected to office in 2023.

Fast forward to 2025,  a similar incident occurred when council member Tracey Johnson was reassigned from oversight of the police department to public works, a decision that Johnson described as retaliatory. The reassignment came amid internal power struggles and ongoing friction between council factions, further fueling the perception that departmental oversight was being used as a tool for political punishment rather than municipal efficiency. On Aug. 22, 2025 Johnson was reinstated as the council person over public safety.

Since 2023, council meetings have frequently devolved into finger-pointing sessions, formal complaints and public meltdowns, which are often recorded and replayed for a frustrated community.

 Citizens have alleged Texas Open Meetings Act violations. Council members accuse one another of harassment. Residents called for the disincorporation of the city altogether.

At the heart of nearly every major crisis facing Seadrift – from police department breakdowns to public works resignations and mounting legal complaints – sits a city council that seems more preoccupied with infighting and power struggles than actual governance.

 Amidst it all, the city has faced dozens of violations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for its aging and improperly managed water treatment systems. These warnings came on the heels of a January 2025 state of disaster declaration after water pressure collapsed. The city issued a boil water notice that lasted nearly a month, during which outside help was brought in and bottled water was handed out to residents.

Seadrift isn’t just struggling. It is failing.

This is more than small-town politics or clashing personalities. This is systemic failure — one that endangers public safety, discourages qualified civic participation and invites legal intervention.

It is time — past time — for the Texas Attorney General, the State Auditor’s Office, and the Texas Rangers Public Integrity Unit to intervene. An independent audit of compliance with open meetings and employment law, and civil rights investigations may be warranted.

This is not one scandal. This is an ecosystem of failure; it’s a system cracking from within. The people of Seadrift have boiled water, attended meetings, and held the line while their leaders have failed them. Good people are holding up a government that’s no longer holding itself together.

It’s time for residents to demand not just accountability, but transparency, training and total structural reform. And if council members or department heads can’t meet the basic ethical and legal obligations of governance?

They should resign too.

Seadrift deserves leadership that reflects the grit, grace and potential of its people — not the dysfunction we’ve seen play out month after month.

Because the question is no longer why another mayor quit.

It’s who’s next — and what will be left to lead.