Controversy in Coffee City

COFFEE CITY — Simmering disagreements in Coffee City have erupted into shouting and charges of corruption in city government. According to KETK, Mayor Tony Moore is under fire, and it’s coming from a group called the Concerned Citizens of Coffee City. The group formed at a meeting in 2010; back then they were worried about a property tax. Now, the causes are many. Lauren Savage edits two websites for the group, one a spoof and the other full of venom and, some would say, racist parodies of the mayor. Savage is also vice president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, whose members contend Texas is still a Republic and our statehood was illegal. He’s angry about what he terms illegal annexations.

Concerned Citizens member Pam Drost is a Coffee City alderman, and her concern is transparency and fiscal responsibility. Drost and Councilmember Darlene Jordan walked out of a recent Council meeting when the parody website was brought up; Drost later came back, then walked out again. Drost says even though Savage operates the Concerned Citizens website, the parody site doesn’t have anything to do with them. “It was not sanctioned by our group. The people that run it…they are Concerned Citizens…I don’t condone everything that is on that site, but I certainly condone his right to have that website,” Drost said. The arguments show no sign of ending anytime soon.