The mayor of Lamarque, Texas is under intense public pressure after an arrest that has thrown the city into turmoil. According to FOX 26, Mayor Keith Bell attended the latest city council meeting in person, and the session drew a packed house that at times grew heated during the public comment period.
Much of that anger was aimed directly at the mayor. Several residents told Bell to his face that they want him to step down, with one telling him, you need to resign and you need to resign right now, we are fed up with you. Others called on him to explain himself, saying he owed the city an explanation.
The confrontation followed a criminal arrest days earlier. FOX 26 reports that Bell was arrested on Friday for indecent exposure, after deputies responded to a call at a business in Angleton. According to the complaint, a victim told investigators she walked into the office lobby and saw Bell exposed and performing an indecent act in a chair.
Bell was taken into custody following the arrest. The next day, on Saturday, he was released on a 75,000 dollar bond, leaving him free while the case moves through the courts. It is that arrest that residents repeatedly returned to during the council meeting.
Not everyone at the meeting called for the mayor to go. FOX 26 reported that some community members said they would rather let the legal process play out, and a few said they have known Bell for a very long time and do not believe he could do something like this, splitting opinion in the room.
The city itself has responded publicly. In a post on social media, Lamarque described the situation as shocking and disheartening and said it is evaluating next steps. The city also said that, under the city charter, Mayor Bell will remain in office unless he chooses to resign or is removed through the proper legal process.
Pressure is also building from within the government. FOX 26 reported that one of Bell's own city council members has filed an ethics complaint against him. For now, the mayor remains in his seat, with the calls for his resignation, the criminal case and the ethics complaint all unresolved.