'Ugly' fight brewing in Dickinson over whether mayor should be recalled

DICKINSON, Texas (KTRK) -- Months after winning re-election, an effort underway to throw the Dickinson mayor out has turned ugly.

There's no election underway in Dickinson, but campaign-type signs are popping up across the city. The words on the signs aren't to encourage someone to vote for someone. Instead, they want them thrown out.

One of the people behind the recall effort is Scott Shrader.

"If you don't agree with us, that's fine," Shrader, a former city council member, said. "We're going to be left to pick up the pieces when this is over."

Sean Skipworth won re-election this year. However, Shrader said records requests revealed information about the city's bond rating, audit, and money spent on projects that warranted the recall. He's also worried about the amount of city workers quitting.

"A lot of the information we didn't have at that time," Shrader explained.

The recall is an effort Mayor Skipworth said he saw coming.

"I think that I wasn't supposed to win the election, according to some people, is the sense that I got," Skipworth said.

Skipworth said a city audit was behind schedule because the company wasn't doing its job. A new firm was hired, and an audit should be done by April.

As far as if he's stealing city funds, when ABC13 asked him about that, he said, "No. No. I'm not sure how else to answer that than to say no."

Skipworth can live with concerns over facts, but he's struggling with nasty words thrown at himself, his wife, and his child. On a website he created, he shared some, where he said he's being threatened.

"People talking about hanging people," Skipworth explained.

This has all turned into an ugly fight that Skipworth said has made him question if he wants to remain in office.

"Boy, you're lying if you don't ask yourself that question," Skipworth said. "I've had some people tell me that I could quit. It's OK. Nobody is going to think less of you for doing that. I guess my answer is that I feel like this is something I should be doing."

Nearly 700 Dickinson voters have to sign the petition by Jan. 10. People behind it say they're close, and if a recall happens, the dirty fight is far from over.

"There are people on both sides who got nasty," Shrader said. "I'm telling you. It's going to get uglier, I'm afraid. I don't think we've reached the peak of it."

A political battle that could linger until the election, which may not take place for 10 months.

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