CITY OF KATY, Texas (Covering Katy News) — Katy City Council effectively took control of a 30-year privately operated Katy tradition during a July city council workshop without ever having to go on record with a vote, and the cryptic posting of the meeting left residents with no way of knowing it was coming.
The City of Katy's notice for the July 26 workshop failed to disclose a crucial item: council members' plans to take control of Katy Market Days from its founders, Betsy and Harry Proctor. The Proctors, who own a downtown business, had created the festival to boost sales at Old Katy stores and generate additional sales tax revenue for the city. The city does not pay the Proctors to run the festival, but will add a staffer to handle those and other duties in the future.
The posting stated, "The purpose of the workshop is to discuss the 2024-2025 strategic guide," a vague description that gave no indication that the council would consider changes to downtown events and the future of a festival that's been operating for three decades, drawing thousands of people to downtown Katy 10 times a year with the managers of that festival, handling all of their duties for free.
The lack of transparency continued during and after the workshop. No recording or transcription exists of the discussion, and the official minutes contain just one cryptic line: "Council requested an MOU (memorandum of understanding) for all non-city-initiated events that intersect with the Town Square."
Additionally, the minutes do not reveal which council members requested the MOU.
Also Read: Katy Market Days Dispute Heats Up as City Takes Control the Proctors
The true impact of that workshop only became apparent to the Proctors in August following a meeting with City Administrator Byron Hebert and Mayor Dusty Thiele.
"They wanted me to sign an MOU because they had other people that were requesting to close the streets," Proctor said she was told. "They didn't want the streets closed more than once a month, which is understandable."
Proctor's impression from the meeting was that the changes being instituted by the city were benign.
"Basically, that they would grandfather me in because I've been doing the Market Days for 30 years, and the city said it's their signature event, and they love it, and they want to keep it," Betsy said.
However, the actual memorandum revealed the city's unstated intentions: the Proctors would be allowed to run the festival for one more year, then they'd be required to sell it to the city for $15,000.
"I just said no," Betsy said.
Mayor Thiele has declined to speak with Covering Katy about the controversy claiming there have been threats made by people who don't live in Katy. Thiele provided no evidence to support his claims about the threats.
Meantime, the city is moving forward with taking control of the festival.
"It is what it is," City Administrator Bryon Hebert said in a TV interview with ABC 13. "We're ready to run the market."
The festival attracts between 2,000 and 4,000 visitors at each event. Under the Proctors' management, it has remained accessible with free admission and reasonable vendor fees – $80 for regular events and $100 for the Christmas festival. These revenues covered essential expenses like police presence and entertainment, which there are more at the Christmas festival.
The city's takeover is being accomplished without council members having to vote publicly on the controversial move. Instead, the council is simply declining to vote on the street closures the Proctors need to continue operating the festival. The Proctor's request for a vote has not appeared on the City Council agenda, which has forced the couple to announce that their operation of Katy Market Days is over.
This approach means there will be no public record of individual council members' positions on ending the Proctor's stewardship of an event that has helped drive business to Katy's economy for 30 years. The public's only insight into this significant change comes from a single line in a workshop's minutes, a workshop whose agenda gave no indication that such a consequential matter would be discussed.
This comes after City Council member Robertson told the Katy Times that council members were polled individually for feedback rather than meeting as a group, in public to decide the matter, which may have violated open meeting laws.
"Three council members were “in the middle,” Robertson said, while two others wanted to take over the market completely.
The practice of polling members of a governmental board, outside of public view is known as a "rolling quorum" and it is illegal because it bypasses public transparency and quorum requirements for decision-making.
By Saturday morning, December 14, 2,371 people had signed a petition supporting the Proctor's continued operation of Katy Market Days.
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City of Katy
The document that was posted, announcing the city council workshop on July 26, 2024.
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City of Katy
The minutes from the Katy City Council workshop session on July 26, 2024, page 1.
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Government
The minutes from the Katy City Council workshop session on July 26, 2024, page 2.