Will the City of San Marcos sign off to demolish a large part of cultural history?

In this case, the release of the emails would disclose communications from an attorney in the City Attorney’s Office to city officials and staff to offer legal advice. Such a release would constitute an unauthorized waiver of the attorney/client privilege.

It would be a violation of the attorney’s obligations under the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Conduct, specifically Rule 1.05, to disclose the legal advice contained in Exhibit B.

The comments contained in the emails were intended to be confidential and protected by the attorney/client privilege.

SECTION 552.101: CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

The HPC Packet on August 05, the agenda item was a request for demolition.

The agenda item on August 05 was postponed due to a lack of notification. Residents voiced their concerns about 218 West MLK Drive during the 30 Minute Citizen Comment Period.

“It matters because it is another thumb nosing at an entire community. It is another your history means far less to me than my pocketbook,” said Linda Coker.

“The truth is whoever the owners are could have found out years ago the significance of that little house. And the truth is the city could have alerted the community years ago what was happening with that house but did not care.

“And the truth is the owners had if they had not been sitting on it vacant all these years, it would be with far less damage and perhaps could be a single-family home. But the truth the real truth is that it is profit and trumping history. It is profit trumping legacy,” said Coker.

“I have a lot of issues with the project being proposed to enact MLK, some of them must be obvious to everyone. But most applications for any type of permit have a shelf life they expire. Three years seems a bit inappropriate. And unfortunately, during this three-year period, no actions were taken to weatherproof or protect the building,” said Lilah Knight.

“A timely resolution to projects such as these is absolutely essential. And this needs to be addressed by the HPC in how they administrate these applications. I think it should also be pointed out that the building contractors hired by the applicant do not appear to have any stated experience in historic preservation projects. Thus, it’s not terribly surprising that they are incapable of undertaking what truly is a very simple preservation project such as this.

“I would also like to know that in the backup packet on this item on page one at page 18 of the PDF under staff evaluation, it says N/A for historic districts and compliance with these Historic District regulations. Not quite sure I understand what that little box even means. But this is a historic district. And I’m pretty sure there are regulations.”

“On pages 19 through 20. Under the construction and repair standards, staff indicates “NA” in one of those boxes. But if this is a proposed demolition, in fact, every single one of those would be impacted, because the building would be gone. And so that should really be inconsistent rather than “NA” and also on page 21.

“The Secretary of Interior standards under item three, that should also be inconsistent. If this property were to be demolished, it would no longer be of a physical record of its time in place. Furthermore, a demolition results in a void, a vacant lot. And that would absolutely create a false sense of historical development within the Dunbar district. And certainly would impact its very close, physical, historical association with the Ulysses Cephas House.” concluded Knight.

“The home at 218 MLK is historically significant due to the relationship of that structure with the Cephas home across the street and should not be demolished. It is an important structure within the immediate area of the Calaboose, the Cephas House, and the African American Church,” said Wayne Kraemer. 

“If we tear down that residence, we tear down a piece of the cultural and racial integrity of that Historic District. Additionally, the way the demolition request has been handled and buried for three years has been underhanded and unethical. I strongly oppose demolition of this building,” said Kraemer.

Additionally, The Hays County Historical Commission has been proactive on this matter when they met on June 24, 2021. Fourteen public comments in support of preserving both the Dunbar Home Economics Building and Naomi Cephas House were provided by: Kama Davis, Jonafa Banbury (representing the Dunbar Heritage Association), Dr. Skyller Walkes (representing the Board of the Calaboose African American Museum), Shetay Ashforrd-Hanserd, Amy Meeks, Glynis Christine,  Joanna Tegtmeyer, Linda Rodriguez, Robin Blackburn, Jennifer Katz, Ralph Merriweather, Dr. Ann Du Pont,  Jillian Bliss, Michele Frazier, Ida Miller, and Tom Wassenich.

In addition to the comments we covered in the article, “Will San Marcos City Council vote to turn Dunbar Home Economic Building into public restrooms?,“ other concerns included one by Ida Miller, “I support the protection of the Cephas family house and the home ec building as structures that have been designated historically significant.”

Also, Jillian Bliss, “Visitors and new Bobcats still have the opportunity, however, to learn from the Cephas House and the Dunbar Home Economics Building, and absorb the special impact these sites not only had on the area’s African American community but San Marcos as a whole.

“I support preservation of the Naomi Cephas House and the African American Home Economics Building in San Marcos so that all may continue to learn from these sites, in hopes their role in the community influences the paths and dreams of other newcomers the way they did mine,” stated Bliss.

Glynis Christine said, “As a resident of San Marcos and the Dunbar Historic District, and after years of driving past the Cephas House at 218 MLK – just a few blocks from my home – I see tangible proof that the leaders in this community respect and celebrate the history and contributions of African Americans to our great city.

“Therefore, I strongly support the continued preservation of the Cephas House and the restoration of the African American Home EconomicsBuilding on Dunbar Street. Thank you all for your commitment and service to the citizens of San Marcos and to the Dunbar Historic District,” said Christine.

As a result, the following Resolution was passed unanimously by the Hays County Historical Commission on June 24th. “Resolution in Support of the Preservation of the Naomi Cephas House at 218 MLK Street in San Marcos.” 

The reasons for the Resolution included:

The African American Heritage Committee of the Hays County Historical Commission also passed this exact resolution on June 22, 2021, with a unanimous vote.

Notably, in our Open Records, city staff state to Derrick (highlights in original).

And yet, according to the packet HPC-18-07 “Demolition of Structure – 218 West MLK Drive”