The Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Jonathan Neerman is calling on acting Dallas Mayor Dwaine Caraway to resign his temporary position as Mayor.
“He can’t sue the city and hold the gavel,” Neerman said.
Caraway is suing to block the release of records about a January police visit to his home in response to calls about a disturbance there.
Tuesday, Caraway won a temporary restraining order to withhold the records pending a hearing on March 22nd.
Last week Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled that documents and audio recordings sought by several media outlets pertaining to the incident are public record and should be released.
Caraway first told reporters that the January 2nd disturbance was the result of a football argument between guests at his house who he called “Arthur and Archie.”
Later at a city council meeting Caraway admitted it was the result of a disagreement with his wife, State Representative Barbara Mallory Caraway.
Dwaine Caraway was also chairman of the Dallas City Council Public Safety Committee at the time of the incident and he reportedly called the Chief of Police directly that day to launch an investigation by a special police unit.
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“Regular taxpayers can’t do that,” Neerman said.
Neerman said Caraway lied about what happened at his house and now seeks to keep citizens from learning the truth by suing to block records the Attorney General says are public.
“We should not have a mayor at the helm who does not see what’s wrong with these actions,” Neerman said.
Caraway was appointed Mayor Pro-Tem by the City Council two years ago and became Acting Mayor when Tom Leppert resigned in February to run for the U.S. Senate.
“Being the Mayor does not take away an individual’s rights under The Constitution,” said Caraway’s private attorney, Mike Payma.
Payma said Caraway does not plan to step down and that suing the city is the only remedy for Caraway since the city is the records custodian.
“Mr. Caraway is exercising the rights that are given to every citizen of The State of Texas and I don’t know why he should be criticized for it,” Payma said.
On Wednesday, a Dallas Morning News columnist also urged Caraway to step down.
Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Pauline Medrano would be next in line to serve temporarily as Mayor until after the winner of the May city election is sworn in.
Caraway is running for re-election to his city council seat, but not for Mayor.
At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, Caraway declined comment about the lawsuit and calls for his resignation.
Some council members have said they are uncomfortable about Caraway’s lawsuit but most have declined to openly criticize the Acting Mayor and none have called for his resignation.
