League City, Texas settles Mark Rohr lawsuit

League City, Texas ended up doing something the city of Joplin never did.

It is paying Mark Rohr to get rid of him.

The League City City Council approved the settlement at its December 27 meeting. No details were provided about how much the city paid Rohr.

Rohr filed the lawsuit against League City and its mayor Pat Hallisey July 19 in U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas alleging his First Amendment rights were violated when he was fired December 12, 2016.

Rohr took the city manager position in League City March 31, 2014, after the Joplin City Council fired him by a 5-4 vote a month earlier.



In the petition, Rohr claims he was fired after he filed ethics complaints against Hallisey, accusing him of interfering with the city manager's job and staff and violating confidentiality rules.

Despite the significance of Mr. Rohr’s allegations against Mayor Hallisey, in October 2016 the City Council declined to take any action.

Immediately after the Council announced its decision, Mayor Hallisey remarked that Mr. Rohr was “not good for the city” and would “not be there much longer.”

Less than a month after the investigation into the Mayor’s ethical conduct, an article was published in The Daily News titled “Mayor Wants Manager, Attorney Fired.”

The article examined the Mayor’s efforts to retaliate against the City Attorney and Manager, including his decision to add their terminations to the City Council’s formal agenda.

In the same article, Mayor Hallisey is quoted stating that he has “lost confidence in Rohr and (City Attorney Nghiem) Doan” pointing out that the two have worked against him.

Unfortunately, Mayor Hallisey’s efforts to oust the City Manager and the City Attorney were rewarded by the City Council. On December 13, 2016 Mr. Rohr was terminated by a 5-3 vote and City Attorney Nghiem Doan barely retained his position by a 4-4 vote.

This indicates that the two individuals who dared to report and investigate Mayor Hallisey were targeted for termination based on a Council recommendation strongly pushed and advocated by Mayor Hallisey. 

Rohr says he was punished for exercising his First Amendment rights and filing the ethics complaints against Hallisey.

Defendant acted intentionally to chill Plaintiff’s speech, discredit him by damaging his reputation and punish him for exercising his rights under the First Amendment.

Rohr was hired by League City, citing his experience in economic development and his ability to launch the rebuilding of Joplin after the EF-5 tornado swept through the city May 22, 2011.

Rohr said when he left office 92 percent of the homes had been rebuilt or were in the process of being rebuilt, and 90 percent of the businesses were back on track. In addition, he said the city still had $190 million in aid to spend.

"League City may not have a natural disaster - hopefully - but it will be in a better position by having me to manage it," Rohr said. "I can be a manager under difficult circumstances and manage well. You can't imagine the disarray and anxiety in circumstances when a third of your city is destroyed. If you can handle that, you can handle any circumstance that comes your way."

Marshalll, Texas hired Rohr as its city manager December 13,  giving him a three-year, $170,000 a year contract. He is scheduled to begin his new job later this month.