GREGORY — Leadership in the city of Gregory is in question following a city council meeting Monday night, with the mayor's office declared vacant, the police chief's resignation pending and the city secretary's position under scrutiny.
City council members voted Monday to declare the mayor's office vacant after determining Estella Boyes missed three consecutive regular meetings without an approved leave of absence.
"That the mayor was absent from the regular meetings of September 28th, October 13th and October 26th of 2026... that no leave of absence was obtained... and that the office of the mayor is therefore vacant," the council stated during the meeting.
Boyes said she had reasons for each of those absences and notified the city secretary.
"That was known ahead of time, and then, the work, you know, I'm a nurse, so I can periodically get called in... and then the last time I was sick with that bug that's going around, and I just felt it was prudent not to go in there and cough and sneeze all over everyone," Boyes said.
Boyes said she accepts that her time as mayor is over, but she also claims council members had been working toward removing her because she questioned some of their decisions.
"They had been working on this for a bit, so it was just the logical conclusion. They had an opportunity and they jumped on it... they were not happy with me questioning the council or asking the council why they were doing certain things," Boyes said.
The police chief's position is also uncertain. The city administrator told KRIS 6 News the chief has submitted his resignation, but the city has not yet accepted it. Monday night, council members discussed the chief behind closed doors, but when they returned to open session, no action was taken.
This is not the first time questions surrounding police leadership have spilled into a public meeting.
In August, interim Chief David Martinez, who worked for the police department for around 15 years, pressed council members for direction.
"I hate to do it after putting 14 years, 15 years, 4 months of my life, my career here. For them to keep postponing stuff. The police department can't run on that. Hey, come on, I mean, you, you, we have 3 officers that are fixing to leave," Martinez said at the August meeting.
Martinez began to leave the meeting, even giving council members his badge, but they asked him to stay.
"I'm doing it for the officers and I'm doing it for these people here... these people, they deserve a direction of where you guys are going," Martinez said.
The city secretary's position is also under scrutiny. Possible discipline or removal was on Monday night's agenda, and council members approved a motion concerning the secretary before sending the matter back to council for its next regular meeting.
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