{"id":934867,"date":"2026-07-14T18:45:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/934867\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T18:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T18:45:15","slug":"kirby-mayor-defends-vote-to-remove-council-member-from-meeting-by-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/934867\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirby mayor defends vote to remove council member from meeting by police"},"content":{"rendered":"

KIRBY, Texas<\/strong> \u2013 After KSAT Investigates asked officials about a Kirby council member\u2019s expulsion from a meeting<\/a>, the city\u2019s mayor provided an explanation. <\/p>\n

Late Friday night, Mayor Janeshia Grider posted a video to the city\u2019s Facebook<\/a> page. <\/p>\n

Grider said the vote to remove City Council member Susan Street during Thursday\u2019s meeting happened because the council believed Street\u2019s conduct was disruptive. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe behavior cited included repeated interruptions during another council member\u2019s speaking time, anger and rudeness directed towards staff,\u201d Grider said. \u201cThe conduct was found to directly interfere with the orderly transaction of city business. This action was not taken lightly.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates<\/p>\n

More Stories Like This In Our Email Newsletter<\/p>\n

Grider also said she had heard from several citizens over the years who reported feeling \u201cuncomfortable, at times intimidated and disappointed by the lack of decorum\u201d during council meetings. <\/p>\n

Street was elected to Kirby city council last year. The council members represent approximately 8,000 residents.<\/p>\n

KSAT Investigates reached out to Street on Tuesday for a response to the mayor\u2019s comments. This story will be updated with her response. <\/p>\n

Grider posted the video instead of responding to KSAT Investigates\u2019 emailed request for comment, which was sent Friday morning. <\/p>\n

On Monday, KSAT reached out to Grider for an interview. Grider told KSAT she did not want to speak with KSAT and accused the station of twisting the narrative. <\/p>\n

Grider later called KSAT and asked another email request for an interview. Before KSAT had the chance to send the email, Grider shared the following statement:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAs Mayor of the City of Kirby, I am deeply concerned about what I believe is a growing culture of intimidation in our community. Based on what has been reported to me by residents and city employees, a small group of fewer than 15 individuals has created an environment where people are afraid to speak publicly.<\/p>\n

This goes beyond political disagreement. I have received reports of ongoing bullying and harassment directed at community members, city staff, and public officials. I have also been told of incidents involving people contacting employers and an employee reporting unexpected visitors at their home. That is disturbing and unacceptable.<\/p>\n

One resident told me, \u201cI live alone\u201d and another \u201cI don\u2019t want them to come after my family.\u201d No one should feel afraid to participate in local government or voice their opinion.<\/p>\n

I encourage the media to review the public community pages and social media posts for themselves. Do your own research and examine the pattern of conduct. Kirby deserves respectful dialogue not fear, intimidation, or harassment.”<\/p>\n

Kirby Mayor Janeshia Grider<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is not the first time Grider has refused to respond to KSAT Investigates. <\/p>\n

In 2025, KSAT Investigates caught up with Grider <\/a>before a city council meeting after she refused to answer five requests for an interview about rehiring Brian Rowland to serve as Kirby\u2019s city manager. <\/p>\n

KSAT uncovered that the city had fired Rowland the previous year after employee complaints, but hired him back with a pay raise. <\/p>\n

Kirby council member removed from July 9 meeting by police <\/p>\n

During the July 9 meeting<\/a>, the council discussed an agenda item about the Texas Water Development Board. <\/p>\n

Street asked Rowland why an application did not have an amount listed for how much financial assistance the city was requesting to extend water lines. <\/p>\n

\u201cResolutions come through all the time with empty spaces on them,\u201d Street said. \u201cI\u2019ve just never called it out before. I\u2019m doing it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the resolution did not pass, Rowland said the city would not be able to apply for the grant. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just asking if you can fill these in next time. Would that be possible?\u201d Street responded. \u201cWould it be possible to give us the appropriate information prior to the meeting?\u201d<\/p>\n

Grider asked Street if she was finished. <\/p>\n

\u201cNot if you\u2019re about to come after me,\u201d Street said. \u201cNo.\u201d <\/p>\n

Grider told Street that she was on her second warning. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou just seem to be rushing me because you sounded like you were about to tell me I was being inappropriate or something,\u201d Street replied. \u201cI\u2019m pointing out the actions that are not getting taken to fill in the information for council members who do not have access to [Rowland\u2019s] office on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Street said her questions to Rowland often go unanswered. <\/p>\n

Off camera, a man suggested that the council could bring forward a motion to expel Street from the meeting. <\/p>\n

Grider gave Street a third warning, but she did not indicate what the warning was for. <\/p>\n

In a 4-3 vote, council voted to expel Street from the meeting, but a reason was not given. <\/p>\n

According to footage from the meeting, Grider asked a Kirby police officer to escort Street out of the meeting. Video posted by the city showed a Kirby police officer walking up to the platform next to Street, but the footage stopped before she left. <\/p>\n

In March, city council was set to talk about and possibly take action on removing Street from Kirby\u2019s city council.<\/a><\/p>\n

Records obtained by KSAT Investigates show Rowland made a formal complaint against Street. He accused her of creating a hostile work environment, which she denied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re coming after me because I ask a lot of questions that they don\u2019t want to answer,\u201d Street said at the time. \u201cI ask them in council, I email the city manager and ask questions and I don\u2019t get the answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, questions remain about whether the council has the authority to remove an elected official.<\/p>\n

While the city manager declined to comment, UTSA political science professor Jon Taylor told KSAT Investigates that removing a council member in a city with Kirby\u2019s form of government is not a simple process.<\/p>\n

Under the Kirby City Charter<\/a>, a removal would require a recall election \u2014 which is triggered by a petition signed by registered voters. <\/p>\n

If enough valid signatures are collected, the issue would then go before voters for a final decision.<\/p>\n

Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KIRBY, Texas \u2013 After KSAT Investigates asked officials about a Kirby council member\u2019s expulsion from a meeting, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":934868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,376810,376811,14954,31872,7202,7203,376809,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-934867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-brian-rowland","tag-janeshia-grider","tag-kirby","tag-ksat-investigates","tag-san-antonio","tag-sanantonio","tag-susan-street","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116919817208745452","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}