Answer: He took over the Place 3 Willow Park City Council position.
Question: Who is Buddy Wright?
For the second time in three months, Greg Runnebaum has resigned from the Willow Park City Council. This time, he followed through after rescinding previously in July.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 9, the council officially accepted his resignation, which became effective in late August.
Immediately after, the council appointed Wright by a unanimous 4-0 vote. He was subsequently sworn in by Mayor Teresa Palmer.
Wright, an operations engineering manager at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, is also known for being a finalist in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in 2011.
“I’m appreciative of the trust the council has shown in me and I hope I can make a positive impact,” Wright said.
Wright moved to Parker County in 1985. He graduated from Weatherford High School in 1991, and after getting a degree from Texas A&M, returned to teach in the Weatherford ISD before moving to Lockheed Martin.
He and his family moved to Willow Park in 2012.
“When (late Jeopardy! host) Alex Trebek asked me what I was going to do with my money, I said ‘I’m going to buy my family a new home,’” Wright said. “We chose Willow Park.”
Wright was chosen from among three finalists for the position; the other two were Charlie Hodges and Dr. Jeanette Kervin.
All three nominees had advice for Palmer and the council about working in unity.
“We can do more together than we can separately,” Wright said.
“I see people talking past each other. Communication needs to improve. Everything’s teamwork. Everything,” Hodges said.
“People are always looking at us. We’re leaders,” Kervin added.
Runnebaum, who held Place 3 on the council, becomes the second council member to resign since Palmer was elected in May.
It became apparent Runnebaum and Palmer do not share the same philosophy. Same for Lea Young, who resigned from Place 4 and as mayor pro tem in July.
“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together and grateful for the opportunity to have played a role in Willow Park’s continued growth and success,” Runnebaum said.
Young had served on the council since 2018 and Runnebaum had served since 2014.
Scott Smith, who has long served the city in a variety of positions, was appointed in July to fill the remainder of Young’s term, which is up in May of 2026, as is Runnebaum’s.
Place 5 Member Nathan Crummel has been appointed mayor pro tem. He called Runnebaum “A strong leader. I appreciate his leadership and guidance over the years.”
Unlike the previous meeting when council and Palmer went behind closed doors to select Smith as Young’s replacement after nominating five finalists, this time the nominations and vote were held openly in public. The council voted to appoint Wright.
It’s no secret that Palmer and City Manager Bryan Grimes have been feuding ever since she took office. At Tuesday’s meeting, Palmer made an announcement that brought a surprised reaction from the council and the crowd.
Palmer pointed to a man in the back of the room and said she’d like everyone to meet Thomas Brandt, an attorney from the Texas Municipal League representing her in a lawsuit against Grimes. She accused Grimes of harassing her at an event in Georgetown, an incident the Georgetown police dismissed as not meeting their standards for harassment.
Grimes is also rumored to be looking into legal action against Palmer.
Place 1 Council Member Eric Contreras interrupted Palmer, calling a point of order. “I don’t see on here where we’re at mayor comments,” he said, pointing to the agenda.
Palmer responded “Do you want me to repeat it in a few minutes? I can sure do that.”
When it came time for mayor comments, about four hours later following an executive session in which Grimes’ future with the city was part of the discussion, Palmer did not bring the subject up again.
Council has not made a decision about Grimes’ future with discussions including a separation and severance package or a contract extension.
Council set a public hearing for Sept. 24 to discuss the proposed tax rate of approximately 42 cents per $100. If approved, it would be a decrease from the current rate of just over 43 cents per $100.
A public hearing about the 2025-26 fiscal year budget will be a part of the Sept. 23 council meeting. Per state law, the budget and tax rate cannot be adopted on the same day, Grimes noted.
The tax rate and fiscal year 2025-26 budget go into effect on Oct. 1.
Filling another resigned position, council accepted and approved Andy Messer with Messer Fort to serve as the new city attorney.
Pat Chesser tendered his resignation as city attorney in July after serving Willow Park for eight years.
The decision did not come without debate, however, as Palmer proposed Messer as only an interim replacement for Chesser. To this, Crummel asked why she thought the search should continue when they found someone qualified.
“I don’t question his advice,” Palmer said, adding that she believes “for the citizens of Willow Park” the city should keep looking.
“In my opinion we’ve found someone who works. I’d like to continue that process,” Crummel said. “We have someone here who can do it.”
Following the unanimous council vote, Palmer said, “Okay, y’all have voted him in.”
Council approved the appointment of Andi Saylor as deputy city secretary. She is also the city’s finance director.
City officials noted the appointment is to allow for the responsibilities of the city secretary’s office to continue should the city secretary be absent.
Home Rule Charter Committee Chairman Gene Martin gave Palmer and council an update on the first couple of meetings.
“We have a very diverse group, a lot of opinions were brought to the table,” Martin said.
Martin said the committee has targeted a deadline of Dec. 1 for a final report and recommendation concerning an election in May of next year to make Willow Park a Home Rule City - something Palmer has been pushing.
Martin questioned having an attorney present at each meeting of the committee. He cited it as perhaps an unnecessary expense for one to be at every meeting.
Contreras said, “When we’re putting together a binding legal document, we’d want to have an attorney present.”
Martin said the committee is studying how home rule works in other cities, adding “The piece parts have already passed a legal review. We expect to be totally transparent in this whole operation.”
Smith then said, “I feel comfortable having legal counsel there to make those amendments and those judgements. This is important.”
Crummel agreed, saying, “If we are picking pieces here, I want to make sure those parts work in harmony.”
A basic difference between general law, the current structure that has served Willow Park for years, and home rule is:
General law - Has no charter and may only exercise those powers that are specifically granted by state law.
Home rule - May do anything authorized by its charter (which is voted on by the citizens) that is not specifically prohibited or pre-empted by the state constitution or state/federal law. A charter is essentially the constitution of the city.
In a home rule city the mayor can have more power than in general law, depending on the type of charter drawn up. The mayors of many home rule cities also vote at council meetings, along with having veto power and the ability to force reconsideration.
Under the current system in Willow Park, the mayor can only vote to break a tie - which isn’t often, given the council has five members. The mayor is a CEO and budget officer for the city.
Other things a switch to a home rule city could bring include the ability of citizens to remove officials through recall elections; allowing for the removal of council members for such things as absences and intentional violations of the charter; and term limits.
General law cities have no right of recall. To remove officials they must file a petition in the district court and have a trial.
Amended its open meeting guidelines to being posted three business days whereas it was previously 72 hours, including weekends. This does not include the day of the posting or the day of the meeting. For example, a regular Tuesday council meeting in a non-holiday week must now be posted on Wednesday of the previous week; and
Approved an interlocal agreement with Parker County for jail services.
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