(RepublicanJournal.org) – The mayor of Uvalde, Texas, has announced his resignation. Cody Smith only took office last November, 18 months after a crazed teenager massacred 21 people at a city elementary school. Smith had nothing to do with the bungled police response to the atrocity, but he may have been caught up in the tense city politics that followed.
In November, Uvalde held its first mayoral election since 18-year-old Salvador Ramos murdered 19 students and two teachers at the city’s Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. The winner was Smith, who had previously served as mayor from 2008-2012. This time he took office in a city traumatized by the killings and the controversial police operation that saw officers waiting outside the school for over an hour while Ramos ran amok inside.
So far, there have been two reports on the police response; the first, released by the Justice Department in January, highlighted numerous failures, but the second, by an investigator hired by the city council, cleared cops of any wrongdoing while it outraged parents.
In mid-March, the city’s police chief, Daniel Rodriguez, announced his resignation and he will step down on April 6; three days later, on April 9, the city council has a scheduled meeting that may be linked to the controversy over the second report. That meeting was originally supposed to happen in late March but was postponed. Officials said the delay was because of the mayor’s health.
Parents of the victims had hoped Smith would improve communication between them and the council, but they’re going to be disappointed. On April 1, he suddenly announced he was resigning, effective immediately. Smith said he’d recently suffered from “unexpected medical issues” and was stepping down to “focus on [his] health.” He named city councilman Everardo Zamora as mayor pro tempore; Zamora will serve until a new mayor is elected on November 5.
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