By Sylvia Dunnavant Hines
Texas Metro News Correspondent
Allegations of mistrust, references of racial tension and a concern about prior city bookkeeping thrust former Duncanville City Manager, Aretha R. Ferrell-Benavides, into a line of fire, which led to her termination.
On March 31, the Duncanville City Council voted 4 to 3 in favor of firing Ferrell-Benavides, during an emergency call meeting to review her performance.
“As a former three-term Duncanville City Council member who was on the council when former City Manager Aretha Ferrell Benavides was hired, I am appalled at the manner in which she was terminated,” said Mark D. Cooks. “When the agenda item was posted for her performance review, based upon the wording, I knew that it was not a traditional performance review, but more so a termination.”
According to Ferrell-Benavides, her annual performance review had been postponed three times due to a number of issues including weather and health challenges. It was finally rescheduled for April 4 during the regular City Council Meeting.
While she was out of town, she received an email that stated there would be a special call meeting on Thursday, March 30 to review her performance.
“I think the reason the meeting was called, was because she had already put on the books that she was on vacation. Knowing that she was going to be out of town meant that she would not be at the meeting to defend herself,” said Cooks.
Concerned about the motivation for moving her performance review to a timeframe which was impossible for her to attend, Ferrell-Benavides had her attorney Craig Capua read a prepared statement on her behalf. The statement mentioned the challenges that she had faced and accomplishments that she made during her tenure as city manager.
“I have lost confidence in the performance of Aretha Ferrell-Benavides due to the fact that for two consecutive years the Duncanville annual City audit has been late,” said Patrick Harvey, one of the Duncanville City Council Members who voted to relieve Ferrell-Benavides of her duties as city manager. “I cannot recall a period of time in the history of the City that for two consecutive years the annual audit was not completed on time.”
According to Ferrell-Benavides, Harvey only attended two of the last eight City Council meetings this year and he also initiated the Special Meeting to discuss her performance once she left town.
Mayor Barry Gordon and two other council members voted in favor of Ferrell-Benavides keeping her position. Several members of the community also showed up to support and speak on behalf of Ferrell-Benavides’ performance. However, this was not enough to sway the entire council.
Ferrell-Benavides stated during the time she served as city manager; she received anonymous remarks about hiring too many Blacks. She also received friction when she began to show concern regarding some bookkeeping issues that were discovered during a recent audit, which contained issues prior to her taking office.
“I have been doing this for 30 years. This is the third city that I have served as city manager. I have worked all over the country in city government. My claim to fame is that I have been able to turn around cities,” said Ferrell-Benavides.
Ferrell-Benavides, who is originally from Fort Worth, has served as city manager of Glenn Heights. Prior to returning to Texas to take the position with the City of Duncanville, she also served as city manager of Petersburg, Virginia.
As City Manager for Petersburg, VA., she is credited with helping pull that city back from financial collapse.
Ferrell-Benavides, is only the second African American to be an executive official for the City of Duncanville since the city was incorporated in August of 1947. The first African American to be an executive official was Robert D. Brown Jr., who previously served as Duncanville’s police chief from 2007 to 2021. Brown is currently serving as the interim City Manager of Duncanville.
According to the most recent American Community Survey for 2023, Duncanville with a population of almost 40,000, has a racial composition of 52.97% white, 31.07 % Black or African American and 9.75% other.
“I am still working through this situation in my mind. I know that I am not at the end of my career in local government. I was not prepared to change jobs,” said Ferrell-Benavides. I wish this had never happened; I wish I could work on what we were doing for the city. I would like to think that sometimes you can say things that are not pretty and continue to do your job.”
Ferrell-Benavides, who is currently unemployed, admits that she was attracted to the position in Duncanville to help her be closer to her 95-year-old grandmother. Over the last two years she said that it has been important for her to put people first as she has strived to rebuild a city of champions.
While other council members were contacted. They refused to speak on the issue.
