On November 18, 2025, the Henderson City Council approved seven HEDCO performance agreements and a HEDCO budget amendment in a single sitting, all without a no vote. Five of the seven agreements had been signed months earlier. The budget amendment, which added $187,457.06 to a fiscal year that had already ended, covered $99,000 HEDCO had spent on Scout Crossing in June 2025 and more money for recruitment and travel.
This recap comes from the agenda, the 149-page agenda packet, the minutes and the city’s video of the meeting. We have written separately about each agreement; links are below. Quotes not in the minutes come from the video’s machine-generated captions.
| The meeting at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 18, 2025, adjourned 7:13 p.m. The minutes give no start time and no list of members present. |
| Sworn in | Stephen Strong (District 1), Lee Scoggins (District 4) and Gina Juarez (District 5), all unopposed |
| Mayor pro tem | Gina Juarez, unanimous |
| HEDCO performance agreements | Seven approved; abstentions on two |
| HEDCO 2024-25 Budget Amendment #2 | $187,457.06, approved unanimously |
| Closed session | 6:19 p.m. to 6:42 p.m., attorney consultation, no action |
| December 16, 2025 meeting | Canceled |
Seven agreements, one night
The agreements were printed in the packet as scanned images, with blank cover sheets. Five were already signed, between May 28 and August 30, 2025. The First Methodist and Civic Center agreements in the packet were unsigned, and HEDCO held its public hearings on both on December 16, 2025, after the council had approved them. HEDCO Executive Director Bret Gardella described each deal, usually ending with some version of “HEDCO believes this was a good investment,” as the minutes record it.
| Agreement | What the council was told | What the records show |
|---|---|---|
| Henderson Boys Baseball Association | Two grants with a 24-month deadline to raise funds (minutes) | $10,000 plus a match up to $10,000 raised within 12 months; signed May 30, 2025 |
| Bane Investment Holdings | A beautification deal to keep the Railroad Commission office from moving to Kilgore (minutes) | Up to $150,000 for exterior and landscaping at 506 US Hwy 79 N; the agreement has no Railroad Commission term and no jobs |
| Sadler Powder Coating | HEDCO will invest “about 10%” of the project (minutes) | Up to $70,000 on a $600,000 facility, 11.7 percent; the business is outside city limits |
| Wiseman Ministries (Gifts of Grace) | Projected $40,000 a year in sales tax (minutes) | Up to $150,000 tied to 14 full-time jobs kept three years |
| First Methodist Church preschool | 50% of a $65,000 retaining wall, $32,500 (minutes) | Unsigned in the packet; signed February 10, 2026; later amended to $35,750 |
| Henderson Civic Center, Inc. | Minutes say $250,000 | The agreement and the recording say $50,000 |
| Brasso Development & Construction | Kickoff of a housing project on Evenside (minutes) | $300,000 after site work on 9 acres and 13 lots; voided in 2026 |
On the First Methodist agreement, Council Members Michael Searcy and Lee Scoggins abstained, and it passed with three votes. Council Member Gina Juarez abstained on the Brasso agreement. Every other vote was unanimous.
A budget amendment after the year closed
HEDCO’s 2024 to 2025 fiscal year ended September 30, 2025. Seven weeks later, the council approved Budget Amendment #2 for that year, adding $187,457.06 across nine lines. HEDCO’s own explanations in the packet include:
- Project Scout Crossing: $99,000 against an original budget of zero. HEDCO had already spent the money in June 2025.
- Executive director contract labor: up $25,523.30, including $22,543.02 for the previous director’s last three checks.
- Office manager contract labor: up $16,517.86, to $90,467.86, because city HR “didn’t include full amounts.”
- Advertising and marketing: up $12,613.94, “to account for recruitment costs, which have historically been included here.”
- Dues and memberships: up $14,109.47, to $41,609.47, for “several new associations.”
- Website: up $12,500, to $22,500, because HEDCO “revamped the website.”
- Training and travel: up $2,479.02, for “travel expenses incurred beyond the original budget.”
On September 2, 2025, a resident told the council that HEDCO had answered her records request for travel expenses by saying it had no responsive records. This amendment shows HEDCO spending more than budgeted on travel, and putting recruitment costs on its marketing line, in the same fiscal year.
State law requires the city to approve a development corporation’s programs and expenditures. The council approved the Scout Crossing money about five months after HEDCO spent it.
Update, November 5, 2026: Approving a budget amendment after the year has closed is not unique to HEDCO. Council records show the city has done the same with its own budget in each of the five fiscal years from 2019 to 2020 through 2023 to 2024. The council approved amendment #4 to the 2019 to 2020 budget on October 20, 2020; amendment #2 to the 2020 to 2021 budget, which covered a new fire truck, on October 19, 2021; an amendment to the 2021 to 2022 budget, which covered a land purchase and the new City Hall remodel, on October 18, 2022; amendment #2 to the 2022 to 2023 budget on October 17, 2023; and amendment #2 to the 2023 to 2024 budget, totaling $1,424,154.13, on February 18, 2025, about four and a half months after that year ended. The city’s fiscal year ends September 30. Sources: October 20, 2020 minutes; October 19, 2021 minutes; October 18, 2022 minutes; October 17, 2023 minutes; February 18, 2025 minutes.
New council, new mayor pro tem
Municipal Judge James Holmes swore in Stephen Strong, Lee Scoggins and Gina Juarez, who were unopposed. Mayor Pace presented outgoing Council Member Melissa Morton with a plaque for 14 years of service. The council named Juarez mayor pro tem.
No HEDCO board appointment was on the agenda. On October 28, 2025, the city’s video showed the council appointing four HEDCO directors, while the minutes said the item was tabled. The council later approved those minutes on January 20, 2026, with one correction, to Searcy’s attendance, and none to the HEDCO item.
Other business
- The council appointed the seven members of the Historic Landmark Preservation Committee, a new member of the Main Street board, and reappointed two members each to the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Board of Adjustment.
- The council split the city’s 346 votes for the Rusk County Appraisal District board among three nominees, 116 for Drew Butler, 115 for Dennis Eby and 115 for Nesha Partin.
- The council adopted a resolution denying SWEPCO’s rate increase request, sending the decision back to the Public Utility Commission.
- Searcy asked HEDCO to condense its monthly report to one page, and Gardella agreed.
- Mayor Pace read a National Diabetes Awareness Month proclamation with Rusk County 4-H Healthy Texas Youth Ambassadors.
- At the city secretary’s request, the council canceled its December 16, 2025 meeting, saying nothing was pending.
Questions
What we are asking the city
- Why did the council approve five HEDCO agreements months after they were signed?
- Why do the minutes say the Civic Center agreement is $250,000 when the agreement says $50,000?
- Who approved the $99,000 Scout Crossing payment in June 2025, before any budget for it existed?
- What recruitment and travel costs went on HEDCO’s marketing line in 2024 to 2025, and why were those records not produced in response to a records request?
- Why do the November 18, 2025 minutes omit the start time and the members present?
Sources: November 18, 2025 agenda; November 18, 2025 agenda packet (agreements and Budget Amendment #2); November 18, 2025 minutes; City video of the November 18, 2025 meeting; Our index of HEDCO performance agreements; Boys Baseball Association agreement; Bane Investment Holdings agreement; Sadler Powder Coating agreement; Wiseman Ministries agreement; First Methodist agreement; Civic Center agreement; Brasso Development agreement; Our September 2, 2025 council recap; Our October 28, 2025 council recap; Local Government Code Section 501.073.