Taxpayer-Funded TML Attorneys Helped City of Kemah Target Local Business | Judicial
According to legal billing statements obtained by The Texan, attorneys representing the City of Kemah through the Texas Municipal League (TML) drafted a series of letters to create the impression that a business at the center of a federal lawsuit was non-compliant with annual fire safety inspections, but records indicate the city had failed to conduct such inspections for years.
In 2021, a former Kemah building code officer revoked certificates of occupancy and closed a four-story building in Kemah’s Lighthouse District that housed part of the Palapa’s tiki bar and two residential units that had been operating as bed and breakfast rentals for 20 years. The official, Brandon Shoaf, did not provide a pre-deprivation notice nor cite any code violations, and months later he also ordered the towing of a food truck stored on the private property.
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