After election, Leander looks to leave fighting behind
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
As the smoke clears from a Leander election season that tore a rift in the City Council and put the mayor before the city’s Ethics Commission and ultimately unseated him one thing is certain: The friction between incumbent Mayor John Cowman and Mayor-elect Chris Fielder that sparked years of drama should be alleviated.
Cowman was unseated Saturday by Fielder. He was a three-term mayor who served during a crucial period in Leander’s growth, but his record was marred by an ongoing investigation by state and local officials.
Fielder said Saturday night that he was ready to move on.
“We’re ready to move the council and the city forward and get all of this behind us,” he said.
The council has much to put in the past.
In the weeks leading up to the election, campaign literature painted a picture of a split council: Cowman and Council Member Kirset Lynch against Fielder and Council Members David Siebold and Michell Cantwell.
Cowman and Lynch — whose unopposed re-election bid drew 920 votes — urged voters to remove Siebold and Cantwell and wanted John F. Perez to fill Fielder’s open seat.
Siebold, Cantwell and Fielder sent out similar literature, calling themselves “Leander Tomorrow” candidates and asking voters to replace Cowman and keep Siebold and Cantwell on the council.
The flier — sent after Siebold and Cantwell called a 5-2 vote by the City Council to send Cowman before the city’s Ethics Commission — described the team as ethical and transparent.
Council Member Andrea Navarette, who remained neutral throughout the election, said she could definitely feel the split on the council as tensions ran high in the final weeks of the campaigns. She said there has been pressure on the council to pick a side.
“It’s pretty much you’re in or out,” Navarette said about the factions. “I definitely felt that and told them I wasn’t going to get in the middle of that. I knew it was going to be ugly, and I didn’t want to be there.”
Navarette said the tension stemmed from an ongoing feud between Cowman and Fielder, who for years have been at each other’s throats — once literally.
“There have always been tensions, and I think that may have had to do with how Fielder just lost his top and attacked Cowman that time,” Navarette said.
Fielder choked Cowman at a 2010 council retreat in Lakeway after Cowman asked him to “temper” his tone, according to a Lakeway Police Department report from the incident.
Navarette said she hoped the election would relieve the tension that grew from that incident.
“I’m praying it puts to bed a lot of the animosity,” she said.
In the end, Fielder’s team won out — Siebold and Cantwell were re-elected. But so was Lynch, and Fielder’s old seat will probably be decided in a runoff, including Cowman-supported John F. Perez.
Even after losing the election, Cowman faces a number of difficulties.
The Ethics Commission still waits to hear one charge against the former mayor. The commission failed to act last week on three charges against Cowman filed by Siebold, effectively dropping the charges unless the commission moves to bring them back up.
The remaining charge is the one brought by the council. It involves similar allegations — that Cowman, a former Capital Metro board member, received mileage reimbursements from Capital Metro for trips to board meetings in a city vehicle; that he used a city cellphone, computer and office for personal and business purposes; and that he violated city charter and open meetings laws by sending an email to the city manager directing him to “educate” two council members on a zoning issue and explaining how he would like the members to vote at an upcoming meeting.
The council’s charges also allege that Cowman, a real estate broker, received commissions during attempted acquisitions of property for the city.
Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley also said earlier this year that an investigation into similar issues by the Texas Rangers turned up enough evidence for him to hand the case off to the Texas attorney general.
Leander’s fierce election season is not unique, said Bill Gravell, a political consultant in the county.
“The most volatile elections I’ve ever worked on have been small city elections,” Gravell said.
“I would work on a statewide governor campaign before I ever worked again on a small city campaign. The outcome may be 139 votes to 126 and, man, enemies have been bred for a lifetime.”
Contact Benjamin Wermund
 at 246-1150