Bee Cave Council Member Tom Matzen surprised attendees at a March 28 candidate forum by announcing he is bowing out of the three-way race for two open council seats.

"I've thought about this since January [but only decided last night]. When I ran four years ago I told a lot of people here I only wanted to do this for two terms," Matzen told the forum at the Sonesta Austin Bee Cave Hotel.

"The lawsuits (brought recently against the city by two separate developers) have made me rethink that. My background is litigation. "My background is being a lawyer and so I thought maybe I could add some benefit to the city," he said. "To be honest, it's not fun anymore."

Matzen was first elected to council in 2014.

He indicated he would file official notice to remove himself from the ballot before Friday. However, the deadline to do that passed in February, according to city staff. That means Matzen, in name only, will remain on the ballot. Still, incumbent and Mayor Pro Tem Bill Goodwin and newcomer Jon Cobb are also on the ballot to fill the two available seats in the May 5 election.

Goodwin said Thursday evening after the forum that he was surprised at Matzen's decision. Cobb declined to comment.

Just a day before at the March 27 City Council meeting, longtime mayor Caroline Murphy formally announced her resignation effective Friday as she moves out of city limits after 18 years at the helm of the Bee Cave City Council dais. Her replacement will be Council Member Monty Parker who ran unopposed for mayor up to the February candidate filing deadline.

Parker told Community Impact Newspaper he, too was taken by surprise by Matzen's sudden withdrawal from the upcoming election but said Matzen deserves the city's thanks.

At one point, in response to a question submitted to the forum's moderator, Matzen said he felt the city was split due to the current lawsuits, in particular the one brought by the developer of The Backyard.

"It's easy to recognize the City Council has been divided. It has been burdensome since then, particularly to the three of us initially named personally in the suit," Parker said. "While the job [of Council Member] isn't supposed to be fun, one's public service should at the least, be rewarding. Tom's statement that it's not rewarding anymore is sufficient evidence of what's going on.

"Many times we didn't agree, but he fought for what he believed in and gave four years towards serving our city, and for that he deserves our thanks and gratitude."

"I'm going to be gone in June," Matzen told forum attendees. "My time's not going to be there, my heart's not in it, therefore I don't think you should vote for me."

Since he had not officially filed his resignation, and therefore was still considered an active candidate, Matzen stayed to answer questions posed at the forum that was moderated by Community Impact Newspaper.

"I might show up at citizen comment [portions of a future City Council meeting] and have some fun from the other side [of the dais] sometimes," he quipped before receiving a round of applause from those at the forum.