Jacquelyn Wieland will complete Lee Wallace’s term on Kemah City Council after Wallace resigned in July.
How we got here
Kemah City Council voted 3-2 at its Aug. 5 meeting to appoint Wieland to Kemah City Council 4, where she will complete the remainder of Wallace’s term, which ends May 2027.
Council members Dustin Oliver and Darren Broadus voted to confirm Wieland, while council members Shelia Thorne and Robb Rourke opposed the confirmation. Mayor Robin Collins cast a tie-breaking vote to confirm Wieland.
Wieland currently serves on the Kemah Crossing Residence Advisory, Kemah Economic Development Board and the Kemah Community Development Corp., per city documents.
Offering input
After the vote, City Council went into a closed executive session to discuss the city’s process for selecting candidates to fill the remaining terms of vacant roles.
After the closed session, Thorne, who sponsored the discussion, said while she agreed the city’s process for confirming Wieland aligned with state law, she would prefer a process in which candidates have an opportunity to speak publicly to the community before being appointed.
Collins said the city attorney is currently looking into options for revising the city’s policy; however, she felt that, given the city is in the process of approving its budget for fiscal year 2026-27, it was important to confirm a candidate sooner.
“Going into budget season, I felt like we needed to stick with state statutes,” Collins said.
In case you missed
Wallace, who was elected to City Council in May 2025, said he was resigning due to an ongoing health condition, according to previous reporting by Community Impact.
