Todd Purcell to step down from Dripping Springs City Council after 20-plus years of service

Dripping Springs City Council Member Todd Purcell—who served as the city’s mayor from 1999 through May 2020—will be stepping down from his City Council position Feb. 9.

After he retired as mayor last May, Purcell transitioned into a City Council position to help Dripping Springs complete its budget cycle and navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, he said he knew it would be a temporary assignment and that it was unlikely he would serve a full term.

“I told them I would stay on for a little while to help with the budget, and it’s been nine months. I never intended to be on there for that long, so I figured that was long enough,” Purcell told Community Impact Newspaper on Feb. 9. “I’ve done 25 years of public services. Nothing strange is going on with council; nothing’s up. It’s just time.”

According to the agenda for the Feb. 9 City Council meeting, council will vote to accept a letter of resignation for Purcell’s Place 3 seat. The action is listed as the last item on the agenda, and the resignation will be effective immediately after the vote.

The Place 3 term runs through May of this year. Once the position is vacant, City Council may vote to assign someone to the position temporarily, call a special election or wait until it is filled during the May 1 election.

The candidacy filing period for that seat and for two other open council positions in Dripping Springs is open through Feb. 12 at 5 p.m.

Though his time on City Council is coming to an end, Purcell said he will continue to serve on the Dripping Springs Ranch Park board of directors, where he is serving as board chair for a term that runs through September 2022.