VALLEY MILLS, Texas (KXXV) — Our crew received a video clip of two city council members discussing the Valley Mills police department
- 25News reached out to the city for comment, but we have not heard back as of Monday afternoon
- Valley Mills city leaders recently hired a new police chief
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"They told me, 'why don’t y'all pull a Marlin?'" said Arley Harris, council member of Valley Mills.
“A what?" said council member Luke Paulson.
“A Marlin," said Harris.
One of our neighbors shared a video clip of two Valley Mills council members, Luke Paulson and Arley Harris, having a conversation outside of city hall in August 2024. 25 News asked the city for the full video clip but was told the clip wasn't available.
The video we obtained shows Harris updating Paulson on a conversation he had with another person. Later in the discussion, Harris tells Paulson someone told him, "They should pull a Marlin.”.
“What happened with Marlin? I think I didn’t get that part," said Paulson.
“They didn’t have enough money in their budget, so they fired their whole police department and got away with it?" said Harris.
“No, no, why did they do that?" said Paulson.
“I’m just saying, look how much money that would throw..." said Harris.
“Oh, 100% but no!” said Paulson.
The clip also shows the council members discussing the state of the department.
“A lot of people aren’t happy with our current police department," said Harris.
“I can understand that, but I don’t agree with them," said Paulson.
Our crews talked with former Mayor Josh Thayer, who served from May 2021 to January 2023.
He said a police department is vital for our neighbors.
“We need a police department, especially the one that we once had, because they had a good relationship with the community," said Thayer.
