Three Maverick County Water District Board Members Walk Out During Brenda McCalip Grievance
Three Maverick County WCID No. 1 board members walked out as Brenda McCalip read a formal grievance about board conduct, breaking the quorum. She finished reading it to the audience after the meeting ended as a matter of law.
EAGLE PASS, Texas – Three board members of the Maverick County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1 walked out of a board meeting as Brenda McCalip, the district’s longtime manager, read a formal grievance accusing some directors of misconduct, according to a full video of the meeting reviewed by The Maverick Times.
The walkout broke the board’s quorum. Someone at the board table then told the room that the meeting had adjourned as a matter of law at 6:59 p.m. and that the board could not discuss or act on anything, but that McCalip could keep speaking. She read the rest of her statement to the audience.
What happened
The grievance was listed as item 13 on the agenda. In the video, a director first moved to table the item until a later meeting, and the motion was seconded before McCalip was allowed to present in open session.
“What I’m about to present is not rumor, speculation, or opinion,” McCalip said as she began. “It is documented, witnessed, and supported by several audio and video recordings in my possession.”
About three minutes into her statement, as she turned to the second director she named, three board members left the room. “The quorum is broken,” someone at the dais said.
An audience member then accused the directors who left of walking out on purpose. “They’re breaking the quorum deliberately,” the speaker said.
Her allegations
McCalip named three sitting directors and one former director in her grievance. The Maverick Times is not naming the directors at this time because their names could not yet be confirmed against district records. Her accusations have not been proven, and none were voted on or tested at the meeting.
According to her statement, McCalip accused certain directors of making false public statements about a district employee, intimidating staff, seeking operational information from employees while telling them not to inform her, disclosing confidential insurance information, verbally abusing workers and threatening to replace them with contract workers. She also said directors filed agenda items at the courthouse without authorization on Sept. 18 and Sept. 28, 2026, including items aimed at removing the district’s legal counsel, the interim general manager and her own position.
McCalip said her firing was retaliation for what she had witnessed and for following the advice of the district’s attorney. She said that in seven years as general manager she was never written up or disciplined.
She asked the board for an independent investigation, an end to retaliation, the temporary removal of the people involved during the investigation, written corrective action, protection for witnesses, referral of any criminal conduct to the proper authorities and her reinstatement as general manager.
What comes next
After the walkout, McCalip asked whether she could bring the grievance back at another meeting. She was told it would be up to the board president, and that she could place it on future agendas.
One of the directors who stayed said it was “a pretty steep hill to climb just with the two of us” and that the board should be focused on water in the canals and the district’s power plants.
The board had fired McCalip in September, and board president and interim general manager Randal Edwards later rehired her as assistant general manager, according to other local news sources. The grievance was listed on the board’s Oct. 13 regular meeting agenda, according to other local news sources. A clip of the walkout was first shared online the evening of Oct. 20, and the full video was posted Oct. 21. The Maverick Times is working to confirm the exact meeting date from district records.
The directors McCalip named and board president Randal Edwards have not publicly responded to the grievance. The district office is at 1622 Maverick Industrial Park Road and can be reached at (830) 773-5129.
Read our earlier coverage: Hospital District Candidate Business Name On Ballot Draws Complaints In Maverick County
Sources: Full meeting video | Texas Open Meetings Act, Government Code Chapter 551 | Other local news sources
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