A request for establishing a no parking zone in front of the Kingsville Independent School District administrative office on North Third Street got the cold shoulder from the Kingsville City Commission Monday when no one was willing to make a motion to pass the ordinance to prohibit parking there.

The “non-action” came after a plea from community leader Clyde Allen, a member of Epiphany Episcopal Church, who questioned the legality of KISD painting the curb red on the west side of Third between Henrietta and Yoakum even before the no parking request came up for a city vote.

His concerns were followed by some pointed questions from Mayor Sam Fugate to city staff members, and some heated comments by Commissioner Charles Wilson.

Epiphany Church and School is located directly across the street from the KISD administrative building.

Allen asked the city commission to deny the request, noting that Epiphany Church and Epiphany School depended upon available parking on the west side of the street during various church and school functions.

Allen also said he had heard the main reason the school district wanted the parking ban was to force its own employees to use the administration building parking lot with an entrance on Second Street.

“I don’t think there was any intended malice for the request,” Allen said, but nonetheless, he said it was wrong and illegal for the school to arbitrarily paint the curb red. Allen said that he was concerned that by acting after the fact, the city was attempting to legalize something that was done illegally.

The mayor asked the city engineer if Epiphany Church or the school had been notified or consulted and after a lengthy pause by the city engineer, the mayor said, “I’ll take that as a ‘no’.”

City Manager Carlos Yerena said the city was acting on behalf of the school district’s request.

The mayor said no (KISD) students had attended classes on the property in decades and he questioned the validity of concerns about safety.

The mayor also asked the pastor of the church if there had been any safety concerns voiced or if teachers had expressed concerns about safety for students who attend Epiphany School, and the pastor said “no.”

The mayor invited comments and questions from other commissioners, and Commissioner Wilson let loose with comments that made commissioners and members of the audience sit up straight in their seats.

With voice raised, Wilson described the actions of KISD as arrogant and said that just because there was no law that said school officials could not paint a curb red to prevent parking, that did not give them the right to do so.

“I decided to paint the curb in front of my house red — and I put up a sign that says ‘private parking’ for the Wilson family only,” Wilson said.

The mayor turned to Wilson and said, “You really didn’t do that?”

Wilson responded emphatically “No!”

However, Wilson’s point was well taken by the city commissioners and citizens in the audience.

When the mayor asked for a motion to pass the no-parking ban, the silence said it all.

The mayor pounded his gavel again and asked, “Is there a motion?”

Again, there was silence.

KISD Chief Administrative Officer Karen Griffith said today that the situation was a miscommunication of the people involved.

She said the school district’s main concern was child safety. She noted that during a mass kindergarten registration day in August, a mother and child walked a cross the street to the KISD administration building and a motorist slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the child. She also said the Epiphany children walk across the street to a KISD field for physical education.

“The superintendent (Emilio Castro) wanted to take proactive measures,” Griffith said.

She said KISD did contact the Kingsville city engineer to see if KISD workers could paint the curb red and the district was told it could.

She said KISD never said that people could not park on Saturdays and Sundays. Griffith said KISD has sent letters of apology to the mayor and Epiphany School and Church.

Castro said today he takes full responsibility for the action taken by KISD concerning the parking situation. He emphasized KISD wants to be a good neighbor with the Epiphany School and this situation was miscommunication. He said child safety is a main concern.

“We had a four-year-old that was almost hit by a SUV,” Castro said, explaining the reason that he initiated the no parking.

“I apologize for any inconvenience to the parishioners,” he said.

The parking ban ordinance as proposed would have prevented parking from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. only, Monday through Friday.

In other action, Kingsville Chamber of Commerce President Ode Moreno and chamber executive director Alice Byers followed up on a morning presentation to the Kleberg Commissioners Court by reading a resolution urging Kleberg County to allocate money from the sale of certificates of obligation to fund the development of a master plan for the deteriorating park system that serves city and county residents.

The resolution calls for the city and county to explore funding for improving the park system and putting the options on the November 2010 ballot for a decision by the people.