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Granite Shoals mayor resigns, citing issues with city's finances

Now-former mayor Kiel Arnone and councilman Kevin Flack both resigned during Tuesday night's council meeting.

GRANITE SHOALS, Texas — Granite Shoals has a new mayor after now-former mayor Kiel Arnone and councilman Kevin Flack abruptly resigned during Tuesday night's council meeting.

Councilmembers accepted both resignations, paving the way for Mayor Pro Tem Ron Munos to be sworn in. 

"I will do my best to try to unite the city because we are very divided," said Munos during Tuesday's meeting.

KVUE reached out to Munos on Thursday for a statement, but did not hear back. 

Arnone cited his departure on his perception that the council had been thrown into uncertainty in the past two months due of issues with how the proposed budget for 2023-2024 was handled by City Manager Peggy Smith. 

The former mayor stated that the budget was unbalanced, leading the city to bring in outside consultation to help fix the issues.

However, when the consultant did some digging, a flood of financial discrepancies were found, according to Arnone. 

"I don't want my name associated with this city knowing that there's major mismanagement of the city funds," said Arnone.

Although the budget was fixed, the issues with the city manager still remained.

Arnone said he pushed for Smith's firing during the Sept. 26 council meeting, but she was instead given a personal improvement plan, which ultimately led to him stepping away from his position.

"This is a city of 5,000 people and we need to hold our high-paid city manager and city staff accountable," said Arnone. "I believe these councilmembers know something that the rest of the public doesn't know."

KVUE reached out to Smith for her side on the issue. Over the phone, Smith said she had no comment on the matter and only stated that Arnone had resigned.

Arnone was elected in May 2023 and has lived in Granite Shoals for roughly three years.

Arnone will, however, not be calling the city home for much longer as he recently put his house up for sale.

"I think I did all that I could," Arnone said. "I wish nothing but the best for everybody in the city."

KVUE also reached out to former councilman Flack for an interview, but he could not be reached.

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