For several years now, Clara's Kitchen and the restaurant’s neighbors in Southeast Denton have been at odds, with some residents raising concerns about safety and noise disruptions and asking police and city officials to get involved.
While Clara's owners — Manuel Gooden and Tammy Bradley — haven't been charged or arrested, they have received about a half-dozen citations in September, mostly for prohibited land use involving two events in August.
Now, the municipal judge presiding over those citation cases is considering recusal after Denton City Manager Sara Hensley allegedly spoke with him about active criminal cases before the trial.
On Tuesday, Denton Municipal Judge Tyler Atkinson contacted the Denton Record-Chronicle to clarify a conversation Hensley had with him regarding citations that Clara's Kitchen will be facing in his court in November.
Atkinson mentioned that he has previously recused himself from cases due to conflicts with his administrative duties as the presiding judge.
"Because of the appearance cast by the phone call, I will have a conversation with the prosecutor and the defense attorney to see if they would like for an Associate Judge to handle the case moving forward," Atkinson said in an email.
Last week, Richard Gladden, the local defense attorney representing Gooden and Bradley, wondered why Hensley had spoken with Atkinson about an active criminal case before the trial.
“Sara is not an attorney representing the city of Denton, and if she had been, she would have lost her license for approaching the judge without opposing counsel,” Gladden told the Record-Chronicle.
Hensley didn't want to provide comment, according to a message Wednesday from Dustin Sternbeck, the city's chief communications officer.
In his email Tuesday, Atkinson said Hensley didn’t discuss the facts of the case with him but was instead inquiring about the court process and whether the case would result in a trial or a fine, or if the city prosecutor has discretion to dismiss the case.
Atkinson recalled telling Hensley that the prosecutor has discretion to dismiss the case or even recommend a "no fee deferred," which he wrote means that Clara’s owners wouldn’t be fined as long as they didn't receive any citations for six months.
"Sara has never advocated for or against any particular court action,” Atkinson wrote.
Atkinson's email came a day after the Southeast Denton Neighborhood Association hosted a town hall meeting to discuss Clara's Kitchen with residents. Denton police and City Council members Brandon Chase McGee, Brandon Beck and Vicki Byrd, who were also in attendance.
“I’m so proud of you all standing up and making it be known to all of us and the people we’re talking about,” Byrd told about two dozen people at the meeting. “And you all are telling your stories. And I want to also let you all know that your voices are heard. I heard them a long time ago.
“... And the pressure is on for something to change.”
During the meeting, residents reiterated concerns and complaints that they have shared with the Record-Chronicle over the summer and at a council meeting last month, including loud music lasting into early morning hours and parked cars filling the streets during events.
Nate Johnson, the organizer of Tuesday’s town hall meeting, read aloud a statement from an anonymous resident: “My concern is the safety of our neighborhood. We don’t feel safe because of all these parties and the huge amount of people who come from all over the metroplex. We just want to live like all the other neighborhoods live. Why do we have to go through all of this? I don’t understand.”
Gladden said that Atkinson’s assertion about the city attorney is in direct conflict with Hensley’s Sept. 17 email to Clara’s owners, in which she wrote: “I spoke with the judge! Tony is speaking with the attorney who would be carrying the case! Once I have their information about what she will do. I will follow up.”
“Since it appears the judge is the one she contacted and with the exclamation point, she seemed really excited to talk to him about the case,” Gladden said.
He said he would need to speak with his clients to determine if he plans to accept Atkinson's recusal.
