“After much consideration, it is in the best interest of the community to step down as a member of the City Council for District 3 to minimize further distractions,” Arredondo said in the letter. “The Mayor, the City Council, and the City Staff must continue to move forward to unite our community, once again.”
In his letter, Arredondo said that “as we continue to grieve over the tragedy that occurred on May 24th, we pray for the families affected and our entire community.”
Arredondo was placed on leave from his job as school district police chief by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District last week.
The newspaper noted that Arredondo “maintains he was not the incident commander” when 21 people were massacred at Robb Elementary School on May 24.
According to a Texas Tribune synopsis of McCraw’s recent testimony before a Lone Star State legislative committee, Arredondo was “the rightful incident commander because he was the most senior first responder who had immediate jurisdiction over the district’s campuses.” The Tribune, again summarizing McCraw, said “Arredondo could have transferred command to another agency, such as state troopers who arrived, but never did so.”
The Uvalde Leader-News further reported that Arredondo — the school police chief — was the area’s “highest paid law enforcement official.” His reported $90,750 annual salary was greater than that of the county sheriff (who reportedly earns $77,915 a year) and the city police chief (who reportedly earns $87,401 annually).
