The mayor of a small western Texas town has resigned after voting over voters paralyzed by the devastating cold this week.
Colorado City Manager David Hoover told NBC News that Mayor Tim Boyd resigned on Tuesday, but the administrator declined to comment further.
In a widely circulated Facebook post that made many angry, Boyd urged city residents to stop complaining about the cold weather that left millions across Texas without power.
“No one owes you or your family anything; it is also not the local government’s responsibility to support you during difficult times! Sink or swim, it’s your choice!” Boyd wrote in the post on his Facebook page, which was later copied on the Mitchell County Issues Community Forum.
“The city and province, along with power providers or any other service, owe you NOTHING! I’m tired of people looking for a d handout!”
He further wrote that anyone who complains about the cold should be lazy and that they are bad parents.
“If you do not have electricity, you need to make a game plan to keep your family warm and safe. If you have no water, think outside the box to survive and give water to your family,” Boyd continued “If you have sat in the cold at home because you have no strength and are sitting there waiting for someone to come and save you, because your laziness is a direct result of your rise.”
Colorado City is about 80 miles outside of Midland and is home to nearly 3,900 residents.
Jody Beavers, administrator of the Mitchell County Issues page, said Boyd meant well, but should have taken a different approach.
“He’s a good guy, I just think he got frustrated with the situation,” said Beavers, a 43-year-old oil field operator and lifelong resident of Colorado City.
Residents of the city have been asking for several days that the city should consider opening public buildings when the power is inside so they can harness the heat, according to Beavers.
“I think he took it the wrong way, he took it because they wanted him to buy them hotel rooms,” Beavers said. He got his electricity back at three o’clock on Wednesday at three o’clock. “It’s not what they wanted. They just wanted to go warm up somewhere.”
Boyd apparently deleted his Facebook page and he could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.
Matteo Moschella and Donna Mendell contributed.