City of Streetman Conflict: Tempers Rise and Chaos Ensues at June Council Meeting

Tempers rose, chaos ensued, and one citizen was escorted from the building during the June 16, 2025, Streetman Board of Commissioners Meeting. The hurt feelings, hurled accusations, and arguments seem to all stem from what the City should do with the building where the health clinic is currently housed.

Matthew Marfell, husband of City Clerk Heather Marfell, stated, “I was hired by this City years ago as an independent contractor and put in the budget and everything is legal. This commissioner (pointing at Commissioner Turner) has perpetrated a lie that the City secretary and I have been padding our pockets.”

He went on to say, “the building was built with taxpayer dollars for the benefit of this City. In Sept 2024, it was decided and voted to use the other side of the building as the Municipal Court and possibly a Police Sub Station; a meeting that Subrenna was not in attendance. Then she came in January and bullied her way into forcing a revote.”

Commissioner Turner stood, walked into the audience, sat in the chair beside Marfell, looked at her watch and told him his time was up. That’s when the chaos began with many loud voices, literal finger pointing and accusations being made.

Here’s a link to the first of two raw videos recorded during the meeting.

Following the commotion, citizen Krystal Buss addressed the Council and audience saying, “I moved my family 1,500 miles to Streetman because I grew up in a small town like this. Best decision we have made.”

She went on to say, “Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves. I get better discipline out of my children. This is ridiculous. You (directed at Commissioner Turner) are to represent the City, and you act like a child throwing a temper tantrum. You should be ashamed of yourself. You are a City representative. Have a conversation. Sit down like an adult and discuss it. Don’t yell at each other. Don’t accuse each other. None of it. This is absurd.”

They say that there are at least two sides to every story. Well, there are definitely two very distinct sides to this story, and I’ve worked hard to put all the pieces together.

Conversations were had with Mayor Johnny Robinson; City Commissioners Barbara Polk and Subrenna Turner; City Clerk Heather Marfell and her husband Matthew, who is contracted with the City to do IT and Code Enforcement odd jobs; City Municipal Court Clerk Danielle Grecu; Nurse Practitioner Dana Pillans Ridge and her husband, Freestone County Commissioner, Pct 4, Clyde Ridge; and Former City Commissioner, Belinda Owen.

Originally built as a civic center with grant funds, the building was divided in half with one side housing the office in which Dana Pillans Ridge serves as Nurse Practitioner. The other side has sat vacant all this time.

In August, the building will be up for lease and Nurse Practitioner Pillans inquired with the City if she could possibly buy or lease the property. “I was interested in purchasing or leasing the building in order to expand my practice and possibly offer educational services to the community,” she said.

According to Mr. Marfell, previously, Commissioner Turner had missed more than half of the Council Meetings and suddenly started showing up when this matter came to light, trying to bully her way into overturning the votes so that Nurse Practitioner Pillans could have the building.

According to Mrs. Marfell and Mayor Robinson, they felt that it was a matter of nepotism, and the Commissioner was trying to benefit the family by allowing them to have the building.

Commissioner Turner was previously married to Co. Commissioner Ridge’s younger brother, with whom she had a daughter, making the daughter Ridge’s niece, and through marriage, Nurse Practitioner Pillans’s niece.

However, during that June meeting, a letter from City Attorney George Robinson was presented, stating that according to law, this particular case did not equate to nepotism.

“No, I was not at the meeting where it was originally discussed and approved to house the new Municipal Court in the empty side of the building,” said Commissioner Turner. “At a later meeting, I asked why we were putting it there instead of in the new City Hall and using that building to make revenue for the City.”

She went on to say, “Dana Pillans Ridge, who I had never met before all of this, contacted me asking if we could put the discussion back on the agenda because she’s been trying to lease the other side for the past year and a half to expand her business but keeps getting the run around, so I did.”

“I should not have gotten up during the meeting, but also, the Mayor should have stopped all the bickering. He wanted it to happen,” she continues. “It’s always Heather’s way and the Mayor lets her get away with it. There are checks going to Matt for computer work and I wanted to know who approved it. He was paid to set up the camera system when the new City Hall building was finished, but as far as I know, he was not supposed to be continuing as IT at $541 per visit. Is he padding his pockets? Heather hides stuff and won’t provide documents that I have requested many times.”

Commissioner Turner concluded by saying, “It’s my job to ask questions. I’m very passionate. I think they undermine me and underestimate my intelligence. They get mad when I question things. They are doing anything to get me out. I just want to be an advocate for the citizens and do what’s right for the City.”

City staff feel that the constant questioning on Commissioner Turner’s part is making their job much harder.

Mrs. Marfell’s explained, “She makes life miserable, doesn’t listen, doesn’t like the answers she’s given, and is perpetuating lies. Yes, Matt and I are married. I don’t have the power to hire or fire him, nor am I a manager over him. The Board of Commissioners hired him many years ago to work as a contractor on cameras, phones, computers, help code enforcement, and do other odd jobs. When they hired him for those things, the wording said ‘for a flat fee of $500 a month for any month in which he does work.’ He would do several jobs over a couple of months until it added up to $500 before submitting an invoice for $500 instead of taking that amount each month. Yes, I write his checks, and all other checks being paid by the City, but I refuse to sign his or any Freestone County vendor, contractor, or even payroll; basically, anyone working directly for the City.”

She went on to say, “I’m tired of coming to work and not feeling safe. Anytime one of the hostile people shows up, I text the police. If they get belligerent, I start dialing the PD. Tommy Bonner’s aggressive behavior and threatening demeanor is the reason I called the PD. I’m trying to make them follow the law. That is in my job description, to run the City day to day according to the law.”

Mrs. Marfell explained that “for Board of Commissioners and City Officials, the Freedom of Information Act rules are not the same as for the public. It states that they should research for themselves. Texas Municipal League (TML) advised that it is their responsibility to know their job and learn the history. I spent 5 hours, and the Mayor spent several hours as well researching these requests, going way back. I filled as many of her requests as I could until the Mayor told me to talk to TML, before deciding to have her do her own research. It takes too much time away from my actual job. I just want peace and to be able to do my job.”

Commissioner Polk weighed in on the matter, saying, “It all started when Subrenna received several complaints from citizens who are fed up with Heather being rude or not being in the office. When she’s asked about getting minutes from past meetings and information about paying Matt, she never provides the information that was requested.”

She continued, “They are just looking for anything they can use against Subrenna because she’s asking questions; that’s when everyone started getting defensive. The nepotism claim was a very low blow, uncalled for, and in poor taste. Made hard feelings for some people. I don’t see things getting better without some change in the office.”

Former Commissioner Owen explained, “I think the problem starts with the Mayor. He has let Heather run everything and she has had her way, for way too long. They cannot stand not being able to have everything as they want it. Then we have a new Municipal Court Clerk who is out of control. Shooting citizen Tommy Bonner the finger across the room during the meeting. She represents the City of Streetman, the Judge, Wortham City, but she has no respect.”

She goes on, saying, “I was a Commissioner for a while, and I always felt like something was off. Subrenna asked for records, old agendas, she has asked for topics to be put on the agenda and Heather will not do any of those things. They poke Subrenna, they do not want her in their business. But the question is, why? What do they have to hide?”

Municipal Court Clerk Grecu answered with, “Yes, I did flip Tommy Bonner off, but only after he previously cornered me at the post office and made me feel very unsafe; and then he made the ‘let’s fight’ chest thrust gesture at me during the meeting. I shouldn’t have done it, and I later apologized to him, but that didn’t go very well, as you can imagine.”

She then said, “I made a sworn statement with Wortham Police Department regarding witnessing “Commissioner Clyde Ridge aggressively approach Mayor Johnny Robinson and, while yelling directly in his face, made threatening statements, including, “I’ll go to your house and kick your *ss,” and “If I ever see you outside of Freestone County, I’ll kick your *ss and I’ll kill you.” 

When asked about this accusation, Co. Commissioner Ridge stated, “No Comment,” but then went on to say, “It was very hurtful when they brought my youngest brother’s obituary with my name, my wife’s name, and Subrenna’s and her daughter’s names highlighted, and tried to use it as proof of nepotism.”

Mayor Robinson had this to say about the matter, ““Yes, Clyde did threaten me, and several other people witnessed it. Some of them made statements with Wortham PD, but I have no intention of pressing charges. That only makes things worse.”

He went on to say, “People are accusing me of being a crook. I’m no crook. I just want to help my City and have done so as Mayor for the past 15 years. It’s a thankless job and you can’t ever please everyone. All I want is for everything to calm down and move forward. We can’t change the past. Don’t look behind. Look forward and focus on making our City better.”

As for the building at the heart of this issue, Navarro Regional Hospital CEO John Manolakis explained, “Since opening in 2023, the clinic has consistently grown, averaging about 1,500 patients per year. Dana has far exceeded our expectations. It typically takes 3-5 years to mature a practice and develop relationships between patients and providers. We are well ahead of schedule in developing a robust primary care facility. Now we are looking at how we can expand and layer our services in the community of Streetman and surrounding areas.”

Manolakis says that NRH has every intention of placing a bid to lease the building when the current contract ends in August. “If the other side of the building becomes available for lease, we intend to place a bid for that as well,” he says. “We would like to expand the non-medical aspect of our work by providing educational opportunities, such as Diabetic and Nutritional education via workshops and classes. Or we could possibly have space for specialists like pediatrics, cardiologists, oncologists, etc. to be able to utilize the space on a rotating basis to offer more convenient services to the community.”

Nurse Practitioner Pillans concluded, “Now that I know Navarro Regional Hospital has plans to place a bid to continue the clinic and are fully invested, I will not be putting in a bid myself. I’m so proud that they are so invested on our community!”

Here is a link to the second of 2 raw video footage of the meeting. This one begins following a closed Executive Session.

City Commissioners voted to request bids for a one-year lease to begin in August. Sealed bids should be opened at the next monthly meeting.

The ‘Times’ will continue to follow this matter and report as new details emerge.