HOUSTON — Alaska State Troopers responded to a Houston City Council meeting Monday after proceedings came to a chaotic halt due to repeated outbursts from members of the public and a disagreement between council members over meeting rules and a possible conflict of interest in selecting a new mayor.
Trooper Toma Caldarea entered Houston City Hall at about 8:10 p.m., nearly an hour after Houston City Clerk Tani Schoneman placed a call requesting assistance. Crosstalk between attendees and the dais and disagreements among council members ceased when he arrived, and the meeting was able to continue.
Caldarea stood in the back of the room until the council adjourned at 9:40 p.m. No citizens were arrested or expelled.
The council ultimately voted 4-3 to select Council member Jason Kahn to serve as the city’s mayor, with then-Mayor Carter Cole and Council members Jeffery Brasel and Kent Mitchell voting no. New Council member Dan Lewis, who nominated Kahn for the mayor’s role, was selected to serve as deputy mayor in a 5-2 vote, with Cole and Mitchell voting no.
Houston is a second-class city. The mayor serves a one-year term, is appointed by a vote of the council rather than by residents, and receives a salary of $1,500 a month. Council members are paid $50 per regular meeting.
A vote to reappoint Cole failed, 3-4, with Council members Callie Courtney, Lisa Johansen, Kahn and Lewis voting no.
Lewis said he nominated Kahn for mayor because he is a calm presence who can build trust.
“What strikes me about Jason is that he is one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met,” Lewis said in an interview after the meeting. “I love when I can immediately trust someone.”
Amy Bushatz
/
Mat-Su Sentinel
Houston Mayor Carter Cole speaks with Council Members Jason Kahn and Callie Courtney during a recess at a Houston City Council meeting on Oct. 20, 2025.
At issue Monday was whether Kahn and Courtney — Kahn’s spouse — could vote for each other during the council’s mayoral selection or must declare a conflict of interest.
Cole said they have a conflict because the mayor’s salary represents substantial household income, and voting for each other to receive it violates the city’s employee handbook.
Johansen, Courtney, Kahn and Lewis disagreed, noting that council members are not governed by the handbook because they are not employees.
Cole also said Kahn and Courtney could not vote on whether they had such a conflict and referenced guidance he said City Attorney Joseph Levesque sent him that afternoon.
But rather than settle the issue with a vote, the council spiraled into arguments across the dais and with the audience over whether Kahn and Courtney were allowed to weigh in on the alleged conflict.
Members of the public repeatedly and loudly voiced their opinions and accused Cole of wrongdoing. City code requires members to vote on matters before the council but does not address whether those with an alleged conflict must recuse themselves, they said.
“Can you all stop?” Schoneman chided the crowd about 45 minutes into the proceedings, one of several times she loudly requested order. “Stop talking, and we will do our job.”
Limited crosstalk between the audience and council is common at Houston City meetings. About two dozen residents attended Monday’s meeting, with about 10 making repeated loud and disruptive comments from the audience, including former Council members Sandy McDonald and Jim Johansen.
Amy Bushatz/
/
Mat-Su Sentinel
Houston Mayor Carter Cole speaks with Clerk Tawni Schoneman during a City Council meeting on Oct. 20, 2025.
The council ultimately voted 4-3 to disregard the attorney’s guidance regarding whether Kahn and Courtney could vote on the alleged conflict, with Brasel, Mitchell and Cole voting no. Kahn and Courtney’s alleged conflict was also voted down 4-3, with Brasel, Mitchell and Cole voting no.
Cole said he requested the attorney’s guidance on conflicts of interest because members of the public told him they were concerned that Kahn and Courtney’s relationship created a problem. He did not ask Levesque to attend the meeting, he said.
“I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, to tell you the truth,” Cole said in an interview during one of the meeting’s several breaks.
Before Schoneman called the troopers, Cole asked that all members of the public leave the meeting “so that the council can speak among themselves freely, without the influence and pressure of the citizens.”
Several individuals stepped outside at his request, but more than a dozen remained seated, noting that removing the public without a legally allowed executive session on the agenda violates the state’s open meetings law.
Former Mayor Virgie Thompson and former Deputy Mayor Lance Wilson, who attended Monday and spoke with Kahn and Courtney during meeting breaks, said they do not recall any prior incident in which city officials called a state trooper to maintain order at a Houston city meeting.
Cole said in an interview that he previously requested trooper support during a chaotic meeting several years ago, but they did not arrive until after the meeting was over.
Amy Bushatz
/
Mat-Su Sentinel
Houston City Clerk Tawni Schoneman swears in new Houston Mayor Jason Kahn at a city council meeting Oct. 20, 2025.
Houston does not currently have its own police force.
Cole first took the seat in 2022 following the sudden resignations of Thompson and Wilson. Kahn, a first-time council member, was elected Oct. 7 in a race against Council member David Childs.
— Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com