Sean Skipworth, Dickinson Mayor

I have been absent from the last few city council meetings, and I wanted to take a moment to discuss this and to discuss my future as your mayor.

Two weeks ago, while running some errands, I became disoriented and lost consciousness. An ambulance took me to the hospital, and it turned out that I had dangerously high blood pressure. Two days later, I experienced another incident while at home. Follow-up appointments showed there are additional reasons for concern, and I am waiting on further testing to hopefully get to the bottom of my issues. I have taken time to rest and to follow the advice of my doctors to reduce my stress level. As a result, and due to doctor’s appointments, I have not been able to attend recent meetings.

Additionally, I will not file for a position on this November’s special election ballot. I cannot in good conscience begin a campaign when uncertainty about my health prevents me from doing all I can to campaign this November. That would be a disservice to everyone that stands ready to donate their time and money to this effort. It would be a disservice to the community to pledge to continue serving as your mayor when I do not know if my health would allow me to do so.

In the two weeks prior to this medical incident, I had been preparing for this November’s special mayoral election. Many of you had stepped up to help as a volunteer and had also been prepared to donate to my campaign. I was hard at work getting campaign literature planned out and to file for a place on the ballot. I was very excited at the response and enthusiasm from the community. I have worked hard as your mayor, and in my campaigns, to honor your support and do everything I can to be successful and advance our shared vision for Dickinson. Together, we have been successful even when people said we didn’t have a chance and I believe we would have been successful again in November.

I cannot help but feel that I have let people down and I would be lying if I said I don’t feel a sense of embarrassment in reversing my decision to run in this special election. However, I must take my health seriously and until those issues are effectively treated, my focus needs to be on staying well. There is a vanity that politicians risk falling victim to: the conceit that only you can fix things. While I am proud of the work that we have done over the last several years, I am not Dickinson’s savior. I am not the only person that can do this job.

I sought to continue serving as mayor because I am deeply concerned for the political climate in our community and our country. We have seen a group of citizens devote a great deal of energy to peddling in the politics of smear and division. We seem to have simply accepted this as the “new normal” in Dickinson and in the country at large. I have been disheartened that many in the community, lamented this climate, but rarely called this behavior out.

My hope had been to galvanize the community through this campaign and call on the community to speak up loudly. It remains my hope that the people will demand civility and decency in our community. Stand up against those that are seeking to divide us. Most importantly, I hope that the community will elect leaders in the future that will not take us back to failed leadership. We have seen what that looks like: coverups, untested r**e kits, and backroom development deals. Elect leaders that will continue the work we’ve done and hold them accountable if they don’t.

It had been my sincere hope to roll out a campaign launch video rather than what I have written here today. I do still feel called to serve and I am proud of what we’ve accomplished. If I can get a handle on my medical issues, I would not rule out stepping up to serve again in some capacity in the future. At least for now, I need to step away and pass the torch to those better able to serve.

I sincerely thank everyone that has stood by me and worked to make our community a better place. I also want to thank everyone that has checked in on me and my family in the last few weeks. I am honored that you placed your trust in me and allowed me to serve as your mayor.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION DEBRIS ⚠️

As City of Dickinson Contractors are coming to the end of their first pass for Beryl-related vegetative debris removal in the city, they are beginning their preparations to begin the transition over to collecting storm-related Construction & Demolition debris.

➡️Storm-related C&D debris consists of items such as fences, fence posts, shingles, lumber, furniture, etc. that were damaged as a result of Hurricane Beryl. We ask all residents and businesses to please begin the process of moving your storm-related C&D debris out to your curbside or right-of-way areas, now through Sunday, August 11.

Beginning Monday, August 12, City of Dickinson contractors will begin their pass through the City, to begin collecting Beryl-related C&D debris piles sat out curbside or in right of way areas along city streets.

REMINDER. NO BLACK CONTRACTOR OR SIMILAR-STYLE BAGS WILL BE COLLECTED BY CONTRACTORS AS PER LANDFILL REGULATIONS.

Debris Removal Operations Update ✅

We'd like to give you an update on our Hurricane Beryl Vegetative Debris Removal Operations. On July 24, our contractor began their first pass by initially focusing on the areas within the city with excessive and unsafe amounts of green debris. All streets within the City of Dickinson will be included in the first pass and all subsequent passes.

So far, this is what contractors have picked up (07/24/2024 thru 08/02/2024)
- Cumulative Load Total:
566 Loads
- Cumulative Vegetative Debris Total:
30,422 cubic yards

-Daily Total: 72 Loads / 4,052 Cubic Yards
-Vegetative/Woody: 72 Loads / 4,052 Cubic Yards
-Cumulative Load Total: 566 Loads
-Cumulative CYs Total: 30,422 CYs

🍃🪵You can monitor our Debris Removal Data in Real-Time Online:
https://tt-emi.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/6aa3f89dd53843b88a500ca4cdb1d15d

We ask for everyone’s patience and understanding, that this process will take time as the latest update estimates there's approximately 60,000 cubic yards or more of storm-related green debris within the city.

UPDATE: 08/04/2023: As of 1:30PM, Bayou & Tributary Aerial Surveys in the City of Dickinson have been Completed.

DickinsonALERT: 08/04/2024 Drone Operations Along City of Dickinson Bayous & Tributaries

This morning 08/04/2024, our office in partnership with the Galveston County CERT Team will be conducting aerial storm debris assessments of identified areas along the bayous and tributaries within the City, documenting Beryl storm-related debris in areas we were unable to assess by boat. During this time, residents and businesses may potentially see personnel in the area and drones flying at various altitudes along stretches of the bayous and tributaries. We ask you please not interrupt the drones or pilots as we are taking aerial video and photos along the waterways. We will be following all federal and local laws and will have personnel on the ground in our areas of operation we are surveying.

Please note, during this or any other operation we respect everyone’s privacy and WILL NOT take any photos or videos of people or through any house or business windows. Our plan is to have a lower altitude drone flying to capture the waterways and a higher altitude drone to serve as a spotter, over watching the lower altitude drone. This operation allows us to obtain the best assessment of areas along our bayous and tributaries in order to locate any downed trees or other debris that could potentially obstruct water flow.

For any questions or complaints related to this operation, please feel free to contact our office at:
[email protected]

or via phone:
281-337-4599

Enjoyed meeting our new superintendent today at the DISD event!

This isn’t the first time we had a chance to speak. The first conversation we had was during Hurricane Beryl. Dr. Brown did not hesitate to offer district facilities for use as cooling centers in the days following the hurricane. We are very fortunate to have a wonderful partnership with our local school district.

Wishing her and our district the greatest success in the future!

Mayor Skipworth stopped by to say hello! We will be here at the Highschool until noon!

At the second annual back to school community fair at Dickinson High School!

Come on out for activities, snow cones, and help with school supplies!

✨The foundation team started the day off at the New Employee welcoming the newest members of Gator Nation on their first day in the district. We can’t wait to see them all again on Monday at the New Employee Luncheon! 🐊💙

We need help cleaning dog kennels today! We have one kennel tech on site to take care of almost 80 dogs 😭
We are here from 8am-5pm today and would greatly appreciate any help. Wear some clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, and come to the shelter! 🐾

Volunteer application: https://www.bayouanimalservices.org/volunteer