By Chris Webb/editor-in-chief

A judge ruled that Chancellor Leonardo de la Garza can stay in his job while an open meetings lawsuit against him and the TCC District proceeded.

Tarrant County residents Larry Meeker and Brian Rutledge, represented by Harold Hammett, were seeking to prevent de la Garza from continuing in his position as chancellor while the lawsuit filed against him was ongoing.

De la Garza had his contract as chancellor renewed by the board of trustees in June when his previous three-year contract with the college expired. The board voted to give him a new contract with $325,000 annually, a $30,000 raise in salary.

Meeker and Rutledge argued in the lawsuit that the board had not given adequate notice regarding discussion of the chancellor’s contract as outlined by law. State law says that any hiring of chief executives must be made public and give at least 21 days notice.

A trial date for the lawsuit has not been set as of this time.