GARLAND -- Mayor Douglas Athas finally did what he's been promising to do for weeks: he resigned.

The feisty mayor officially announced at Tuesday night's council meeting that he will be stepping down in May after a 20-year local political career of taking on others at Garland City Hall.

"I knew that if I took my personality out of the equation, it would give opportunity for a reset," Athas said Wednesday, noting that council discourse had improved since he announced in October that he planned to leave. "I would almost not need to resign if they were behaving before like they're behaving now."

The mayor, who said in his resignation letter that it's time for "new leadership and new ambitions," said he has no specific political or professional plans, but he doesn't plan to leave Garland.

Athas, a three-term mayor who was first elected in 2013, will stick around until until he is replaced in May, when Garland plans its city wide charter election and individual council races. He would have otherwise served until May 2019, when term limits would have prevented his seeking reelection.

In the spotlight

Athas was in the national spotlight in 2015, when he ushered the city of 235,000 through two of its greatest crises, a May terrorist attack at the Curtis Culwell Center and the most powerful and deadly December tornado to ever hit North Texas.

"It's important to realize how well Garland was prepared and that goes back to the depth of our organization," he said. "It reflects on our size. Big enough to do great things, yet small enough to do it with flexibility."

Mayor Douglas Athas (center) addressed the media in 2015 after a powerful tornado killed nine in Garland. (File 2015 / Staff )

His tenure as mayor has also seen a significant change in top staff at City Hall, including the city manager and assistants, the city secretary, planning director and parks director.

Garland Mayor Douglas Athas reads from his resignation letter before the start of the City Council meeting on Tuesday. In the background (from left) are Mayor Pro Tem David Gibbons and council members Anita Goebel and Jerry Nickerson. (Rex C Curry / Special Contributor)

But in recent months, previously tense council discourse had turned tumultuous. The clashes came to a boil in October when the council voted 6-3 to demolish a former National Guard armory to build a skate park.

Athas -- who was on the losing end of that controversial decision -- announced his resignation moments after the vote. He said then that the the processes that involved residents and appointed boards in city decisions had not been followed.

Collateral damage included a recall effort against another council member, Anita Goebel, who is also leaving in May. Goebel voted to get rid of the armory, a decision that angered many of her constituents.

Mayor Pro Tem David Gibbons and others on the council said Athas doesn't talk to them outside the meetings. That lack of communication was evident Monday when Gibbons started a council work session because Athas was running late but hadn't let anyone on the council know.

History of pushing back

Athas was pushing back at the council long before he was a member. In 2000, when he was removed from his appointed city plan commission post by a new council member who wanted a different appointee, it took a city attorney's opinion to enforce Athas' removal.

But the ruling didn't make Athas just go away. Within a year, he challenged city leaders again, calling for ethics revisions to prevent council members from appointing their family members to boards and commissions.

1 / 2Garland Mayor Douglas Athas talks during a city council meeting on Tuesday.(Rex C Curry / Special Contributor) 2 / 2Garland City Manager Bryan Bradford, left, and Mayor Douglas Athas talk before the start of the city council meeting on Tuesday. (Rex C. Curry/Special Contributor)(Rex C Curry)

In a 2004 election to amend the city charter, Garland voters changed council terms from three years to two. Those elected on that 2004 ballot, however, believed their terms were for three years and cancelled the 2006 election.

Athas and some other residents sued the city to force the election. The 2006 election not only happened; Athas himself won a three-way race for the city council, his first elected office.

Athas said Tuesday night and again in an interview Wednesday, that his decision to resign was made when council decided to call for charter review the night before the armory vote. He added that he hopes his resignation will help spark greater participation at the polls in May for the charter election.

"My concern was and has been and still is that we have as high a participation by the voters in May as we can possibly have," he said. "My accomplishments are already done."

Timeline: Douglas Athas

1995-2000, 2002-06: appointed, Garland Plan Commission

2005: Athas and three other residents sue the city to force 2006 council elections

2006, 2008, 2010: elected, Garland City Council District 1

2013, 2015, 2017: elected, Garland mayor

Oct. 17, 2017: After a contentious city council vote on a former National Guard armory, Athas announces that he will resign

Tuesday: Athas presents his formal, written resignation to the city council

May 5, 2018: Garland voters will select a mayor to serve the final year of Athas' unexpired term