Deadline approaching: City considers recall election for Bastrop mayor

Kristin Miles, a representative of the Bastrop County Registrar, said 6,228 voters were registered as of the May 4, 2024, election. This means at least 1,557 signatures were needed. Lyle Nelson’s attorney Bill Aleshire said the petition was organized by Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland and council member Kevin Plunkett.

Interim City Secretary Irma Parker and Assistant City Secretary Victoria Psencik reviewed the petition. On Aug. 9, Parker posted the Bastrop City Council agenda for the upcoming Aug. 13 meeting. In it, Parker said the petition was rejected due to a lack of affidavits that are required to validate the signatures.

What’s next

Parker said she will present her findings at the Aug. 13 City Council meeting and notify the petitioners via certified mail that the petition is insufficient. Once the petitioners receive the notification, Parker said they have 10 days to resubmit it.

Some context

A financial audit by Haynie & Company found about $70,000 of public funds approved by Susan Smith, Visit Bastrop’s former CEO, lacked proper documentation between 2021-23, according to previous reporting by Community Impact.

An investigation into Nelson’s role in the Visit Bastrop financial misconduct allegations was completed in December 2023 by Sarah Glaser of Lloyd Gosselink Attorneys at Law, a copy of which was obtained by Community Impact.

In it, Glaser looked into the following:

• If Nelon had any knowledge of the misuse of public funds
• If Nelson shared confidential information with Smith
• If Nelson participated in discussions regarding Visit Bastrop where he had an undisclosed conflict of interest
• If Nelson was involved in a romantic relationship with Smith, which led to his concealing the relationship from the public during the election

• Having knowledge of the misuse of public funds
• Sharing any confidential information with Smith
• Participating in a conflict of interest, noting that the city’s code of ethics does not prohibit a friendship, romantic or sexual relationship with an employee of a city contractor; however, Glaser said in the document that there was discussion of Visit Bastrop’s budget and business operations via text messages between Nelson and Smith in May 2023—one month before he was sworn into office as mayor.

“The fact that they spent $137,070 of taxpayer money to hire an outside investigator to condemn [Nelson] for having an affair made my jaw drop,” Aleshire said. “[Nelson] has apologized to God, his family and the public for his mistake. An affair is not a matter of government business.”

How we got here

An ethics complaint was filed on Jan. 19 by Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland after direction from the Bastrop City Council. On April 10, the city of Bastrop Ethics Commission unanimously voted to issue a letter of reprimand—the highest sanction allowed against an elected official.

On April 29, council members passed a resolution outlining eight limitations on the mayor’s actions, which dictate that Nelson cannot:

• Be reimbursed for business trips without council approval
• Use city funds to attend any functions without council approval
• Have an exclusive, designated office space at city hall
• Speak at any city-sponsored events, aside from council meetings, without council approval
• Have unassisted access to the employee-only areas within city hall
• Display his phone number or email address on the city’s website—however, this has not yet been put in place
• Serve as a city representative on any other boards, commissions, committees or task forces
• Act as the city’s legislative director