Bastrop residents sign petition calling to remove mayor

BASTROP, Texas - Hundreds of residents have signed a petition calling for the removal of Bastrop’s mayor. They are accusing him of interfering with a financial investigation and having a romantic relationship with a former city official.

"He lied in a financial investigation and refused to turn over evidence and records that were necessary," says Bastrop City Council member and Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland.

On Tuesday, city council members met to discuss a recall petition calling for the removal of Mayor Lyle Nelson after it was placed on the city's agenda.

"So last December, the council directed me to file an ethics complaint against the mayor, for interfering in a financial investigation. That investigation was started because all the employees of our tourism board, ‘Visit Bastrop’, brought allegations to our city that the CEO of that organization was misusing public funds, was filing fraudulent expense reports, and was also secretly in a relationship with the mayor," says Kirkland.

According to Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland, an investigation into financial patterns was launched following the accusations.

"We had a forensic evaluation of the ‘Visit Bastrop’ finances. We hired an investigator who did a fact-finding mission to write a report for the council. Because we need to know what the truth is, so that we can find out what to do about it," says Kirkland.

He says it took nearly four months.

"The two parties, the mayor and the former CEO of ‘Visit Bastrop’, kind of declined to provide information and declined to tell the truth about the whole thing, until the city's IT department discovered 232 pages of highly intimate text messages between the two of them on the former CEO’s city iPad," says Kirkland.

Kirkland says the mayor violated ethics rules and the board of ethics gave him the highest penalty they had available, which was a public reprimand. The mayor spoke out against the allegations at the city council meeting.

"I took responsibility and apologized for my actions as well as all forgiveness from God, family, and friends. However, some people, including some of this council, continue to try to wrongfully connect my private indiscretion to a misuse of funds that allege criminal conduct. There is no evidence that I committed any crime, nor any evidence that I caused or condoned public funds to be improperly spent," says City of Bastrop Mayor Lyle Nelson.

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"There were 51 times in those messages where they talked about spending money on meals and entertainment type of expenses. Because we have the forensic audit information, we have the possibility of preparing those dates, times, and places with the ‘Visit Bastrop’ data that tells us whether the taxpayers paid for that date," says Kirkland. 

In July, a 96-page recall petition was submitted to the office of the city secretary to recall Mayor Lyle Nelson. The request requires at least 25 percent of registered voters to sign the petition in order for it to be valid.

"We surpassed that number," says Kirkland.

The petition does have a valid number of signatures, but it is insufficient because it does not have the required affidavits.

The petitioners will learn if they have 10 days to correct the petition or what the next steps are to proceed with the recall.