Kyle City Council turns into mean, vindictive, petty body

The City has announced a special City Council meeting for 10 a.m. Monday to canvass the results of Saturday’s runoff election. I found that strange when it canvassed the returns from the May election at a regularly scheduled meeting and a regularly scheduled City Council meeting was scheduled for the very next day after this specially called one. Was there a deadline that forced the special meeting? The City Charter states "The City Council shall canvass the returns in accordance to state law." State law (specifically, section 67.003 of the state Election Code) states "each local canvassing authority shall convene to conduct the local canvass at the time set by the canvassing authority's presiding officer not earlier than the eighth day or later than the 11th day after election day." In the case of this most recent Kyle election, that means the canvass must take place between Sunday and June 22. Well, the canvass is probably not going to take place on Father’s Day, which is Sunday, but the next regularly scheduled Council meeting is June 21, so why move it up a day? I posed that question to City spokesperson Kim Hilsenbeck, who received the following reply from Mayor Todd Webster:

"Section 5.12 of the city charter says that a new member elected in a runoff election shall take ‘office’ on the first Tuesday following the day on which the votes for the runoff election are canvassed. For the newly elected council member to participate in the next regular meeting, the Special Meeting had to be called to canvass.

"State law only requires two council members to canvass an election. I believe I have called a special meeting to canvass once before because of timing. I think the reasoning then was so we could meet timelines to hold a runoff.

"I wanted to seat the new council as quickly as possible so that the newly elected member would participate in as many council meetings as possible prior to engaging in the budget process, which begins in July.

"I believe that waiting until July for Mr. (Travis) Mitchell to participate in his first meeting would not have been the best option for us as a city council moving forward with the budget process. We have had more than one runoff resulting in new members being elected. It is my opinion that the budget meetings that took place at that time, including after my election, would have gone more smoothly with the new folks having more experience in how meetings operate and in working with their fellow council members."

All very well and good but it comes across as mean, vindictive and petty. It all could have been handled in a far more dignified that way as well as in a way that would still have allowed Mitchell "to participate in his first meeting" only minutes, not weeks, later than is now planned.

It’s no secret that Diane Hervol, the incumbent Mitchell defeated in the runoff after the two candidates tied the first time around, is not that popular among her colleagues. Council member Damon Fogley came right out and endorsed Mitchell, which he has every right to do, and I’d be willing to bet every dollar I hope to receive the rest of my life that at least four of the remaining council members who voted in the runoff voted for Mitchell, which, of course, they also have every right to do. But that is the reason why the council is treating her in the way it is now comes across as so mean, vindictive and petty. It’s like the rest of the council is showing her the back door and telling her to get out and the sooner the better.

Here’s the way I think it would have been the best way to handle the transition. The council would take the following steps in order as outlined on the agenda:

• With Hervol still a member of the Council, she would be recognized by the rest of the members for her service to the city, not only her six years on the Council, but her tenure on the Planning & Zoning Commission as well as the countless hours she devotes to participating in many civic functions here in Kyle. Hervol would then be given the opportunity to make a farewell address.
• The June 11 vote would be canvassed.
• Mitchell would be sworn in as the new Place 1 City Council member.
• Hervol would ceremoniously relinquish her position on the dias to Mitchell.
• Mitchell would then be given the opportunity to address the meeting during which, among other things, he could offer his thanks to Hervol for her service, congratulate her on the campaign, thank his supporters and briefly state what he hopes to accomplish on the Council.
• Then the rest of the council meeting could proceed, beginning with the Public Comments section of the agenda, with Mitchell as an active member of the Council.

To be fair, I had a telephone conversation with Mayor Webster about my concerns on the possible public perception of how this transition is being handled and he assured me he was planning to place an item on Tuesday’s agenda recognizing Hervol’s service. (Hilsenbeck later confirmed such an item would appear on the agenda.) He told me the plaque that will be presented to her had already been ordered and was in the process of being engraved even as we spoke.

At least, there’s that.

He also told me it was unfair to blame the entire Council for how this is transpiring, that these decisions were his and his alone.

So there’s that as well. But there’s still the perception of how all this looks and my sincere belief that someone on the council could have spoken up to argue it could have been handled far more, shall I say, diplomatically.