Bastrop Mayor Lyle Nelson resigns effective immediately

Bastrop Mayor Lyle Nelson has resigned.

In a press conference shared on the city of Bastrop's Facebook page, Nelson resigned his position effective immediately.

"I will no longer be a focal point for these self-serving interests to deflect from their actions, to overpromise and underdeliver to our community. I will no longer be a part of a group that chooses to bring embarrassment to our community for their selective indignation. I can no longer be associated with elected and appointed officials that place their self-interest above their public service obligations. To that end, today I'm resigning as mayor of the city of Bastrop, effective immediately," said Nelson in his speech.

Nelson said since his election as mayor in June 2023, his office "has been under attack by certain city council members" by resolutions and then allegations and accusations of misuse of public funds. During his speech, he revealed how accusations of interfering with a financial investigation and having a romantic relationship with a former city official impacted his role as mayor.

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"I was absolved of any misdeeds as mayor of the city by the city's own administrator, an investigator who stated ‘the mayor denied any knowledge of misuse of public funds and my investigation to date uncovered no evidence otherwise’. A criminal investigation was conducted by the Texas Rangers and no-billed by the Bastrop grand jury. The evidence showed there was no misuse of public funds and there was no criminal conduct by me or anyone else," Nelson said.

Nelson specifically called out Mayor Pro Tem John Kirkland in his speech, saying that the office of mayor had been "subverted by a voting block of three on council at the prompting of Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland, who gains personal power through that subversion."

Nelson says while he has "no doubt" he would defeat the recall election in May, he is resigning because of the "discord within the community."

"I don't care about the rumors. I just care about the discord within the community that's being brought about, utilizing me as a focal point when in actuality it's something much more than that. And information will be coming forward over the next several months to indicate I don't think the discord is going to discontinue. I think it's going to go on," said Nelson.

Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland says he was unaware that the mayor would resign.

"It’s a tough topic, but I have got to say I am proud of him, it was brave, courageous, and it was the right thing to do," Kirkland said.

The financial investigation

Nelson was accused of interfering with a financial investigation and having a romantic relationship with a former city official.

Mayor Pro Tem Kirkland told FOX 7 Austin in August he had been directed to file an ethics complaint against Nelson for interfering in a financial investigation that began with allegations by employees of the city's tourism board ‘Visit Bastrop.’

The employees alleged that the CEO was misusing public funds and filing fraudulent expense reports and was also secretly in a relationship with the mayor, Kirkland said.

A forensic evaluation of the board's finances was ordered, and an investigator was hired, says Kirkland, who added that the investigation 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," said Kirkland in August.

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.

"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. 

Nelson did address the allegations at a city council meeting, saying:

"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."

The recall petition

Hundreds of residents signed a petition to remove Nelson as mayor.

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

The mayor pro tem was on board with the petition.

"The initial pass was not accepted by the city secretary, and then we were given 10 days to correct that, so we corrected the issues that she highlighted in her report and after the second one was submitted 10 days later, she accepted that one and then the mayor challenged that one in court." says Kirkland.

However, while the petition had a valid number of signatures, it was deemed insufficient as it did not have the required affidavits.

In an interview with FOX 7 Austin's Dave Froehlich, city council member Kevin Plunkett said over 1,600 citizens signed the petition for a recall vote.

In his press conference Tuesday, Nelson said that he had "no doubt" he could defeat the recall election in May.

What happens now?

Those interested in filing for a place on the May ballot for Mayor can do so starting Jan. 15 through Feb. 14.

The city's general election will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025. More information on the city's election can be found here.

According to Nelson in his speech, the mayor's office is now vacant and until May's election, the presiding officer of the city council will be the mayor pro tem in accordance with the city charter.

The Source: Information in this report comes from a press conference shared live on the city of Bastrop Facebook page and previous reporting by FOX 7 Austin.

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