The Hays Free Press asked our four Kyle council candidates the following eight questions. Following are their responses. Answers printed as submitted.

1. Why did you decide to run for a seat on the Kyle Council?

2. What are the top three issues affecting Kyle?

3. How will you address the number one issue affecting the city?

4. Kyle is considering joining the Lone Star Rail District, which will connect Austin and San Antonio with light rail. Kyle is asked to give 50 percent of their sales and property tax growth within a half-mile radius surrounding the proposed train station to be located next to the ACC campus. Should the city join LSTAR?  Why or why not?

5. Do you have any professional experience that will help you as an elected official?

6. Why should voters elect you over your opponent?

7. What should our readers know about you?

8. If you won a $1 million lottery, how would you spend that money?

District 2

Becky Selbera (i)

1. I decided to run for City Council because I love making a difference in my community. We need a builder not a destroyer.  We need policy makers on the Kyle City Council not micro managers. We need a person with strong leadership skills that will protect our interests, engage citizens, and facilitate city staff providing the services that our community deserves and needs. I have distinguished myself as a reasonable and thoughtful leader on the Kyle City Council.  I have taken the time to learn about issues in the city.  I have a passion for Economic Development and job creation in Kyle for our children who go to school and need jobs after school.  Our citizens have requested that I work to ensure we have an effective police department and infrastructure improvements in the South side of Kyle, both East and West.  I would be honored to continue to work with these and other important issues we face as your District 2 representative.

2. Transportation

Infrastructures in the South Side both East and West

Economic Development in the South side both East and West

3. Transportation was and is the number one issue. We have already begun to work with what the voters approved in May of 2013 and I look forward in working closely with our excellent city engineer and his soon to be hired project manager, and the highly qualified engineers who won the bid to fix Kyle’s traffic issues on the 5 roads.   It is very important that we maximize the quality assistance of Hays County Commissioner’s Court, TXDOT and CAMPO to acquire enhanced funding at every opportunity.  This would save Kyle taxpayer dollars which is important to me.

 4. Lone Star Rail can help by assisting those citizens that commute to either Austin or San Antonio, or it can hurt the city if we do not plan this carefully. We need to make sure that we get the public involved. Therefore, I would purpose for our city staff to send a survey to the citizens and ask the citizens of Kyle “Are you for or against LSR?” If the majority of citizens say “yes,” then I would work closely with staff, LSR and with the citizens, so that we plan LSR carefully and thoroughly.

5. Yes, I believe that the experience I have gained as a council member in the past years has given me a lot of professional experience such as understanding the legislative function of the municipality, establishing policy, passing local ordinances, voting appropriations, and developing an overall vision for our city. That prior experience has given me the skills to continue as an excellent, qualified, and experienced council member. 

6. As I was born and raised in Kyle, I have learned the value of family, community relationships, and the importance of volunteering.  As a community servant, I am dedicated to working with people in my community in any activities that would improve the quality of life. I have been serving as the District 2 Representative for the past 12 years and I do not have just a “vision” of Kyle moving forward – I have participated in moving Kyle forward with important changes, changes that are clear for everyone to see. I am proud of voting for Seton Hospital Development, Medical Clinic’s, Surgery Centers, Specialty Clinic’s and Kyle’s CommuniCare Health Center, because these are services that people need and has helped us all medically. One of the biggest accomplishments is working with HEB, without which we wouldn’t have Target, KOHLS, and other businesses that also help those citizens that do not want to travel to San Marcos or Austin to buy goods as they are now available here in Kyle.  I am now moving forward in working to develop the South area of District 2 with water and wastewater availability and road improvement. This development is vital to help add to our property tax base in order to lessen the tax burden on our current homeowners.  I have been very proactive with citizen input by utilizing our citizens committees that we have created to provide important citizen input on issues the city is addressing.  I have been the Chair Person for the Safety and Emergency Committee in past years and I have continued to serve as the City Council liaison under the current committee structure.   I am running again for office to provide quality representation for our District 2 community on the Kyle City Council.  

7. I am NATIVE! I was born and raised here in the district that I call home as my father, grandfather and my great grandfather did. I am very proud of my multi-generational Selbera family history in building Kyle, and St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and supporting the Catholic Mission. It matters to me to continue that family commitment to Kyle by continuing to current and the previous councils and Mayors to do what is best for Kyle. I believe in Kyle, I have worked with the citizens and our city staff to make the decisions that would continue to make Kyle a place we are proud to call home. I am independent and I DO NOT let any outside forces control my vote. I vote for the people of Kyle and not for an individual interest. 

8. I would like to help the city build a recreational center in the South East of Kyle for our children, so that our children could have something to do during the summer days and / or after school activities. Plus, I would improve St. Vicente Cemetery, the Kyle Hispanic Cemetery founded by my family and pay off some of the debt that is owed at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. 

Jaime Sanchez

1. Since I spent my entire career is in engineering and project management, I want to see the road bond projects move forward in a timely and affective manner thru effective design and seeking other financial mechanisms that will reduce the financial impact to our citizens.

I would like to implement proposals and solutions to resolve our top three issues affecting Kyle.

2. Lack of competitiveness with our neighboring cities due to our future high tax rates.

Deteriorating infrastructure such water, waterwater and local roadway systems that will prevent future growth and competitiveness.  

Inexperience elected officials who don’t understand the big picture and the ramifications of their feel good decisions creating a dire path for our City.

In no particular order

3. The number one issue is inexperience elected official who spend their time arguing over insignificant items instead of focusing in moving our city forward. Since I am only one vote, you have to partner and educate elected officials to vote in favor of our city. 

4. The rail has its’ pro and cons, I would make my final decision based on sound analytical judgment considering present and future impact to our cities debit, cities infrastructure, and potential growth (neg. & pos).

5. 1st I have over 20 years experience in engineering and being in the project management arena overseeing millions of dollars of projects in TxDOT, private sector, municipality and consultant world.  This is important because in addition to the M & O debit there is the CIP, facilities, and infrastructure debit, which has created 90 percent of our Cities debit, so sound judgment in this field could be helpful.

6. My professional experience compared to my opponents experience (being previously elected and putting our City in unnecessary debit and putting our city in a dire economic path does not constitute professional experience) is unprecedented.  In addition, my previous short two years in office has had more positive impact than my opponents 12 years in office.

7. I am a simple family man wanting the best for our city in which I have vested so much.  Last time I was a council member; I was unemployed and did not seek employment for an entire year to dedicate to my loving City.

8. One of my goals in life is to build a building of worship for my god and my profession and finances is geared towards this dream and if I won a million dollars that would make it that much easier. 

District 4

David Wilson (i)

1. I decided to run to continue the important work of planning and developing a quality community. I take pride in the accomplishments of the councils during my 6 year tenure. Financial management of the city has never been better as is evidenced by our bond rating increase by Standard and Poor’s in March 2014.

2.  a. Need for improved economic development to keep us from having to increase our property taxes in the future

b. Finish the roads approved by voters in May of 2013

c. Maintain and take the next steps plan to have high quality water/sewer infrastructure, road maintenance in Kyle and plan for adequate levels of police and staff in all departments

3. Economic Development and a positive approach to attracting quality businesses to our community is job one in order to finance the road bond projects that we will finance over the next 5 to 6 years.  My plan is to finance the road bonds not with homeowner property tax but with business property tax and sales tax.  I will continue to be active in the Kyle Chamber of Commerce as an ambassador and will make myself available for discussions with businesses considering Kyle as a business location option. I also plan a very conservative approach to budget in order to maintain the new improved bond rating of AA- that we received in March 2014.  Our bond rating was upgraded due to the fact that the community is growing, the city is managing effectively and we pay our bills.

4. Lone Star Rail service will help those who live in the city to have alternative transportation to Austin and San Antonio.   I have personally experienced rail in Seattle, Chicago, Washington D.C., Boston, New York and Austin. I found it a pleasure to ride the rail service and loved the fact that I did not have to worry with a car, traffic and parking.  It will also be a major transportation plus not to have the some 30 commercial rail interruptions to contend with as we travel around Kyle.

The negative is you pay for the privilege of having a rail station.  I would like for the City of Kyle to plan this development in such a way that pays for itself and is an economic plus for our city economy and budget.

5. I have 28 years of management experience which included Planning, Goal Setting, Management Reporting, Financial Audits, Management Audits, Personnel Management and Computer System Development for the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. I additionally have a Masters of Public Administration from St. Mary’s University of San Antonio, Texas.  I have used both my experience and education while serving on council.

6. I prefer to address my positive skills and attributes in the election versus breaking down my opponent. You want someone who is invested in the community and will have to live with the decisions they make. I am invested and work hard every day. I have only one missed council meeting in six years and that was a Special Meeting which I returned for from vacation to attend but weather slowed me down and I was late making the meeting by 5 minutes.

7. I am truly a volunteer on the Kyle City Council and do not accept the payment for each meeting provided for in the City Charter and budget.

8. The Kyle United Methodist Church, VFW Post 12058, AMVET Post 115, the Kyle Area Senior Zone, the Word of Life Church, St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, the First Baptist Church of Kyle, Seton Hospital, Hays CISD Education Foundation, CTMC Hospice, the Kyle Employee Police Association, the City of Kyle Parks Department and the Kyle City Library would all receive a piece of the lottery winnings.  Being a conservative, I would put aside a chunk for that rainy day. I would also buy my friends coffee at What-a-Burger in Kyle. I would buy an RV, as my play toy, to use to visit parts of our beautiful country that I have not yet visited.

Laurie Luttrell

1. I’m running for city council because we need a change on our city council. During the past 6 years, our tax rate has risen to the point it is now the highest of any city in Hays County and we are over $99 million in debt. Our water and wastewater rates have increased dramatically. We need to attract business by improving our infrastructure, lowering our tax rate, and trimming our non-essential expenditures. I don’t believe we can afford another 3 years with my opponent in office. 

2. I believe the 3 top issues for our City are: 

• the need for infrastructure improvements (roads, wastewater and water)

• the city’s rising tax rate (doubled to .5483 today from .2707 in 2008), debt (over $99million), and water and wastewater rates (water rates have risen 70% and wastewater rates 50%). 

• a lack of action by our City Council to address these issues

3. All of these issues are inter-related. In order to attract new businesses and employers to our City, which will add new tax base and sales tax growth to our economy, we must make improvements to our existing infrastructure. But it is difficult to attract new businesses when the costs are so high and we are lacking in adequate infrastructure. We must focus our existing resources on improving the city’s infrastructure and basic safety needs. For example, we currently spend $1.94 million on Parks, but only $215,000 on Economic Development and only $729,000 total for our Streets. We can not be lavishly spending money on non-essential items, such as expensive vehicles and unnecessary equipment, until we make these improvements to our city’s basic infrastructure. The City Council must make certain the city’s budget contains the city’s “needs,” and not the “wants” of the city staff.

4. You failed to mention the city would also pay for 100% of the cost of the operations and maintenance of the station in Kyle. At full service, this could be as much as $2 million each year. But Kyle would be sharing its service with Buda, which means it stops in Kyle only half the time. Instead of giving LSTAR our tax growth, it would be better to help pay for the $36 million in road bonds that passed last year and prevent the full 20 cent tax increase. Sales tax rebates are an important incentive for economic development. We will not be able to do this in the future if we give away our future sales tax to LSTAR. I believe the people of Kyle, not the council, should decide for themselves. It should be voted on at an election, just like we did with the road bond election.

5. Well, I am certainly not a professional politician, nor a government bureaucrat. I’m just a former small business owner who cares about my community like the other people of Kyle. Having run two successful businesses, I know how to plan for future expenditures, balance a budget, and manage employees. I attended Del Mar College in Corpus Christi where I majored in banking. I am a hard-working volunteer, which is really what a city council member is in Kyle. I was treasurer of the Kyle Lions Club and worked with others to establish the annual Fajita-Fest. I also served for 3 years as a Kyle Chamber Ambassador.

6. We need a change in leadership at City Hall. My opponent has had 6 years to achieve his goals. Our infrastructure has been neglected and I intend to change that: the wastewater plant needs expansion to accommodate growth; we need to stop the delays and build our roads; and we need to streamline our development and building permit process. Old Town Kyle needs an upgrade of its failing infrastructure immediately as it has been ignored way too long. And the revitalization of our Downtown would benefit everyone and promote many of our small business owners. The Kyle Fire Department needs our support, and it is shameful just how little our city contributes to these brave men and women. Although our city is one of the fastest growing in the County, the City contributes more to non-profit groups than our volunteer fire department. If you call or email me, I will not ignore you.

7. I care passionately about my community and I will represent the citizens of my district, not special interests. I have been married to the same wonderful man for the past 23 years and our daughter is graduating from high school this June. I formerly lived in Northeast Texas where I owned a successful business. I volunteered in a number of different organizations there, including serving as treasurer of the Post 243 American Legion Ladies Auxiliary. If you want to know anything about me, just give me a call at 512-567-5747 or email me at jlluttrell@austin.rr.com. I will be available.

8. I don’t play the lottery. But to answer your question, I would invest the funds and give to charities of my choice.

“Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle, but he who gathers little by little will increase it.” (Proverbs 13:11)