By ANDY SEVILLA

Kyle incumbent Becky Selbera, who won reelection to the District 2 seat Saturday by six votes, is now being questioned by her opponent in the race on whether she was qualified to run for office per city charter rules. Jaime Sanchez also is seeking a recount of the final vote.

Sanchez, a former councilman who was challenging Selbera, submitted a petition for a recount to Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson Wednesday.

In an earlier email, Sunday night, Sanchez advised high-level city staffers that he also is challenging the legality of Selbera’s qualifications.

“I do not believe that Ms. Selvera (Selbera) meets the qualifications as set out in our City Charter as she owes property taxes to the City of Kyle,” Sanchez said in an email to Kyle’s city attorney, city manager, city secretary, and mayor.

Selbera said Tuesday night that her tax troubles were taken care of last year following a Hays Free Press investigation, which found she owed seven years of property taxes on a parcel she now has turned over to her daughter. Taxes were owed to Hays County, the City of Kyle, Hays CISD and other local jurisdictions.

Last year, the council censured Selbera for owing money to the city. The city charter explicitly forbids candidates for office and elected officials from being indebted to the city.

In a separate case, Selbera was named in a suit filed in 2012 alleging that she and her siblings owe years of property taxes on a parcel on Thiele Road in Kyle. Then-city attorney Frank Garza advised council that Selbera could not be held accountable for taxes owed on that property as the matter was in litigation, and it had not been judicially decided that she was responsible for back taxes.

Sanchez said the fact still remains that she owes taxes, if not the whole amount, at least a portion of what is owed.

He also said property which Selbera has identified as having an ownership interest in, 301 W. Thiele, is also in arrears.

Hays County tax records show that property, which is under Selbera’s late father’s name, has unpaid taxes for years 2010 through 2013, including to the city of Kyle. Selbera indicated she had ownership interest in that property on her personal finance statement submitted early this year.

“I believe that Rebeca Selvera, also known as Becky Selbera, failed to meet the qualifications under our City Charter for election to the City Council as she is indebted to the City of Kyle,” Sanchez said in his email.

Sanchez also takes issue with Selbera using a different surname on the ballot than the one she was given at birth.

Selbera was born Rebeca Selvera, but the councilwoman told the Hays Free Press Tuesday night she changed her name on her birth certificate and the city has a record of that change. No documentation was available as of press time and it was not known in what year the name change took place.

Candidates are allowed to use a commonly known nickname, such as Becky instead of Rebeca, but last names cannot be changed on the ballot without providing legal documentation, according to state election rules.

Sanchez alleges that a Hays County records search of Becky Selbera doesn’t yield many records other than the 2012 tax lawsuit against her and her siblings, however, he said, a search of her “true and given name” provides arrests records, criminal court records and a 2001 civil case against now-councilman David Wilson.

A jail records search reveals five different arrests for Selvera going back to 1989, with one occurring while serving as a public official. That arrest was in 2007 for failure to appear to court, failure to display a driver license and failure to maintain financial responsibility (car insurance). Selbera took care of the matter after paying a $746 fine, according to subsequent public records.

That 2007 arrest record shows six aliases for Selbera: Perez, Becky; Perez, Jesse; Perez, Rebeca; Perez, Rebeca Selvera; Perez, Rebecca Selvera; Selbera, Rebeca

County civil records also show Selvera filed for a petition for divorce from Wilson in 2001. Though the pair was never officially married, Selbera claimed common law marriage and was seeking division of the assets Wilson held, including his Kyle home.

A judge ultimately decided the pair was never married and Wilson was allowed to keep his home, though he was ordered to pay Selbera $15,000.

City attorney Ken Johnson said Wednesday he is still researching Sanchez’s claims. He said he sought advice and guidance from the Texas Municipal League and the Texas Secretary of State’s Office.

Johnson said a vote recount would likely happen next week, as the city has to verify the petition for the recount and notify both candidates. Johnson said Sanchez requested a manual count of the ballots cast.

Hays County Elections Administrator Joyce Cowan said there were two provisional ballots cast in the May 10 election. City Secretary Amelia Sanchez said one of the ballots was a vote for Jaime Sanchez and the second was a vote for David Wilson.