Kyle council may get four new faces

By Andy Sevilla.

Kyle’s municipal election this May could seat a new council majority – as voters will decide four positions on the seven-member legislative body – potentially breaking up council voting blocs on split decisions.

Although the council, for the most part, votes unanimously on most matters that come before the dais, the seven-member panel often falls 4 to 3 on controversial decisions.

Mayor Lucy Johnson, who announced she would not seek a third-term to the city’s highest elected office, was almost always the swing vote on the council for matters decided with 4-3 split votes. 

On the one voting bloc, you have council members Diane Hervol, Samantha LeMense and Ray Bryant (for the purposes of this piece we’ll call them the DSR group), and other the side you have council members Becky Selbera, Chad Benninghoff and David Wilson (the BCD group). Johnson would often come in as the deciding vote. 

In recent controversial 4-3 decisions, Johnson sided with the DSR group, specifically in voting against a large truck stop on the southernmost edge of Kyle, and for the replacement of ten-year Municipal Court Judge Sundra Spears. 

But with Johnson out of the picture after the May 10 election, the council will take on a new leader—one who has served on the legislative body before. 

Former Kyle Mayor James Adkins was the first candidate to announce a run for mayor, followed by former council members Todd Webster and Brad Pickett. 

And, the BCD group could take a blow this summer as two of their three members are up for reelection. District 4 Councilman David Wilson will face-off against challenger Laurie Luttrell, a political newcomer who lives in the Plum Creek neighborhood, which historically votes in high numbers. Wilson was first elected to office in 2008 and won reelection in 2011. 

District 2 Councilwoman Becky Selbera filed for reelection on the last day of filing, leaving residents in her district wondering if she would seek to continue her decade-long elected service. 

Bill Sinor had been the lone candidate for the District 2 race up until the Feb. 28 deadline, when Selbera and former Councilman Jaime Sanchez threw their hat in the ring. Sinor, who lost a bid for the at-large Place 3 council seat last year to Benninghoff, withdrew his candidacy for the District 2 seat after Sanchez filed. 

Sanchez, a formidable contender, will take on Selbera who has represented District 2 since 2002.

And for the first time, in at least recent history, Kyle will decide a fourth seat in the same election. Councilman Ray Bryant resigned his District 6 seat earlier this year, citing work-schedule conflicts, leaving the potential open for a loss to the DSR voting bloc. 

Tammy Swaton, a political newcomer who lives in Bryant’s and Hervol’s neighborhood, Amberwood, was the lone candidate to file for a place on the ballot in the District 6 race, as of Tuesday. 

Filing candidacy for the mayor, Place 2 and Place 4 seats concluded Feb. 28. Residents of District 6 interested in filing for that position have until March 10. 

Election Day is May 10, with early voting beginning April 29.