By Andy Sevilla.
Kyle council member Ray Bryant shocked his colleagues on the dais Tuesday night with an unexpected resignation to his elected office halfway through his three-year term.
“It is with the greatest regret that I must submit my resignation from the Kyle City Council at this time,” Bryant said in a letter he handed to council members just before the start of Tuesday night’s special meeting. “Due to
| Bryant |
an increase in the number of responsibilities at my job, it is becoming more and more difficult for me to fulfill my obligations to adequately represent ... District 6.”
Bryant told council members in a farewell speech before Tuesday night’s meeting adjourned that after “long” and “arduous” thought he decided the best course of action was to resign.
“I didn’t step in to this position to do a half-hearted job,” he said. “I don’t expect the voters that put me in this position to expect a half-hearted job, and that’s not who I am to just do a half-hearted job.”
Recently, Bryant noticeably missed regular and special council meetings, an absence he said was caused due to “ramped up” responsibilities at work. He said he took on a supervisory role and is doing more travelling, causing him to miss council meetings.
“I just owe it to the people to be honest with them,” Bryant said. “And I think they expect 150 percent, and I just couldn’t do that any longer. I was limping along and that was very uncomfortable for me.”
Speaking on behalf of the council, Mayor Lucy Johnson said “we’re really sorry to see you go.”
“We’re really going to miss you,” she said. “And despite having work requirements, you’ve really put in a lot of effort and a lot of work in the city council, and we appreciate that.”
Bryant said that he came to this conclusion in September, but waited to make the announcement so his seat could be included in the May 10 city elections to avoid the cost for a special election.
It is not clear now how the council will deal with Bryant’s empty seat, but presumably the vacancy will be included in the May election that will also have three other council seats up for grabs – the mayor’s chair and the District 2 and District 4 seats.
Bryant said he “greatly enjoyed” serving with his council colleagues and trusted that the elected leaders will “continue to take care of Kyle.”
“Thank you for letting me be a part of the team.”
