SELBERA
by KIM HILSENBECK
Kyle City Councilwoman Becky Selbera can count Friday the 13th as her lucky day.
Kyle’s Ethics Commission decided Friday that Selbera used poor judgment when asking for a job from Image Microsystems on the same night she and other council members had voted to offer economic development incentives to lure the company to Kyle.
The commission members voted not to pursue a possible violation of the city’s ethics code against Selbera, however, saying there was not enough evidence of misconduct.
Image Microsystems, an e-waste recycling and asset recovery firm, is moving its Austin-based plant to Kyle, bringing with it up to 180 jobs by 2013. Selbera was under scrutiny for asking Image Microsystems Vice President of Marketing Liz Walker for a job last month.
Walker asked Selbera to send her résumé, which she did. “I didn’t think much about it at the time,” Walker said in a phone interview.
Walker then responded to an email from Selbera saying, among other things, “Let’s try to set something up for next week.” The two also had at least one phone conversation.
Walker later said she felt uncomfortable because the job solicitation by a Kyle council member could be viewed as unlawful, according to a Dec. 28 report from Kyle Mayor Lucy Johnson. The report shows Walker contacted Diana Blank, Kyle’s economic development director, on Dec. 19 to inform her about Selbera’s communications and to ask Selbera to withdraw her request for employment.
Walker said Selbera was “very persistent with emails and phone calls” following their Dec. 13 discussion following the City Council meeting. Walker told Blank that Selbera was calling or emailing daily, according to an internal email from Jerry Hendrix, the city’s communicatons director, to City Manager Lanny Lambert.
Johnson’s report said Walker contacted her attorney to ask if Selbera’s actions were unlawful, considering the recent development agreement with the City of Kyle.
Based on reports and internal documentation, Kyle’s city leaders instructed City Attorney and Ethics Compliance Officer Frank Garza to speak with Selbera to inform her of Walker’s concerns. After speaking with Walker, Garza informed Selbera she should stop all contact with Walker and Image Microsystems.
The documents, which were made public following the commission’s decision, show two emails to Walker from Selbera, one on Dec. 15 that included her résumé. No public records of phone calls were made available.
The commission recommended yearly ethics training for council members. After learning of the ethics commission’s decision, Walker said she was unaware the issue had escalated to that level.
“I think she didn’t realize what she did was inappropriate,” she said. “I just informed the city of the situation. I didn’t think it would turn into this brouhaha.”
For her part, Selbera said she felt she was simply following Walker’s requests to send her résumé and call.
“I’m unemployed and so I did what any other citizen would do,” she said. “I didn’t think it would look bad; I took the opportunity to ask for a job.”
