The city of Bastrop has descended ever deeper into crisis with its two top management officials resigning. Longtime City Manager, Mike Talbot resigned for the second time in June. Tuesday night, longtime City Attorney Jo-Christy Brown tendered her resignation stating,
“This negativism, which I believe is entirely unwarranted, has now escalated to an extent that I simply no longer have the energy or desire to continue to subject my good name and hard-earned reputation to it any further”.
Not thr
ee hours after Brown’s resignation came Interim City Manager Steve Adcock’s. Adcock is also respected and an honest guy in law enforcement.
Frankly, what we fear most is what’s coming next. That would be the appointment of a new city manager and city attorney on Tuesday. You can bet they will be part of the good ol’ boy network in Bastrop. How do we know this? Here’s Mayor Ken Kesselus’ response to Adcock’s departure in today’s Austin American-Statesman:
“I don’t know what to make of it except that my mother used to work in a funeral home and said that death always comes in three,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s an old wives’ tale or what, but it seems to be true.”
Seriously? This is the guy who is leading the city of Bastrop?
Listen up people. Kesselus and his clan are trying to shift the blame for their own mismanagement and misplaced priorities onto their employees. It’s really that simple.
We have put out a warning to all. Bastrop’s high growth, if not managed properly, spells for a new and unfamiliar kind of disaster. We cannot afford to make the mistakes that Austin’s “growth machine” has made, leading to an affordability collapse. Bastrop is far more vulnerable than Austin. We all know it. So let’s not treat this like a crazy aunt in the basement that no one is willing to talk about.
Only the voters can do anything about this now. Here’s what can YOU do. Note: Last call Monday for petitions!
Go to our Petition page here and get our petitions signed by city voters. Click here to see a map of the Bastrop City Limits You can also call us and we’ll do home visits.
We deeply appreciate your financial contributions and your participation so very much!
All three photo credits are to the Austin American-Statesman.