Smooth Sylvia Carrillo, Bastrop's City Manager, clearing the deck for self-promotion on taxpayer's dime
- Linda Curtis
- Jul 29
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 31
Horse Pucky: Foolish, deceitful, bombastic, or arrogant talk. This "article" entitled Bastrop invests in water infrastructure, is a paid ad sponsored by the City of Bastrop in the ironically-named "Story Telling" pages of Community Impact News. It's a promotion. Of what, you might ask? Sylvia Carrillo.
Bastrop City Manager Sylvia Carrillo-Trevino is using taxpayer dollars to promote herself as if she is the leader of the city of Bastrop. She is not an elected official. She is an employee who is paid the highest salary in the city at $242,000 per year.
Sylvia's Legacy is About Development.
Changes to the development code were put on fast track by Sylvia Carrillo before last May's election. Those changes were supported and executed by the chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission and now Mayor, Ishmael Harris. The most important changes promise less standard city development rules and more "PDDs" -- Planned Development Districts.
Definition: A Planned Development District (“PDD”) is a unique zoning district created for a given geographic region to allow for development standards that are modified from the standards of the City’s conventional zoning districts What does this mean for the City Council? It means that in order to represent their constituents, they have to pay attention to the details of very complex deals that will be coming before them for their oversight and approval. These "deals" will be worked through in negotiations between developers and lawyers, and Sylvia Carrillo. Council members must do their homework and not simply trust Sylvia.
Their job is to oversee the city manager, but will they?
Over the last nearly 3 years of Sylvia's tenure, we have seen big turnover of people -- especially in upper management. As well, Council Members who knew they were her employers, got the shaft as a majority of the members of the Council (3 in 5 voting members) and some key actors in the local political community made Sylvia a campaign issue in May. It was so bad, a set up question at the local Democratic Party candidate forum in May asked candidates if they supported Sylvia as she sat in the room watching!
Here are some of the people now gone.
Mayor Lyle Nelson was forced out with a "fake recall" by Council Members Kirkland, Plunkett and Meyer
Cheryl Lee lost her Council seat on to John Kirkland (who outspent her 3 to 1 for an unpaid position)
City Attorney Alan Bojorquez, forced out. We wrote about it here.
Jennifer Bills, City Planner (there is no planner now) Chris Stone - Fire Chief
Kathy Danielson - Convention Center Director and her assistant
Terry Moore - Director of Parks and Recreation
John Eddleston - Public Works
Tracy Waldron - Finance Director
Ann Franklin - City Secretary
Candice Butts - Main Street Manager
Jean Reimenschneider - BEDC project manager
Tracey Moffett - Utilities Director Trey Job - Asst City Manager
Rebecca Gleason - Asst City Manager
Clint Nagy - Police Chief
Tiger Davis, engineer
Smooth Sylvia Carrillo Has Put Open Government at Risk
The Community Impact News sponsored ad mentioned above was published on the heels of Sylvia's denial of LIV's simple open records request. Our request related to an item (Item 4B) posted for the June 10th City Council meeting Executive Session listing a discussion of "contractual agreements" and "ballot initiatives." We simply wanted to know WHICH contracts and initiatives were discussed. We received no less than three responses --- two from the new City Secretary -- and the third coming from Carrillo herself. They all said the same thing:
PS If you like this article, Smooth Sylvia Carrillo, and you live in the city of Bastrop, we want to hear from you. Send a message to us at contact@livtx.org.
City Managers get paid "real" money in Texas because, truthfully, it's a big job and a very important one. Most city council members in Texas don't get paid or are paid stipends that do not allow them to be fulltime watchdogs of public dollars.
This is why having an honest City Manager is so very important. Also, when City Managers get out of hand, the managers are fired, let go or they wisely move on, but not much is said publicly about it for a variety of reasons. This includes the embarrassment, but also the fiscal mess they leave that can put local government in a bind with litigation or threats of litigation. It's time for people in Bastrop to start…
So are you telling us that none of these positions are in existence anymore or that she pushed all those people out and put in whoever she wanted in there?? How can she promote herself to an elected position if she was never elected into one?? How does backhanded stuff like this keep happening in Bastrop?? And what City Manager in a small town like Bastrop gets paid $242,000 per year??? I don't even think the President makes that much a year as the President!! What is up with this woman??