HUTTO – Residents interested in running for City Council have until March 6 to register as a candidate in the special election for Place 5, but be prepared: Residency is a touchy topic.
For a long time, a residency requirement was not stipulated in the city charter, but a recent controversy led the council to amend the rules to clarify the issue.
At the center of the latest debate over where a council member lives is Krystal Kinsey, who announced her resignation from the Place 5 spot at the Jan. 5 council meeting.
She is still serving on the dais in a “holdover” mode until the election, but her Hutto home has been listed for sale since before the Jan. 5 meeting, and now shows a contract pending.
Her living arrangements have been a point of concern at numerous council sessions.
The general election is May 6 and a special election has been called to fill her unexpired term.
“If you don’t live here, you shouldn’t serve,” said Nicole Calderone during the public comment section of the Feb. 16 council meeting. She then addressed the council member directly, asking, “Krystal, where are you now receiving your mail and living?”
“I receive mail and I received my W-2 from the city of Hutto to my 203 Garcitas Creek address here in Hutto,” Kinsey said.
“Are you living at 203 Garcitas Creek?” asked Calderone.
“My residency, as stated on all of my documentation…” Kinsey started.
“The question is, are you living…?”
Calderone interjected.
“I believe I have answered your question. I understand it may not have been the one you are wanting,” Kinsey responded during the exchange.
“What is the address that you lay your head down at night?”
Calderone asked again, in a conversation that continued until her public comment time was up.
“Ma’am, I have answered your question.
I’m sorry it’s not the one that you’re wanting,” Kinsey said. Calderone, who is running for the Place 4 council seat against incumbent Peter Gordon in the May 6 regular election, said she had previously
tried to discover whether Kinsey was still a Hutto resident by sending mail marked as “Do Not Forward” to the Garcitas Creek address.
The mail was returned to Calderone by the post office, indicating mail was no longer being accepted at that location.
In the past, residency was not specifically defined in the city charter or by the state, leaving a lot of room for interpretation, officials said. On Feb. 2, council voted unanimously to clarify the definition of Hutto residency. In part, the new resolution states a person’s domicile is in the city’s corporate limits, is the person’s fixed place of habitation, is where the person will return after a temporary absence, and that such intent is established factually.
There are those who want Kinsey to step down now, before the polls open.
“Basically, if Ms.
Kinsey no longer resides in Hutto, she is not qualified to serve on the City Council under our charter, section 3.02. ‘...Each council member... shall reside within the city while in office.’
However, Section 3.03 reads ‘The City Council shall be the final judge...of qualifications of its members…,’” said Ida Weaver, chair of the Communications Watch committee in the Hutto Community Watch.
Weaver is part of a residents’ group analyzing council actions and striving to keep the public informed.
Kinsey had announced in November 2022 that she was planning to move out of town.
She said she chose to officially resign in January because the timing would allow the special election to be held concurrent with the general election, saving taxpayers money.
“I thought my transparency was a good thing and now it is being twisted as an ugly, manipulative thing,” she said. “I feel like I really did try to do everything on the up and up.”
