While Betty Reinbeck’s petite size may give people the wrong impression about her leadership capabilities, her firm handshake does not.
The first time Betty met Austin County Sheriff Truman Maddox, she said he stood back, almost shocked when she shook his hand. “I said, ‘I had to get your attention.’” As Sealy’s first female mayor, Betty did not have difficulty attracting attention — primarily for her successful leadership, but she also faced blatant discrimination. Told she was too young for office and called the “prettiest mayor in Texas,” Betty smiled and then got on with leadership roles she says God called her to do.
Before being declared “the first woman mayor of Sealy, Texas” by The Sealy News, Betty became Sealy’s first female city council member elected by write-in vote in 1985. At the time, she taught Marketing and was the Career and Technology Department Chairperson at Sealy High School. Betty became a fixture in the Sealy business community while introducing her students to local business leaders. One thing led to another, and Betty began serving on the Sealy Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and then, as would become a pattern, Betty was asked to serve as the Chamber’s President.
During this term with the Chamber, a group of concerned citizens asked her to throw her name in the hat during the 1985 Sealy City Council election. Betty’s campaign seemed to threaten the mayor of the time, who told Betty he’d have the newspaper publish a story saying she would damage the city if elected to council. “I didn’t want to hurt the city, so I put my packet away and didn’t file to run,” Betty said.
But that wasn’t the end of it. The Thursday before Saturday’s election, a council member called Betty at the high school and insisted she run as a write-in candidate. After trying to refuse, Betty gave in and said she’d run. Betty assumed she’d lose, “but I’m not going to lose big,” she said.
The next thing she knew, they were knocking on doors Thursday and Friday afternoon.
Betty and her pre-teen daughter Cathy and other supporters stood outside the polling place on election day and handed out flyers explaining how to vote for a write-in candidate.
She did not lose big. In fact, she won.
She beat the male incumbent 189 votes to 78 for Sealy City Council Place 4 in 1985.
People drove by to see the election results posted on a large green chalkboard outside City Hall, but the mayor promptly removed the chalkboard and shoved it inside City Hall, apparently unhappy about the election result.
The mayor then refused to swear in Betty and, without merit, accused her campaign of using “young girls in shorts” at the polling place to sway the vote. The young girls in question were her daughter and her daughter’s friend innocently helping Betty on election day.
After the votes were canvassed and certified, the mayor still refused to swear in Betty. The Texas Secretary of State got involved and declared that her campaign had not acted inappropriately or illegally. The mayor now had no choice but to swear in Betty as the first female City Council Member of Sealy, Texas.
Because she was the new kid on the block and liked to have her facts straight, Betty planned to spend the first few months of her term listening and learning before digging in.
I came home after the first meeting and said, ‘Nope, I’ve got to start right now.’ I said something is going on in the city. I don’t know what it is, but I would not have been elected if people hadn’t sensed there was a problem,” Betty explained.
Little did she know that her instinct that something was amiss would lead to a multiyear investigation into the mayor’s Sealy Regional Airport project.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, and ABC Channel 13 News descended upon Sealy, Texas. The FAA terminated the project due to the misappropriation of funds, which they labeled “fraud.” Ultimately several indictments issued against individuals involved in the project were sent to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas located in Houston.
Later an agent from the Inspector General’s office told Betty the U.S. Attorney had dismissed the indictments. When she asked the U.S. District Attorney, why he had dismissed them, he said, “Lady, I don’t have to tell you a damn thing.”
The investigation extended into her terms as mayor, and eventually, a local developer filed a lawsuit for $15 million against Betty, the City of Sealy, and other individuals.
After eight days in court and Betty’s seven hours on the stand, the judge threw out the lawsuit against the individuals.
On the ninth day, the jury found the City of Sealy innocent.
An editorial proclaimed, “the truth shall set you free.”
In 1986, about six months into her city council term, the mayor asked Betty to run for mayor because he said he wouldn’t seek re-election. She initially declined to run, but again, supporters urged her on. It was also her realization that there were issues within the city that she could help improve that led to her filing for mayor.
And so did the mayor — even though he had said he would not seek re-election.
Betty’s mayoral run was onerous but was worth it for the city.
Campaign ads by male candidates ran with slogans like “We’re not going to skirt the issues,” clearly pointing to the gender of one female city council candidate and Betty.
“I said to John, ‘They think I’m going to beat them. They’re both trying to take me down,” Betty remembered.
She did beat them. Betty won with 437 votes compared to 327 for the 10-year incumbent mayor.
“I was the only one talking and asking questions, so they just put me in,” Betty laughed.
In anticipation of the mayor again refusing to swear in Betty as mayor, a group of Sealy residents signed a petition at 1:15 a.m. on April 11, 1986. The petition acknowledged that Betty had taken the oath of office in the presence of Earl J. Frnka, Jr. and officially made her the first female mayor of the City of Sealy.
Every day at 4:00 p.m. after teaching at Sealy High School, she would head to City Hall to begin her second job as mayor.
What should have been a time of celebration and productive work was a dark time for her family. Betty’s husband’s meat plant caught on fire shortly after she was elected mayor. At another time, someone let his customer’s cows out of their stalls in the middle of the night.
After the Office of the Inspector General had been in Sealy for six months investigating the Sealy Regional Airport project, he told Betty to hide anything personal, including family photos in her office in City Hall. Betty said, “It’s a small town. Everyone already knew who my husband was and that I had a daughter.”
Betty often said she is over all the things that happened during her time in office, but she’s never forgotten how her family was hurt during her first few years.
There were some men who took time to warm to the idea of a woman mayor, but Betty met comments with a sense of humor. When City of Sealy employees told her they couldn’t work for a woman because her place was in the home, she laughed and said, “‘Go find John Reinbeck and tell him my place is in the home.’”
During her 18-year tenure, Betty led the city through tremendous physical growth (40% increase) and population (from 4,100 to more than 6,000 citizens, nearly identical to today’s population).
The police department moved from a temporary building to a permanent facility, and the city’s water and sewer capacity doubled.
The city of Sealy also adopted its Home Rule Charter allowing the city to be managed under laws that apply specifically to the city’s needs and circumstances. The City of Sealy seal was created and dedicated in August 1993.
Thanks to Betty’s leadership, today we enjoy a 27-acre park where Little League Baseball players learn to throw, hit and catch. Now known as Chapman B&PW park, it also features a lighted basketball court, tennis court, picnic area, and a 1.5-acre fishing lake.
In 1986, two Chamber of Commerce officers approached Betty and asked if she would support a Fantasy of Lights festival in what is now Abe & Irene Levine Family Park and a Fantasy of Lights Parade, a can’t-miss holiday event now in its 36th year.
Also, when Willamette Industries' corrugated box facility and Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems Division opened in Sealy, they brought jobs and the attention of other businesses with them. The Walmart Distribution Center project also got underway, which she credits to City Manager John Maresh’s preparation and team mentality. The delicious breakfast Sealy served the Walmart team didn’t hurt either.
Betty also oversaw the Outlet Center project and managed the property for seven years.
In 1998, after being nominated by the Sealy Chamber of Commerce, Betty received the American Hometown Leadership Award and a $5,000 community improvement grant from Walmart and the National Center for Small Communities given to “outstanding leaders of cities with populations of 25,000 or less.”
In 1986, but he found time to run for the US eighth congressional district seat, which Jack Fields had vacated. From the deck of her sister and brother-in-law‘s RV, she campaigned against five male candidates, including Rep. Kevin Brady, who still holds the seat.
“We all became friends. There was no yelling, throwing things, criticizing others,” she said as she explained the differences between the climate then and now. “We learned how to enjoy each other we got our points across and then let the voters decide. That’s how it used to be.“
The most prized accomplishment is how the city of Sealy government and, by extension, the community came together after a time of opposition and corruption.
“You cannot do a good job if you don’t have good people. I surrounded myself with people who knew more than I did,” she said. “I told the people I worked with that I’d put them up against any other local government in the state. And I truly meant it!”
Betty shares the spotlight with City Manager Maresh, award-winning Director of Finance Steven Kutra, county officials like former County Judge and current Mayor Carolyn Cerny Bilski, and many dedicated council members, city managers, and employees over the years. She says that this ability to work together for the city's good led to the city's success at the time.
Betty’s leadership extended beyond the city limits of Sealy to the Governor’s office.
Governor George W. Bush appointed Mayor Reinbeck to the State Advisory Committee, which reviews and approves infrastructure and community development grants. She served on the review committee for six years until she resigned as mayor in 2004.
Governor Rick Perry also appointed Betty to the Texas Building and Procurement Commission, now the Texas Facilities Commission. At the same time, she also served on the Office of Rural Community Affairs task force and the Association of Rural Communities in Texas board of directors.
From 2005 to 2011, Betty led the Tomball Economic Development Corporation (EDC) as Executive Director, which proved to be one of the most dramatic times of change for the town northwest of Houston.
During this time, Betty also served as the Texas Facilities Commission's chair appointed by Governor Perry.
Betty also befriended U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, representing both Sealy and Tomball. At her retirement from the Tomball EDC, he expressed her contribution simply, “She has been a wonderful asset to her community.'
Betty Reinbeck had no plans to break through the glass ceiling of Sealy’s all-male government during the 1980s and 1990s, but in doing so, she left a lasting legacy for the city’s female leaders.
“(Betty’s) example of taxpayer accountability and fiscal responsibility regardless of personal stress and sacrifice continued during her lengthy tenure as Mayor as well in all her other endeavors,” said mayor Bilski, who served with Betty as a member of City Council from 1986 to 1994 and then as County Judge.
“She had the gift to balance dignity and respect with a no-nonsense approach to serving the public. She represents all that is good about public service whether you are a male or female elected official, and I can tell you I will always do my best to honor her legacy and serve our citizens with that same integrity and fiscal responsibility.”
Betty turned 80 this year and continues to live in Sealy. While she stays away from politics these days, she does have dreams for Sealy.
“I love this town. I hope it will continue to deal effectively with growth and maintain its small-town charm and atmosphere,” Betty expressed.
For future women leaders, she advises to “Believe in yourself. Don’t let people tell you that you can’t do it. Stay informed. Speak up when you know you have to.”
'And always use a firm handshake.'
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