It is one of the rawer chapters in recent Seagoville city government history. Back in March 2014, Mayor Harold Magill publicly pushed for City Manager Larry Graves to be placed on administrative leave while the Texas Rangers investigated an alleged embezzlement scheme tied to the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
According to a March 12, 2014 report from WFAA, the controversy centered on an audit completed the previous October that accused Rebecca Roberts, then head of the Seagoville Economic Development Corporation, of embezzling $70,000 in taxpayer money. Roberts denied the allegation, according to WFAA.
The story took a more personal turn for City Hall because Roberts and Graves were reportedly living together at the time. Per WFAA’s reporting, roughly $6,300 of the allegedly misused funds had gone toward laying carpet in Graves’ home, a detail that pushed Magill to publicly demand answers.
“The only thing I have done is ask the tough questions that no one else seemed to want to ask,” Magill told WFAA at the time.
A Mayor Under Pressure
WFAA reported that Magill said he believed Seagoville City Attorney Bob Hager had attempted to cover up the matter. The day after Magill spoke out on the WFAA broadcast, he formally asked the City Council to consider placing Graves on paid leave while the Rangers’ criminal investigation continued.
The same morning, according to WFAA, Magill received an unexpected response: a fellow Council member, Terri Ashmore, requested his personal email and phone records, specifically correspondence between Magill and supporters who had demonstrated for greater transparency at an Economic Development Corporation meeting the night before. WFAA reported that Ashmore did not respond to the outlet’s request for comment on why she sought the mayor’s records.
Magill told WFAA he suspected Hager was behind the request and that he had “received several threatening comments” from the city attorney, which he viewed as retaliation for speaking publicly.
The Release Taxpayers Were Waiting On
WFAA noted that on the same day Magill went public, the Economic Development Corporation’s then current director issued a news release informing residents of the alleged $70,000 embezzlement, information that according to the report had been kept quiet for roughly five months before becoming public.
Looking Back
More than a decade later, this story remains a snapshot of a tense period at Seagoville City Hall, when questions about transparency, taxpayer dollars, and the conduct of city leadership collided in a very public way. Records show Larry Graves remained City Manager through at least the fall of 2014, and Harold Magill has continued his service to the city, later returning to the Seagoville City Council. The original WFAA report does not address how the criminal investigation or the embezzlement allegations against Rebecca Roberts were ultimately resolved.
Source: WFAA, “Seagoville mayor wants city manager on leave during criminal probe,” published March 12, 2014.
This Seagoville Flashback feature revisits past news coverage relevant to Seagoville history. Quotes and details are attributed to the original reporting cited above.
