Corridor News Sits Down With San Marcos City Council Candidates For Places 3 And 4

“I would like to see the full proposed budget be made available to the public and let them have adequate time to digest it prior to the public hearings. The budget is very important and we need accountability and transparency…”

San Marcos City Council Place 3 Candidate: Amy Stanfield

Amy Stanfield and her husband, Steve, have lived in San Marcos for the last 12 years and have been part of the San Marcos small business community even longer. The couple own Texas State Optical of San Marcos, which is located on Hunter Rd.

Amy is actively engaged in my community through volunteer work in organizations such as the San Marcos Education Foundation and the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce.

A recipient of several San Marcos community awards including Shining Stars Under 40 in 2012 and in 2015 she won the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce Ambassador of the Year. She has served as the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce Board Chair and is currently on the Board of Directors for San Marcos Young Professionals.

“I have considered running for City Council for several years and feel now is the right time to take the next step to serve my community on a different level,” she said. “San Marcos is a wonderful place to live, work and play, and I want to assist in making it even better.”

QUESTION 1: The fate of Cape’s Dam is a topic on the community’s mind. Many citizens are asking to rebuild the dam while others believe it should be removed. With the safety of boaters, no bids to repair, overcrowded current river parks and the possibility of endangered species being wiped out, what are your thoughts on preserving history but also taking into account the risks of safety for the people who access the river and the possible extinction of wildlife in the area and why do you feel the way you do?

AMY STANFIELD: I honestly don’t think that they should go forward with the removal. They had one expert who did a report, and I’ve looked at it, and there’s a lot of inaccuracies. I’m not an expert, but I can tell that there are inaccuracies. I also heard that he did a second report and has changed some data. I know that he’s (Dr. Thom Hardy) done presentations in other areas.

I think even in a different country, using this same data as a model of some kind of work that he does, and that’s even different than what he has presented to the council. So I think they really need to go back and say, “No, we’re going to reconsider this.” And the recreational value of it, and with the Mill Race historical value, I think we just really need to repair it and let that be available to our community versus just trying to tear it down.

Again, I’m not a scientist, but my understanding is that if they remove the dam, it’s going move all that sediment down … which even the flooding didn’t move that sediment down, so is it really going do it?

And, then the fountain darter likes the current that’s there right now. I don’t think it will be worth removing it verses what it offers in historical and recreational value. I want to keep Capes Dam and either repair or replace it.

QUESTION 2: If you had been on the City Council when they recently voted on filing an Amicus Brief on SB4…..how would you have voted and why?

AMY STANFIELD: I would have voted against submitting the brief. I think that it’s a state issue and I don’t like that they gave in and tried to make it a local issue. However, I understand that people are fearful of it.

I trust our police officers. I don’t think that they’re going to do anything different than they’re already doing. And I do not think that they currently racially profile.

I also don’t think that it’s the city’s business, and they (city council) didn’t either at the beginning, and then they went back and changed it. It is just not something we should deal with on the local level. And you need to stick with it and not let someone or some group change your mind after an official statement.

QUESTION 3: Due to the fact that they the City of San Marcos released 1/3 of the proposed budget to be reviewed by the residents of San Marcos and only held two public hearings, how did city council expect residents to comment on the city’s budget during the two public hearings?

AMY STANFIELD: I don’t think the citizens can make fully-informed inquires if they do not have access to the full budget.

I would like to see the full proposed budget be made available to the public and let them have adequate time to digest it prior to the public hearings.

The budget is very important and we need accountability and transparency.

QUESTIONS 4: Texas State University has had record enrollments for several years in a row and the 2017 fall enrollment was over 38,000. Every semester, students are required to move out of their apartments and dorms for roughly 3 weeks in every year in August.

The majority of students, having full or part-time jobs, are unable to move home. The mandatory move outs, strands a large majority of these 38,000 students’ homeless for 3 weeks out of the year, which leaves some students with no choice but to live in their vehicles.

If you are to become a council member, what will you do to find a solution to this public safety and public health issue that goes ignored in San Marcos?

AMY STANFIELD: Okay, I have an adopted daughter that lives here in town and whenever those weeks come up, she always comes back and stays with us. But I didn’t know that it was a citywide mandatory kick-out. That is alarming to me that they can be allowed to do that.

Because that does displace, I realize maybe some students go home for the summer, but a lot of them want to get back in here early and get things going, get their jobs, get their place set up.

I have another daughter that goes to Sam Houston, and she does not have that gap, so I don’t know if that’s unique to San Marcos. However, I’m not for government going in and telling private businesses how they can or cannot do something, or how to run their business, but I do think that we should look at this issue, at a minimum.

That has to be hard on the students. However, I’m not going to say that the city council should make an ordinance and tell them what to do, but we should at least look at the issue and work with the university as to what could be done.