SMCISD Trustee Arredondo Announces Candidacy For San Marcos City Council

According to the Texas Association of School Boards, a trustee is not required to resign from his or her current office to be a candidate for another office.

By, Terra Rivers, Managing Editor

On Wednesday, July 11, San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District Board Trustee, Juan Miguel Arredondo, announced via Twitter his intentions to run for City Council.

He said a need for solutions to San Marcos’ most pressing issues, such as rapid growth, challenges faced by small business owners and entrepreneurs, increased costs of living and traffic was behind his decision to run for city council.

Arredondo, 27, filed paperwork on Wednesday to appoint a campaign treasurer, to begin raising both funds and support.

Arredondo, a two-term trustee on the San Marcos CISD School Board, said the move to enter city policy-making was a natural progression in his commitment to public service.

“It’s time for the next generation of leadership to step up and address the issues impacting every San Marcos resident,” he said.

According to a tweet, Arredondo looks forward to talking to his “neighbors about the issues, challenges and opportunities impacting all San Marcans.”

As a trustee for almost three years, Arredondo has helped oversee the district’s $80 million budget, a $107.3-million bond program and increases in student achievement but is disturbed by the overwhelming challenges many San Marcos families face.

“During my time on school board I have seen the growing pains of my constituents and their families, increased costs of living, increased difficulty getting around town, and the challenges faced by small business owners and entrepreneurs because of obstructionist actions of some elected leaders,” he said.

Arredondo is a council-appointed member of the city’s Housing Authority Commission.

He also serves on the board of directors of United Way of Hays and Caldwell Counties and previously served on the board of Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos. Arredondo volunteers with the San Marcos Education Foundation and is a member of the Heritage Association of San Marcos. He has a lengthy track record of volunteerism and leadership throughout his high school and college careers.

“San Marcos CISD District One and the rest of the school district have spoken loud and clear. In response, we have allocated funds to provide historic salary and benefit increases to all employees and in 2017 with overwhelming voter approval, we passed a $107.3-million bond package that is positively impacting every San Marcos CISD child and school,” he said. “We accomplished all of this while paying down our debt and not increasing taxes.”

Arredondo’s priority issues in the Place 6 race include:

• Manage our community’s rapid growth while safeguarding our natural resources and address short and long-term transportation needs.
• Create a business-friendly climate for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and large employers.
• Provide first responders and public safety operations the necessary training and resources to keep our community safe.
• Promote housing affordability and ownership
• Increase partnerships to promote better outcomes for San Marcos youth and families

Arredondo will continue serving on the school board.

City council member Melissa Derrick, who currently holds Place 6, has not announced her bid for re-election yet. The filing period will begin on July 21 and end August 20.

“I love my hometown and will continue to serve in any capacity that allows me to give back to the community that has given me so much. I will continue to serve as the District 1 trustee and if the voters elect me, I will step down from my position on the school board,” he said.

Three places are up for re-election this November: Mayor of San Marcos, City Council Place 5 and City Council Place 6. Early voting for the General Election opens October 22 and ends November 2. Election day is November 6.