Upcoming San Marcos City Council election- how the candidates feel about key issues in San Marcos

“Well, I think one of the big things, of course, from my perspective is infrastructure in general. And the amount of construction that we have going on in the community, and the amount of projects that we need to accomplish to keep people in the homes that are already here, get people to the businesses downtown. We have an older city, and when you have that, you have a lot of older infrastructure, and we have grown so much. And it puts such a strain on our infrastructure on all aspects of it, from the parks to the transportation aspect of it to the drainage portion of it to the electrical grid. I mean, I went 60 hours without power during the freeze, because of the strain on our grid on our section of town. Growth in general put such a strain on infrastructure, and then that affects all aspects of your community, from homeownership to businesses, to getting around, to the quality of life. I think it’s a big part of what we need to stay focused on is get these projects done, get them done in a timely manner, without putting too much strain on the community itself and affect people’s quality of life. And that’s a real challenge. And that’s really the basic function of city government is to provide those infrastructure projects and the services and goods to get people where they need to go. And to have so that you can have water and electrical. And so I think the infrastructure strain is a big deal. The other one, too, is attracting good-paying jobs and in the property taxes that kind of put a strain on the housing situation. So that’s really kind of two issues, but I think they kind of somewhat Segway together. Because we have such growth in the community, it puts a strain on our infrastructure budget. To do those projects and to be able to afford to pay for those, we need to be able to diversify the tax base. And if you bring in good employers, it takes the strain off the homeowners themselves. And then also if you’ve got good-paying jobs, we can afford to help you know, spread the wealth, right? Good-paying jobs brings more sales tax revenue, which means we can afford to pay for more infrastructure projects. So I think it all kind of Segways back to the growth issue and that’s a wide-ranging issue. But, you know, if we can bring good employers and expand the tax base, both from a property tax and a sales tax perspective, we can take some of the strain off the homeowner’s property tax issue, which segways into the affordability. You know, one of the biggest complaints I get everywhere if I knock on doors, it’s the property tax strain and keeping people in their homes, and then the infrastructure to keep people in their homes and the quality of life. So it is tough, but I think it’s something we can work through. And, we just have to be mindful of how we do these projects and the impact that it has on people’s lives during that process.”

“Yeah, so the most pressing issues right now that I have seen for local residents are affordable housing. There’s really a lack of affordable housing here in town. And it continues to become more and more. Our stock is dwindling in the affordable range. And we have a Planning and Zoning Commission, which I’m on and I fight for affordable housing options all the time. But we have a Planning and Zoning Commission in the city who seems to focus on single-family detached houses. And again, while our stock is low because we’ve had unprecedented times, unprecedented low-interest rates, I get that people have been buying what we’ve seen that we haven’t seen the stock increase in condos and townhomes and duplexes and fourplexes and small multifamily units, and one of the main reasons is because of zoning. And some of the people on the Planning and Zoning Commission and some of the people on the City Council don’t want to grow in this way. And to them, I have to say when we have a community, where 51% of our residents make less than $35,000. Yet the median, single detached family house jumped up from $269,000 to $280,000, from 2020 to 2021. That is a problem that continues to allow for people to live in town only as they make that much money, which is quite a lot. And so you have a lot of young people who are struggling. You have a lot of graduates from Texas State who want to live here who want to make San Marcos their permanent home but can’t find affordable housing. You have a lot of young professionals who are saying I don’t have that money, I have to live in some kind of apartment. I see that the stock is low, which is also driving up apartment prices. And we just don’t have options for people. So it’s a very pressing issue because I feel like if you love San Marcos, if you work here, if you play here, you should also be able to live here. And so I see this as a very pressing issue, and honestly, I get anywhere from five to 10 messages a week from people saying, “hey, Zack, you know, we just want to let you know we support you but we’re actually moving to Seguin, we’re actually moving to Kyle, we’re actually moving out to Martindale, just because it’s way more affordable.” And so it’s troubling, the city just voted to increase utility rates. The city property tax rate is struggling because we continue to see things going up. Costs of living essentials is totality going up and wages aren’t increasing at the same rate. So that’s one of the most pressing issues. The second most pressing issue is recovering from the pandemic. I know we’re still in the pandemic, and it’s very real, our numbers are surging, which is very troubling. But recovering from the pandemic. I knew a few businesses, small local businesses that had to shut their doors during the pandemic. And we have a lot of federal funds that are still yet to be allocated, millions of dollars. And I really believe that those that needed the most at this point, whether that be small local businesses, or whether that be residents that are losing their jobs, have lost their jobs, have not been delinquent on whatever bills. I believe that the city can and should take a more proactive role in helping them. We did a little bit, and I will acknowledge that but I think we can definitely do more. And again, there’s millions of dollars out there to help people and I just feel like that money should go back to the people that have been here and that shouldn’t lose their livelihood because of the pandemic, whether that be their house and mortgage, or their small business or whatever the case may be.”

“Development concerns are some of the most pressing concerns for us here in San Marcos just as they are in Austin. There has been a shortage in housing, and we have continued to have a shortage in housing for everyone who wants and needs it. I think that there is a missing build issue that we have where we need different types of housing like townhomes, duplexes, things like that. We also need to make sure that we protect our neighborhoods. In regard to successful and traditional neighborhoods, the single-family neighborhoods where we have older folks living who don’t always have the means necessary to maintain as their neighborhoods change the populations change and they are priced out of the homes that their families have held onto for generations. I’d like to make sure that we can put some protections in place for these folks. And also provide opportunities to younger folks to find a good life in San Marcos in areas where you have a chance to proliferate.”

“One: Public Safety. We need to make sure we have a safe town. For families to live in, kids to grow up in. Crime, violent crime especially, has been increasing dramatically in San Marcos. We want to make sure that we support the dangerous work that our law enforcement officers do. And also increase transparency and trust in the communities they serve. Second: Housing affordability. We want to make sure we have a town with affordable living. We’ve had a tremendous amount of single-family homes being built and big student apartments being built. But we’re missing that middle area of townhomes, accessible dwelling units. We need living situations where people can live in neighborhoods that are walkable and commutable. When you look at San Marcos, the most inviting parts of San Marcos are in the downtown square. Well, most of those buildings should not be built just a few blocks away. So there’s been an inflation in everything, groceries, housing. The city doesn’t have much to say in how much you pay for groceries, but they do when it comes to housing.”

“I think a big thing is experience, you know, I’ve been a homeowner for 20 plus years, I’ve been a community advocate. I’m a father, I’ve been involved, being a homeowner on the east side of town. I’m the only elected official East I-35 on the city government. And at one point in time, I was the only Planning Zoning Commissioner out of nine people, at least to 35 I have run multiple businesses in town. So, I have a knowledge of what it takes to run a business. I’ve had hundreds of employees over the years, I believe in pragmatic government. I believe in getting along and finding solutions and having common-sense solutions to things. Big things, I think, life experience goes a long way, and my time on PNZ and on Council and serving the community I think is a big deal. And what it impacts, you know, the infrastructure and the changes that our community has gone through over the 20 plus years that I’ve owned a home and then of course to what impacts the flooding did to our community. We have a large segment of our city is in a floodplain. And it isn’t always one event here, one event there. But going through that natural disaster and that process really, really taught me a lot about what government can and cannot do, what they’re capable of doing, what it does to the community and how infrastructure can play a part in that. And so I think that really is a big deal and I feel like I don’t know the last time someone has been on council that has been through a flood and I think that perspective deserves to be up there. Because we have so much of the city that’s in some sort of a floodplain whether it’s from the San Marcos River, the Blanco River, Purgatory Creek or Sessom Creek. It’s a real issue and has been since people have been here so I think those are probably the big things.”

“Oh, there’s quite a bit. One of the biggest things I think that sets me apart from my opponent is I am truly fighting for a walkable, bikeable, livable and sustainable San Marcos. I believe that looks like diversity, and diversity in the entire sense of a community, from different modes of housing to different people that come from different backgrounds, from different incomes living next to different incomes. There’s a beauty in all of that. And it’s been proven, we’ve seen communities like this throughout the nation. And my opponent has made it pretty clear that for certain neighborhoods, he wants certain things. And I have talked to many people in different neighborhoods, and they don’t have a problem with this. And so I think it’s an issue that many people in these positions of power have. And I hope to be able to be elected to be able to talk about it. And even if I’m not able to push it forward, I’m able to discuss these things. And so I want to be able to be that voice on Council. I am the only candidate that is born and raised in my race and that was born and raised in San Marcos. And I attended the local high school and graduated from the university. So, I have four generations also of family here. So that also sets me apart in the sense that my roots run truly deep in this community, my cares for this community. And as someone that wants to live here for the rest of my life, who wants to raise my future kids here, and their kids and their kids, I want to make sure that we just fight and do all that we can short term and long term to make sure that we have a sustainable and inhabitable San Marcos.”

“My opponent and I are veterans, he served in later years in Afghanistan. I served in the gulf war back in 1991. We’re a generation apart, as far as our services. We both served as representatives of our university. We were both on the university government back in 2006, 2007. We’re both family men. I have 4 children he has a young child and we both want what’s best for the city of San Marcos. Where we differ, we come from different ends of the political spectrum. My viewpoint and my perspective is a bit more concerned with environmental issues, as well as urban issues. I have training as an Urban Environmental Geographer. I believe I can speak authoritatively in respect to growth in regards to our environment and natural environment as we attempt to prepare for this inevitable climate change. We hear that Texas is moving from a semi-arid environment to an arid environment, we have studies from a decade ago, around 2010, that show how fast we are moving in that direction. I think the climate science shows that we are moving in that direction. I believe I have the education and I have the experience to speak more directly and more authoritatively on issues of reverently and the environment. Also, our voting records have been different since we’ve been on councils. My opponent has approved many of the types of developments on councils that I oppose. My record on the council shows that I am more likely to keep successful neighborhoods successful and keeping the character of neighborhoods, rather than allowing unrestrained developments in neighborhoods that do not need to change in the way some people would like to see them change.”

I’m not here to talk about my opponent, I’m running to make a positive difference in our community.

“I think the big thing is trying to bring up people’s incomes, we can attract good-paying jobs, then a big part that too is we’ve got to do some property tax relief for everyone. And we are discussing on council creating a Homestead Exemption and expanding the Homestead Exemption for seniors. We already have one in place now, but we’re talking about for next year, it will not be for this coming year because of the way that the appraisals come out. But we are going to help create a Homestead Exemption and I would love to see that expanded. Look, it’s a big issue when your appraisals go up year after year a significant margin. And I think that is something we could do to keep the homeowners in their homes, and we have such a high rental rate. Now those people will not see that, that that helped that relief. But we can do that for the people who have lived in their homes for 50, 60, 70 years, and try to bring down the cost. The other thing too is to work within the land development code to expand housing options and get more beds and homes here. And so you know, we keep the fees low, we make the inspection process as fast and as efficient as possible in a safe manner. But work within the code, the community worked really hard getting the land development code to diversify the options that are out there. And we have a lot of growth coming on the east side of town, which is going to bring a lot of new homes. And look it’s a supply and demand issue. And if we can bring more homes into the area, it should, in theory, bring down the cost of those homes, and then also keep people in their homes. And so I think it’s a big issue when you’re on a fixed income, and you continue to see your mortgage go up only because your taxes go up. So, I want to see us expand on the Homestead Exemption even more than we did. And then also I’m hoping that we see the developments come through that are being proposed on the east side of town. And in other parts. We have some good developments, you know, Le Cema and tres are great whispers coming online, there’s going to be a lot of homes there. And that should take some pressure off the housing market here in town.”

“There’s quite a few things that I want to do and I want to help push forward. One of the easiest and best ways to make housing affordable is through density. And I know density sometimes scares some people. But you have to think long term. And you have to think there isn’t more land being made, we’re given what we’re given. So, in order to increase housing stock, in order to increase different modes of housing, you’re going to also have to build more dense. And building more dense is also very good for the environment in the sense that if we are not building more than we are sprawling out. And when you have urban sprawl, you start to see communities going on the outskirts. But buying up land on the outskirts where there are no utilities currently, where there are no concrete. There’s no new paved roads, and all these things that come with a new community. And when you have these kinds of growth, you then have water that isn’t being runoff, and it’s soaked into the ground, which a lot of this is happening over the recharge zone or over the aquifer. So when you have urban sprawl, you see that it’s actually anti environmentalist. And as if we want to talk about the environment because we should long term. Essentially our world is on fire. We have places that are burning right now. We have communities who are talking about water shortages. And so, if you have all these new developments going on the outskirts of town, sprawling out, this is going to be bad for our community long-term. And I think because I’m young, I can see the long-term vision. I can see how we need to focus on being sustainable. So yes, while we are seeing record growth- Hays County actually was the fastest growing county in the nation with residents over 100,000. San Marcos being one of the fastest growing cities of Hays County, if not the fastest growing, we have to make sure that we plan for this kind of growth, we have the infrastructure for this kind of growth, we are protecting the environment for this kind of growth. And we have the housing stock, but it’s kind of gross. So, the simple solution to it all is going to be density. With density and different housing options comes zoning changes. And one of the biggest things that has been the most difficult thing to do is to change the zoning. Developers don’t want to come in because zoning isn’t there. And they know we have a Planning and Zoning Commission that just seems to be very anti-growth, and very anti anything other than single-family housing. And so, I will not only push to help change zoning, zoning sections to allow for this kind of growth, but also to as a council member appoint someone to the Planning and Zoning Commission that sees this kind of need for different affordable housing options. And for density. The only way we’re going to change the council to see this long-term growth is going to be by electing people that can see this that are not afraid to talk about it. It’s been a goal of the cities. It’s in our charter, actually, that we offer affordable housing. And yet still we see a city council that doesn’t continue to focus on pursuing methods and zoning options that would actually achieve this for our town. And I think for a lot of council members, to be honest with you, for a lot of council members this isn’t their reality, they aren’t actually dealing with housing crisis. They aren’t, they aren’t having to go from apartment to apartment, trying to rent, trying to find something to own that isn’t affordable. So, it’s almost like you’re a bit out of touch. And because I’m going through it myself and I meet other people, again, I have received five to 10 messages from people. They’re looking or moving out of town because they can’t find anything. It’s really troublesome. And I think a lot of people are prioritizing this, because, again, they’re not struggling with it. But because me and so many others in the town are struggling with it. It’s a priority of mine. And it’s something that needs to be done. And it’s why I’ve been so vocal about housing in my campaign. And I look forward to being that voice for people on the Dyess.”

“Adding the type of housing that would be attractive to those that want to stay in San Marcos and they may not want to rent. We need more condos. We need more duplexes and other types of plexes, we do have plenty of space and room for them. Central Texas is becoming a metropolis. I heard someone the other day call it San Austin; like San Antonio and Austin. And as our cities grow closer together, we’re coming up against issues between Kyle, San Marcos, New Braunfels. Right now, those issues aren’t something that causes much friction between the cities, but pretty soon they will be and we need to be prepared by planning ahead.”

“There is some regulatory issues that can be changed. I can give some examples. If you want to rehouse an existing home, it cannot cost more than 50% of the homes value. Or it has to be rebuilt with new building standards. Regulations that don’t allow housing to be built. It’s about smaller lots. Allowing housing being built where people want to live. Our regulatory framework has a lot to say about housing.”

“Big thing is, we’ve got to complete these infrastructure projects and flood mitigation and drainage projects. I hear it all over town in existing neighborhoods that, when the neighborhoods were built, they didn’t have issues. But because we continue to grow, they’re continuing to have issues. It’s sad and then look at look what happened with Victory Gardens. And then also my neighborhood now we’re looking at probably a three-year turnaround here in Blanco gardens, on projects. And so getting those done in a timely manner is a big deal. We need to attract good-paying jobs and expand the property tax base. The more we bring in jobs, the more we can keep the college kids graduating here in town. And there’s an opportunity for upward mobility for the people who are here. And that will help out the affordability for homeownership issues. We’ve got to fully support our first responders, we’ve had a 90% increase in violent crime in this community in the last 10 years. And that’s a real number. And so, we’ve got to help out our first responders, and that’s on top of the 20. I think it’s around 3,200 car accidents in our community last year alone, which is a real strain on our EMS, fire and police services. And so, we need to get them all the support that they need to handle the growth so that when they can do the preventive policing that will help out and alleviate some of the violent crime. So, I think those are the big ones is this, the first responders, the infrastructure projects, and bringing good jobs, we can expand the tax base and bring some proper tax relief to people.”

“Achieving affordable housing is definitely my number one top priority. I’m very passionate about it. Number two would be to attract living wage and high wage paying jobs. Again, I mentioned this statistic is very troubling that 51% of our residents make less than $35,000, which yes does include some of the more college jobs/service jobs, if you will. I still believe at whatever point in your life, if you are working 40 hours a week, and you are given you know, five-days a week, six-days a week to an employer, you should at least make enough money to live beyond the poverty wage, at least a bare minimum. So, attracting those jobs we’ve seen a lot of employers come to Hays County, however, we’ve seen some of these employers settle in and settle down in Kyle and Buda. And I think there needs to be a push from the council to attract these jobs to San Marcos. And I think sometimes we try our best to do that. But then we add certain restrictions, and you have this and you do that. And it ended up pushing employers away. So we need to be really, really, really careful. We need to have strong economy minded people on the council and strong vocal advocates for these things. And I think with anything, I know we have a partnership with the Greater San Marcos Partnership and also with the chamber. But with anything that we do, especially this field, when you have professionals in the field, need to make sure that you always have them at the policymaking table to get their input to get their advice. Because people like myself, we’re running for Council, we’re not going to know everything, you’re not going to be 100% knowledgeable on these fields on how to attract these employers. So you need to have people that are professionals in these fields at that table to help that and so that I think that’s another big a big thing that I will do, if I am elected and trying to attract those employers is making sure we have the right people at the table, giving us the right suggestions, telling us this would benefit this, is what the employer is really wanting. And not giving too much. You know, we have to give some, but we also need to make sure we  get back what we’re giving and that essentially will be, what I do and how I try to do that in attracting those employers. Another big focus of mine is making sure that we just don’t have unnecessary gross pollution, reckless development along the river and some of our water tributaries. I think if myself and another candidate loses, there could be a flip on Council in the sense that development could start happening off the river, and kind of some of more our historic neighborhood that in my opinion, just wouldn’t be good for the environment, or for the future of this town. So that’s the big push of mine to is to make sure that if I am elected to council that we don’t have this irresponsible and reckless growth, that we’re making sure that in any decision that we make, we are considering the environmental effects long-term and short-term. And we are protecting our community. Essentially, I want to make sure we have a sustainable model. And part of that is making sure we have an environment that’s inhabitable. So, besides those three things, the focus of my campaign, another big priority, the number one priority, honestly, really is just people is making sure that the residents of San Marcos are safe, they’re taking care of, they have access to basic needs to transportation. And, just making sure that we offer, again, a community that you can not only live in, that you can not only play in and work in that you can sustain a family and literally happily live in.”

“Protecting the neighborhoods right now for our residents. I am kinda concerned with some of the University’s growth purchasing land in San Marcos, taking that land off the tax roll. We need to come to a more deliberate and neighborly type of relationship with the university. We need to move forward together. We are working on transportation together, the university and the city are going to provide bus services that will be free for residents of San Marcos. I hope we can build upon that too. Come to more equitable understanding in regard to how the university continues to grow and its relationship with the city.”

“Bringing civility back to city hall. It’s been such a divisive time for our country, our state, and our community and I want to try to be a leader in our community that is going to work with all sides and be a steady hand during these uncertain times. But mostly to bring civility, stability, and compassion to city hall.”

“I know the word infrastructure just keeps coming up. But it’s the majority of where our money goes. A lot of cities don’t necessarily run their own utilities. And so not only do we have the general fund, we have the water waste, water, electric funds on top of it. So we run our own utilities. And so, we have a lot of infrastructures that we have to manage through that process. And the capital improvements book has a lot of projects and it consumes them. Besides staffing, besides personnel. It is the largest portion of our budget. And I think that you know, we have to prioritize public safety. It’s got to be one of the number one things and we have to get these infrastructure projects done. And including if and then and then get property tax relief to people. So we have to budget these homestead exemptions into the budget that they’re not going to put an impact on it. And then the growth itself should help fund some of this. Look, we have a new Amazon facility that’s going to come online, they asked for zero incentives. And it is going to be when it comes online out here at Whisper, it’s going to be a significant chunk of money to the general fund, automatically, which will bring some extra funds to the general fund to help pay for it. And the Best Buy situation was tough, with that situation, we did lose out on some revenue. And so there are always budgetary constraints, I mean, look what COVID has done to the downturn in economy and the sales tax revenue. And so I’ve been very proud of our staff, I can’t say enough of them that a lot of cities have not benefited and have struggled much more than we have on our budget.  We put a hiring freeze in place last year and we came out and I’m confident that we will come out of this pandemic better off than some and Texas, in general, tends to have that happen. But I really want to give a shout out to staff and to the council, to really holding down the line to not put us in too big of a hole, that we’re able to still fund these projects and the public safety portion of it. And so it’s a real challenge. So we’ve got our fingers crossed as a community and region and a country that we can get through this pandemic and move on and prosper and help bring prosperity to everybody. But it definitely has put a strain on things. But I do feel that San Marcos and the region in Hays County, in general, is going to fare better than most, because we were better equipped to handle it and we saw it coming and made those tough decisions at the very beginning to kind of see where we were going to come out. The budget is the biggest portion of what we do because it affects everything, right? And so the more we can kind of be prepared for these kind of incidents, that way if another pandemic happens, or who knows what kind of natural disaster happens, that we’re in better shape to be able to handle those issues.”

“The budget is big, it’s big to choose one. I’ll go with my number one priority. Besides people, housing, there’s a lot of funds, again out there right now that have been allocated from the federal government to us, that are just sitting there in a pot waiting to be allocated for it. We’ve talked a lot with a lot of housing professionals. And they say one way to make affordable housing achievable is through subsidies. And that would mean the city would have to subsidize, whether that be lots you know, the price of property or down payments, or going into certain neighborhoods, and allowing for certain things that be possible. I spoke at council meetings about this, about subsidizing housing. But I honestly would prioritize and give some of those funds and allocate some of that budget money to that. Again, it breaks my heart, knowing that people love this town are having to move out because they’re being priced out. And, again, some people that are in Council, this isn’t their reality, they don’t really think it’s a pressing issue, or that it’s an issue at all. But from someone who’s one, not only personally dealing with it, but to receive messages weekly about this, all literally virtually almost daily, about this, it really just breaks my heart and to see no one on Council and talking about this. It really is troublesome. And so I plan to go in there. I’ve been vocal about it. Anytime I have a forum, interview, a discussion, and I plan to be just as vocal if I’m elected to the dais to make sure that we’re talking about this and we’re trying to actually do something to achieve it. Even in the in the grand scheme of things if nothing is done, to have someone on the council on the Dyess with this in this position of power to discuss these things to make it a reality known staff, to the city manager to the community, that people are hurting. I think it’s just most important. But there is money, there is a budget, and it can be done. So it’s gonna take people like me that are willing to go out there and do it, compared to someone like my opponent who saw it. So that honestly would be my biggest priority when it comes to the budget.”

“I think we should apply more funding to homelessness issues as the population grows in the city of San Marcos. As Austin becomes draconian in their treatment of homelessness. I also believe that we should apply more budget towards preparing our city for the environment of the future because our environment is heating up. I believe we’ve come out of the pandemic pretty strongly in San Marcos. So, our budget is looking pretty good and our city staff has done an excellent job. We haven’t had that many devastating short falls or anything like that. So I think we are on track.”

“Number one is of course public safety. And then infrastructure is very important. If anything, the Winter storm showed us the importance of infrastructure and before that the floods in 2015 showed us the importance of storm water drainage. Probably the two most important things budget wise is public safety, infrastructure, and improving our greenspaces and parks.”

“Look, we already have a significant amount. So that’s kind of a two-fold question. And I think the big thing that we have to do is really divide the difference between green space and Parkland. And Parkland is, you know, multi-use, you know, trails, benches, grills, access to the river, playscapes, those type of things. Green space is semi so called Parkland to be kept in green space, and maybe not necessarily developed, or for multi-use at this point in general. And, you know, so I think it is a real issue, when we own a lot of land. You look at how much we have total, I think it’s about 2500 acres, if I’m correct, on green space and Parkland in the city, including Purgatory, and the green spaces, and a lot of that, isn’t meant to really necessarily be developed. So for doing some purchases, to not necessarily for some flood mitigation for preservation of the Edwards Aquifer, preservation of the springs, some environmentally sensitive, sensitive properties, I’ll be for that. But we have to be honest with the public about what our capacities are to patrol, maintain, clean. And what the difference is, I think that’s really an issue of education to the community of the difference between Parkland and green space. And, we definitely have issues with not having enough marshals and, and for public safety in general to patrol and clean what we have. And and look, we collect a lot of revenue off the tourists that come to the community. And I think we owe it to the to the community and to the residents and to our visitors, to have those safety features in place and to keep it clean, and protect the river but also protect the individuals that are visiting here. So I will support some of the green space stuff with knowing that, you know, some of this may not ever get developed. And it may never need to be, you know, the preservation of green space is good for wildlife. It’s, you know, on trails are not overly difficult to maintain and don’t cost the taxpayers a lot of money. There are some safety issues with it. But I think that that big separation of parkland and green space is a big deal. And I think that’s a discussion that the community needs to have at all times.”

“Oh, that kind of doesn’t make sense, right? You purchase all this land, which I think this isn’t only particular to the parks department and kind of the green space area. The city has also kind of purchased some other properties with no plans. I think this is part of pointed into, I’d even say infrastructure in the future growth into this sustainable growth that I feel like I always advocate for my campaign. We need to have plans, we need to have short-term plans. We need to have long-term plans and we need to have people on the council who can see that and who have the ability to plan for that. So if there is something on the agenda where we vote on and agree to purchase some track, some green space track, we’d also make sure that we have funding to fund the parks department. And if we don’t have the funding at the time when we’re looking at purchasing something, we need to make a plan as to how we will have that funding whether it’s charging to use a trail, whether it’s charging the park, whatever the case may be with that. Whatever avenues we can explore, we need to make sure that we have funding to fund the personnel that would obviously kind of go out there and monitor all that because you don’t want things going on out there that are going to be bad. I know there have been some incidents at the Purgatory Creek Park, and some other parks that have gone on. So you want to make sure that you have the staff and the personnel to fund something like that if you make that purchase, you know, and again, I know I kind of mentioned earlier, there’s been some, some very questionable purchases from the city in which they have no plans to do or they don’t have the staff or personnel. And I think that’s just irresponsible. So if I am elected to the Dais to the council, I definitely will make sure I have that in mind if we do ever come across something like that, where we have to purchase land, or green space or open space.”

“I would not advocate for buying more park land without coming to some type of understanding in regards to making sure we have enough park rangers to watch over the parks and patrol.”

“When I was on city council there were several developments where we were given green space over our edwards recharge aquifer zone. Anytime that we can try to preserve our hill country and not have the taxpayers pay for it is a great thing. But using taxpayer dollars to buy green space when it needs to be done, if its done, it should be something that adds to the character of the town or, more importantly, our existing park spaces right now should be a priority.”

“It’s disappointing to me, I understand the frustration that some people feel and I feel really sorry for staff and for the public to have to sit through that. One of my goals is to try to bring some stability to Council and some decorum. It’s extremely important, and I think I think the pandemic has some responsibility in that. When you’re on zoom, it’s not a very humanizing position to be in. And when you’re on camera, I think it’s easier to dehumanize your fellow colleagues. And I think that has a lot to do with it. I think it’s the decorum in general in the nation that we’re having, that we’re not having honest conversations amongst each other, and then it gets, you know, gets out of hand. And it is disappointing to me, one of the things I enjoyed about PNZ a lot was, no matter what our diversity of opinions, there were, we always got along, and I always listen to my colleagues and they had sway over me. And I think we are missing some of that now. And, so I’m hoping that when we all get back to the Dyess itself, some of that will help, you know, we’ve had some in-person meetings to do some discussions and those weren’t so much better than some of the meetings. These late nights it’s stressful, you know, we’re at the Dyess and on zoom for up to 10, 11, 12 hours at a time making very deep policy decisions and discussions. And it’s frustration, I think, venting out. But it is a real issue. And it’s not fair to the community, to staff, you know, to all of us who try to work hard to try to have decorum. And to get along, because when it comes down to it, we’re all colleagues here. And I think we all do care about the community. And it’s extremely important that we get along so that we can listen to each other and try to come up with compromises and solutions to the community. And, for the decisions that we have to make. So it is a real issue. And I think zoom is part of the problem. And I think the late-night and just the national narrative, I think it’s gotten to the point where I think it’s just, we have a hard time having deep policy discussions amongst each other, without it being without becoming vitriolic.”

“Honestly, it’s really disgusting. It’s disgusting because everyone should have the same level of respect for everyone on that council that we are all opposed. They are all elected officials. And so for a few people to feel like they can cut off people’s mics, they cannot respect their time. Let them finish their sentences, honestly, just straight disgusting. I think it’s a reflection on the leadership that we have on the people that are doing that. And I hope the community sees that. And I hope that people that have been in those put in those situations are not afraid to speak to that next election or the following election, and elections matter, y’all. So it’s, it’s clear as day and I definitely think that people need to kind of question themselves, or maybe see that those moments on video and sit back and say, hey, maybe I need to change this or and at the very minimum, at the bare minimum at least apologize. But yeah, ultimately, it’s disgusting.”

“Well, you know, city council right? Local politics. They can get pretty acrimonious. Thats something that we experience across the board. Not just in San Marcos but everywhere in our nation right now. But on a local level. We can talk to each other and come to some sort of compromise. I believe the culture comes from the council. When you have this type of behavior on dais, that means that we should be concerned with making sure certain members are communicating clearly. They’re not holding things close to their heart, they’re speaking about it in a way that they can come to a form of mutual understanding in regards to proper conduct on the dais. We all come from different places and not all of us come from the same culture. Different people have different ways of communicating. I do think that there is a standard that needs to be upheld in regards to our politics and we do need to get back to that.”

“Like I said, the first thing I want to tackle is bringing civility back to city council. It’s been such a divisive time in our nations history and we’re seeing that filter all the way down into our community and I want to bring civility back to city hall. I want to be a steady hand.”