Foreboding week at Council! You get a sneak peek of Cape’s Dam and the Data Center, both which will blow up in 2026.
Here we go!
Hours 0:00 – 3:21: Pretty much just Cape’s Dam and the data center!
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: Results from the community survey, updates on the Office of Community Support and Resource Navigation, Participatory Budgeting, and the airport.
That’s a wrap for 2025! See you in January.
This week at council: You’ll come for the death of Flock Cameras, but you’ll stay for the deliciously petty Price Center mural discussion! Exciting meeting this week.
First, though: VOTE FOR SAUL in the council run-off. Details below.
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Onto the meeting!
Hours 0:00 – 1:17: Everything but Flock Cameras! Some zoning, and some TIRZ stuff. But mostly, please let me tell you a very funny story about the Price Center mural.
Hours 1:17 – 3:50: FLOCK CAMERAS go down in flames! Plus a new speed limit on FM 110, and some suburban sprawl.
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: Should we be sister cities with Inverness, Scotland? What about Monclova, Mexico?
And that’s a wrap.
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It’s Council run-off time! Please do go vote!
Details
Early Voting:
Monday and Tuesday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Location: Hays County Election Office (the old Car Museum, on Stagecoach and Hunter.)
Election day:
Saturday, December 13th, 7 am – 7 pm
Locations: Broadway Polling Location (401 Broadway Street #A)
Hays County Election Office (the old Car Museum, on Stagecoach and Hunter.)
Go here for full details on when and where to vote.
My Opinion
Saul Gonzales: I’m endorsing Saul. He’s willing to state his positions. He promised to vote no on the data center, to remove Cape’s Dam, to remove Flock cameras. Has shown his cards about how he’s going to vote.
And he’s kept his word! This past Tuesday, he voted against renewing the Flock Cameras contract.
Josh Paselk: No. First off, he never sent answers in. He won’t say how he’ll vote on anything.
Literally all we know is that he’s backed by a very sleazy PAC representing wealthy donors. They have outspent other candidates by a factor of 10. [Update: The first link may not work. It goes to a FB post about this mailer. Here’s a different link about the sleaziness.]
All they seem to care about is that wealthy donors should be able to hoard their wealth:
LISTEN YOU NUMBSKULLS. It is better for business when poor people have a little extra money to spend! A rising tide lifts all boats. You can pay your fair share and grow your wealth!
And then they’ve gotten deeply gross with the mailers this past week.
I can’t stand this mentality. Vote for Saul.
Short little meeting this week! A little bit of zoning, a lot of HSAB grants, and a little bit of Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Here we go!
Hours 0:00 – 2:04: Blanco Gardens is getting some new houses, we unpack the HSAB grants to nonprofits, and we talk about the guy behind the Dunbar name.
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: Historical preservation grants and more Dunbar.
There’s one more city council meeting before the run-off election, so I’ll save my election thoughts for then.
This week: contracts for SMPD and SM Fire Fighters, with a win for transparency. Also a Dunbar Historic Walk, some election talk, and a call to support our school librarians.
Here we go!
Hours 0:00 – 2:29: Basically all about contracts for SMPD and SMFD. How transparent should the process be?
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: One quick little workshop on a new Dunbar History Walk
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But first! Two quick bits on the election and school libraries.
1. Well, we had an election.
I’m still grossed out by that PAC dumping $50K to sway a local election towards their preferred candidates.
Here’s the problem: we actually have some local limits on campaign donations:
Now look at the donor amounts to the Brighter Future for San Marcos PAC. Almost all are over $300, and most are between $600-$10,000. (And that list is not up to date.)
That PAC spent $35,000* supporting Matthew Mendoza and Josh Paselk. But they don’t donate it to campaigns, so the local laws don’t apply. The PAC just directly buys mailers and newspaper ads. So Matthew and Josh benefit, but would not be required to recuse themselves from votes that benefit the donors.
This is legal, but it’s deliberately sabotaging the intent of our local laws. What bullshit, right?
*also out of date. My understanding is it’s more like $50K+.
2. Our school libraries
At the past two school board meetings, around 10 or so people from New Braunfels, Seguin, Corpus, etc have shown up to harass our district. They find the spiciest parts of any book at any school library, and berate our school board for it. (They also post the spiciest parts to social media! Everyone gets titillated at the thought of saying such naughty words in public.) Then there’s a whole procedure where they flag books, we have to pull the books, review them, and bring the recommendations to the school board.
It might be nice to have some local voices supporting our librarians, our libraries, and our school district at these meetings?
Obviously say whatever you want, but if you’re stuck, I think the major points are things like:
Want to speak in person?
The next meeting is at 6 pm on Monday, November 17th, at the Felipe Reyna District Offices located at 1331 Hwy 123. (Right by Goodnight Middle School.)
You are supposed to sign up ahead of time. Swing by the Superintendent’s office (same address) or call (512) 393-6700 ext. 6767.
Want to email your thoughts?
There’s no single group email address, sadly. Use Anne.Halsey@smcisd.net, jessica.cain@smcisd.net, sandra.lopez@smcisd.net, Margie.Villalpando@smcisd.net, John.McGlothlin@smcisd.net, clem.cantu@smcisd.net, and miguel.arredondo@smcisd.net.
Or you can find them all here.
I am sure the school board and SMCISD librarians would appreciate your kind words!
What if City Hall moved downtown? Let’s dish. Also Tenant’s Right to Organize makes it across the finish line, Sights & Sounds is back, and – always – some election talk.
Election talk first!
Ok, everyone! This is an off-year election. Local elections can get decided by twelve votes, or fifteen votes, or even five votes.
Your vote will never make a bigger difference! Go vote!
My endorsements for Council:
Place 1: Chase Norris
Place 2: Um. Argh. I have reservations about every candidate.
I voted for Saul Gonzales, because of Cape’s Dam.
Charter amendments: there are 12.
All of them besides Prop C: minor and straightforward. Vote in favor.
Proposition C: Should the Mayor’s term be four years long, instead of two?
I don’t have a strong opinion, but I voted against it. Do whatever you want.
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Voting days, times and places: here
My full voting guide: here
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And now onto this week’s meeting:
That’s all, folks!
Hello everybody! It’s RIVER TIME! Let’s talk about the ugly fences, the litter (which did get better), and whether to start charging admission. Also tenants’ rights and some election talk.
Here we go!
Hours 0:00 – 1:15: Tenant’s Right to Organize and participatory budgeting. It’s a short meeting!
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: Here’s all your river talk. This is where the action is.
Election Guide – Next Week
Look for my voting guide next Sunday, October 19th. I’ll recommend my favorite candidates (and also my opinion on city charter amendments.)
Early voting starts on the 20th!
In the meantime, you can meet the candidates yourself:
There are also existing resources:
Let me know if there’s anything I’ve missed, and I’ll add it in!
We have a budget! We mangled it at the last second, and now we’re stuck with it. Read how we shot ourselves in the foot here.
Here we go!
Hours 0:00 – 3:25: The budget and tax rates. I may have gotten a wee bit cranky about how this went…
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: Very quick updates on the Tenants Right to Organize policy and police car rental policy, and an update to the Airport Master Plan.
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One final note: The last few weeks have obviously been pretty dicey, politically. Clearly the First Amendment protections on political speech are slipping. I don’t yet know what this means for me, and for the blog. For now, I’m taking a wait-and-see approach.
Fingers crossed for democracy!
Morning, everyone! It’s AI Data Center time. Uh-oh. Read here about the long (and unsatisfying) semi-resolution!
Here we go:
Hours 0:00 – 7:58: Pretty much just a full deep dive into the AI Data Center thing
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: It’s budget season! Kicking things off with some tax rates and utility rates.
On a totally different note: quiet zones are coming back! Sorry trains, you’re on vibrate now.
Fire up the press! We’re back! This week, we’re talking about the land next to El Centro, an ordinance protecting tenants, and a sketchy SMPD grant for $25K.
Let’s go!
Hours 0:00 – 3:27: the land next to El Centro, the Lions Club, and a $25K grant for SMPD.
Hours 3:27 – 4:14: Should San Marcos have a Tenants Rights to Organize ordinance? (yes.)
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: the next Community Survey, and lowering utility late fees
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And also:
Election season will be here soon! Here’s what’s up:
Place 1: Currently held by Matthew Mendoza. So far, Matthew and Chase Norris have filed to run.
Place 2: Currently held by Saul Gonzales. Saul, Josh Paselk, and Brandon Oles have filed to run.
Candidates have until August 16th to file paperwork to be on the ballot. Exciting times!
It’s a city council week! Before the terrible flooding and tragedies – (feels like a million years ago) – council discussed tax breaks for a Texas State boutique hotel, Gary Job Corps, funding for veterans, and more.
My heart goes out to those affected by the flooding and tragedies. What an unimaginable nightmare.
The meeting:
Hours 0:00 – 3:03: Texas State wants a fancy-shmancy boutique hotel, and we want to give them a lot of money for it. Plus some zonings, Gary Job Corps, and funding for veterans.
(There were two workshops: rules for HSAB grant funding, and reallocating the last bits of Covid money. But I didn’t write them up.)
Finally: this is the only meeting in July. New 2025-26 season of City Council Stars starts in August!
The San Marxist 