Lots of stuff this week: selling water to Kyle, food trucks, community gardens, parking lots, lawsuits, the Edward’s Aquifer, the murals around town, and so much more.
Much to discuss!
Hours 0:00 – 5:15: Some small rezonings, selling water to Kyle, a trail to New Braunfels, and an enormous amount of Land Development Code details.
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan, some impact fees, and the public art policy.
See you next time.
Hidey ho, Neighborino! We’re back. Will Council regulate data centers? Will this grandmother in Dunbar get her home repair nightmare resolved? (Seriously, her story is awful.) Get your zesty details here!
Let’s go:
Hours 0:00 – 5:07: Forming our policy on Data Centers, annexing Five Mile Dam parks, loopholes for downtown restaurants, and a total home repair horror story in Dunbar.
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: the yearly homeless Point in Time count, and the Homeless Action Plan that has been implemented by Southside over the past two years.
See you in two weeks!
Welcome back! It’s time for a big, important EMS conversation. Also CDBG money and some neat photos.
Let’s go:
Hours 0:00 – 1:56: Let me say right up front: sorry about all the digressions. CDBG money, and a bunch of cool photos.
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: The EMS discussion. This is the weighty part of the meeting.
That’s a wrap! See you in two weeks.
Aaaand we’re back! Spring break is over and we’ve got a $4 million budget hole looming for 2027. Also we’re going to start charging out-of-towners to swim at Rio Vista this summer. Enjoy?
Let’s dive in!
Hours 0:00 – 3:05: the North campus area plan, some 2027 Budget planning, paid parking at the Lion’s Club and admission fees at Rio Vista, plus some little items
They shuffled the Council calendar in March to avoid Spring Break. This means we’ve got another Council meeting this Tuesday, instead of taking a week off. See you all next week.
City Council this week: The DATA CENTER FAILED! You already know how it turns out, but I’ll give you all the spicy details on how we got there. (Also an SMPD staffing study and the new strategic plan for 2027.)
Let’s jump in:
Hours 0:00 – 8:04: The sordid tale of the death of the data center! Enjoy all the gory details, plus a smidgen of Council’s strategic plan for 2027.
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: Results from the SMPD staffing study.
That’s the meeting!
Also it’s Primary Season – Early voting is on!
Here’s all the voting days, times, and locations. Hays Dems has info on candidates.
It’s REALLY hard to find a voting guide with recommendations, and the ballot is really long. Locally, I went with these from Erin Zwiener:
Hello all! New developments that might kill the data center, and the Rooftop looses its booze permit. Also would you like a new HEB up north, and a new train overpass down south? I thought you might!
Let’s jump in:
Hours 0:00 – 7:47: The Historic Preservation Plan, some data center developments, Rooftop loses its alcohol license, and some fun items: a new HEB and a new train bridge.
I didn’t write up the 3 pm workshop, but feel free to check it out here.
We’re covering ALL of January. It’s a lot! All the action is at P&Z and the workshops:
(The actual council meeting was pretty breezy!)
Note: Between the ice on the ground and ICE terrorizing communities, our attention is getting pulled in a lot of directions. If you’re here, I appreciate it.
Here we go:
Hours 0:00 – 2:35: All little things. A PID, the Historic Preservation Plan, a little campus church, a senior citizens center, and bitcoins. Pretty quick, breezy meeting.
Bonus! 3 pm workshops: The details on the EMS mess. What’s San Marcos going to do next?
Bonus-bonus! P&Z, 1/13/26: The decisive data center moment probably happened at this meeting.
Bonus-bonus-bonus! 3 pm workshops, 1/6/26: Paid parking at City Park, fences at Rio Vista, and should we start charging an entry fee to out-of-towners?
It was the first meeting of new councilmember Josh Paselk! I thought he did a good job, especially during the EMS conversation.
Stay warm out there, and abolish ICE.
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.
….
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.
…..
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.
The San Marxist 