Category: Meetings

August 15th City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

This was a very short meeting! Some weeks are like that. Let’s hop to it. 

Hours 0:00 – 1:26: In which we talk about Leah Avenue and Rattler Road. We worry about flooding in Hills of Hays, and the low water level in the river. And some property taxes and public transit.

Some election talk:

Place 3: Alyssa Garza is the incumbent. There’s currently no one running against her. Griffin Spell had filed to run against her, but he withdrew his candidacy.

Vote for Alyssa! She is great, and she’s your only choice! Win-win.

Place 4: Shane Scott is the encumbent. Adam “Atom Von” Arndt is running against him.

Preliminary thoughts:
Shane is basically your standard libertarian. He likes businesses, he does not like authority, and he really does not like council discussions that exceed his attention span.

Adam “Atom Von” Arndt is very green. Or at least, he was when he ran against Saul Gonzalez last year. I’m curious to know what he’s done in the past year to grow as a candidate. (If he wants to learn city politics, may I politely recommend this very blog?)

If Atom wants to have a prayer against Shane, he needs to get out there and shake a lot of hands. Shane is very well known at this point, and I don’t think many people have any idea who Atom is. Lots of signs help too, but shaking hands and meeting voters one at a time is how this town still functions.

August 21st is the last day to file to run, so we’ll know by Monday night if there’s any wild cards. But my guess is that this is it.

August 1st City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

I just want to point out a pattern. Several times in this meeting, this happens:

“Look, here’s a problem!”
“Yes, yes! We all agree that this is a problem!”

Then we sit, waiting for someone to make a motion to fix the problem.

No one makes a motion.

Everyone shrugs and moves on. It drives me crazy. You all just acknowledged it was a problem! You got to third base, but then got bored and never got to home plate.

Oh well, moving right along:

Hours 0:00 – 1:29:  A bunch of fiddly little items.  And my favorite: the curfew is dead!
Hours 1:29 – 2:57:  In which the Land Development Code is scrutinized.  Some important changes are coming.
Bonus workshop: There’s some nasty chemicals in the ground near the town square. Read all about our plan to do nothing!  We’re doing it responsibly, though. 

Welcome back!

June 6th City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

This week’s meeting is mostly the kind of small scale local dithering that I love best.  Parking fee structures and new art installations, all in one week? Count me in!

Hours 0:00-1:39:  A little on SMART/Axis Terminal, a little on CDBG money, and a lot on parking.

Hours 1:39-3:02: A little ARP, a little art, and a lot more on parking. 

The summer months are quiet: there’s only one meeting in June and one meeting in July.  July will have some hot-button items, though – namely, the SMART/Axis Terminal.

The July meeting is on the 3rd, which is a Monday. The 4th of July is a Tuesday. It’s a very weird day to have a big meeting with consequential decisions, but there you have it.

May 16th City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

This was a busy week! We’re going to talk about comp plans, Meet & Confer, and we’re kicking it all off with a measured and reasoned invocation from the lovely Satanic Temple. Who’s in?

Here we go:

May 9th P&Z meeting: In which I just had to yell and stamp my feet about the stupid new comp plan, VisionSMTX+, for a minute.

Hours 0:00-2:40: In which Lanzifer Longinus graced us with a delightfully Satanic prayer, and I complain about 1100 acres of sprawl

Hours 2:40-3:17:  The demoralizing conclusion of Meet-and-Confer.  Spoiler: we never actually asked for the Hartman Reforms.

Hours 3:17-4:14: The eviction day now has an end date.  There’s a slight reckoning slightly with how the SMART Terminal procedure went so badly.  And an end to the General Contractor licensing test to pull a permit in San Marcos.

That’s a wrap for this week! Enjoy the beginning of low traffic season!

May 2nd City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

Election day was yesterday, and it was a good one! Let’s celebrate some election outcomes:

District 1: Jessica Cain!
District 2: Margie Villapando!
The four bonds: All passed!  Everything worked out great.

Thank you to all of you that turned out to vote, and to everyone who worked on those campaigns and put in the hard work. Let’s take a beat to celebrate! Ok, back to work.

(I am still embarrassed that I posted the wrong voting district last time.  I promise to triple-check my work going forward.)

Onto last Tuesday’s meeting:

Hours 0:00- 2:04:  We take a deep dive into the newly proposed SMPD contract.  I found Chief Standridge to be kinda infuriating and I got a little steamed up about it.

Hours 2:04-2:58: Some zoning cases. And a brief trip down memory lane, in a gondola.

Hours 2:58 – 4:37:  The latest on the SMART Terminal, putting boots on cars, and some talk of ending the eviction delay.

That’s a wrap! Enjoy those good election outcome vibes while they last!

April 18th City Council meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

SMART SMART SHMART TARTS RATS TERMINAL…It was a long city council meeting last Tuesday.

Let’s get into it!

Hours 0:00-4:50: Almost five hours of SMART Terminal.  Holy moly.

Hours 4:50-5:25: And just thirty-five minutes on everything else. Some zonings, some carport talk. 

But wait! Before you leave!

SMCISD Elections: Early voting starts tomorrow! (Days and locations here.)

Here’s what’s on the ballot:

1. Four separate bonds: everyone can vote for these.   (Full details here.) 

My opinion: vote yes on all 4. 

The first is required by the state , and we have to pass it in order to not raise taxes. The next three are facilities that we need – lots of building repair, swimming pool, and stadium turf.  The total tax cost is $0.01.   In other words, if you have a $300K house, you’ll pay an extra $30 per year.

2.  District 1:   Jessica Cain vs Philip Muzzy.

Here’s District 1:

My opinion: vote Jessica Cain. 

She’s is the progressive candidate.  She seems really great.  She’s a pastor, has kids in the district, and has been substitute teaching in the district to really understand it.  (The other guy, Phillip Muzzy, is conservative/military background.)

 3. District 5:  Margie Villapondo vs Kevin Carswell.

Correction!! District 2 is the right district! Fixed the map:

My opinion: Vote Margie Villapondo

Margie Villapondo is the better candidate by far. She’s been on the board for decades, and the opponent is super-MAGA, I hear. 

If you need a more detailed map of the school districts, go here.

Listen: school board elections have been decided by 15 votes or even 5 votes in recent years. Both of those elections hurt so much to lose. Please go vote, especially if you live in District 1 or District 2.

April 4th City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

You all, I cannot stop talking about the SMART Terminal. It’s not even part of City Council this week, but I still have a lot to say.

P&Z meeting, 3/27/23: I found out way more information from the P&Z meeting two weeks ago than I’ve ever gotten on the SMART Terminal from a city council meeting. So let’s talk about that.

Hours 0:00-2:03: A little empty plot next to Embassy Suite is going to stay a little empty lot, for now.  And a vague tease about a 3rd HEB?

Hours 2:03-2:59: Some opioid settlement money, a fire truck, and some Gateway Signs.  I’m a proud supporter of Team Heron.

Also, I hear it’s some sort of holiday today? Happy Easter, if that’s your thing!

March 21st City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

Hello everybody! Who’s ready to see what happened this week in your local city council?

Hours 0:00-1:13:  SMART Terminal has no A or R anymore? And some strategic goals for next year’s budget.

Hours 1:13-2:22:  McCoy’s, murals, and we talk about vacancy taxes a bit.

I’m getting more and more ticked off by the SMART Terminal developer. (And he wasn’t even really on the agenda this meeting.) I don’t know what’s going to happen there.

February 21st City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

It was a very short meeting! Mark Gleason was leading the meeting, although Mayor Hughson was still present. (She had shoulder surgery the day before. Hope she’s mending well.)

Hours 0:00 – 50:31: Citizen Comment, a bit on SMART and the notification radius, a bit on the speed limit for 123, and a little bit more on civil forfeiture and why it’s so gross.

Hours 50:31 – 1:22: Stephanie Reyes is officially your new city manager!  And new rules for governing council committees.

Bonus: 2/13/21 Mini-meeting and 2/21/21 Workshop: In which we note the new P&Z appointments and discuss bike lanes on Craddock and on Sessom.

That’s all for February! See you bright and early next month.

February 7th City Council Meeting

by The San Marxist, posted in Meetings

Welcome to last Tuesday. The big story of the night is that Meet and Confer is repealed!

Hours 0:00 – 1:50: The whole complicated story of the Mano Amiga petition, and how council ended up rescinding the Meet-and-confer agreement with SMPOA

Hours 1:50 – 3:22: Mostly a lot of zoning cases.

Hours 3:22 – 4:16: In which we have a CUP, and a tiny bit on the SMART Terminal and committee appointments. And some speculation about the Top Secret Executive Committee session.

This blog is not intended to be the cheerleader section for Alyssa Garza. But the fact is that we’ve got one progressive council member, and she’s generally right. I’m just stating the facts, ma’am.