Council confirms new Chief of Police

The San Marcos City Council unanimously confirmed Stan Standridge as Chief of SMPD in its meeting Wednesday. Standridge’s first day on the job will be Nov. 16.

After a long interview process, City Manager Bert Lumbreras made his appointment of the current Abilene Chief of Police for Chief of the San Marcos Police Department.

“Chief Standridge has a proven track record of not only leading community policing but true community engagement, by going into neighborhoods and listening to residents which I think is very important for us,” Lumbreras said. “He enjoys working with the minority community to bridge the relational gap. He has a very targeted approach about recruiting female and minority candidates which is important for us.”

Councilmember Maxfield Baker echoed support, “He was very keen on the idea that sometimes there are laws in place at the State and Federal level that are out of line with how our community sees policing and justice. I look forward to the kind of energy Chief Standridge will bring and hope that it will help diffuse some of the tensions we are seeing between SMPOA and Council.”

Mayor Jane Hughson welcomed Standrige and thanked Interim Chief Bob Klett for all his hard work and recognized his leadership through difficult times. 

Chief Standridge will be moving to San Marcos next week with his family and is eager to start the work.

“We have some serious work ahead of us,” Standrige said. “My goal is to foster a culture of inclusion and I'm sincere when I speak of community engagement. I truly want to engage our citizens, but recognize this is a two sided coin. We have got to take care of our police department, they have had a remarkably difficult 2020. I’m looking forward to working with men and women sworn and civilian as we build a greater San Marcos.”

In other business, Sights and Sounds is expanding this year. The city has set aside $80,000 the last few years, and this year the city council recommended to continue funding the event at that amount, although they had the opportunity to fund it at a lower level to keep the lights the same as years past. By funding it at $80,000, Sights and Sounds will have additional lights throughout downtown on the square and along the trail from Plaza Park to downtown. 

“People love the pretty lights,” Rockeymoore said. “And in a time of difficulty, people just want to get out and walk around. I think there is a psychological effect on the city. Sights and Sounds is a strong tradition. I think that’s something we support as much as we can as a city council.”

In other business, the council approved a resolution and letter from city council supporting the efforts of Dr. Maria Garza on behalf of the Indigenous Cultures Institute and the Miakan-Garza Band of the Coahuiltecan People to repatriate and rebury the remains of three of their ancestors in possession of the University of Texas. 

The councilmembers approved Councilmember Ed Mihalkanin’s nominations for the Comprehensive Plan Rewrite Steering Committee: Joe Cantu, David Case and Eleanor Oshan.

They also appointed Julie Holler of San Marcos YSB as a third city representative to the Core Four Task Force which advises the Core Four Policy group, which recently became the central citywide youth services coordination effort. 

There was discussion over two Ethics Commission recommendations. The one requiring yearly ethics trainings for appointed and elected city officials and city board and commission members will have to come back in writing as an ordinance before councilmembers make a final decision. 

The second Ethics Commission recommendation was met with more homogeneous support, requiring disclosure of an interest in real property occupied by a city official or a family member as a residence; this recommendation is intended to cover residences that may be lived in, but not owned or rented. 

They also received an update from staff about the Sustainability Committee Strategic Initiative Ordinance changes for irrigation systems and turf grass requirements. 

Proposed amendments would require a separate, dedicated irrigation meter for new single-family irrigation systems. The amendments would also limit turf areas to 50% in a single family residential development and 25% in other new developments. It would require use of drought-tolerant turf grass species, require minimum soil depth of six inches and provide clarification of ground cover, landscape irrigation requirements maintenance and definitions. 

The amendments will be proposed to the Planning and Zoning Commission in December and brought back to city council for approval in January if they are approved by P&Z.

They also received an update on the Blanco Gardens Utilities Project. The drainage portion of the project has 90% of the design documents completed.

The councilmembers also voted to give Longhorn Daiquiri a second chance with a supermajority after the Planning and Zoning Commission denied the request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow the sale of beer and wine.