San Marcos mayoral candidates share visions for city in LWV Forum

San Marcos mayoral candidates shared their ideas for a better SMTX in the League of Women Voters virtual candidate forum Thursday night.

Mayor Jane Hughson, Randy Dethrow, Justin Harris and Juan Miguel Arredondo each answered questions curated by the league, informed by voters. The forum ended with three questions directly from voters.

In her opening statement, Hughson spoke about making San Marcos better for all residents, citing her work done in her recent term as mayor to alleviate and lessen flooding, to provide more affordable housing options through development approvals and the new land development code and work to provide relief to residents affected by COVID-19. She said a mayor should listen and advocate for everyone, compromise and be well versed in the administrative duties.

Dethrow introduced himself as a Democratic Socialist, defining it as “something that you learned in kindergarten. Its sharing, when the community comes together and pools resources to help those less fortunate.” He called on voters to reject the politics of selfishness and greed and said San Marcos needs a mayor who represents everyone.

Harris, a father of three, opened with his degree from Texas State University, his two deployments in the U.S. Marine Corps, experience as a firefighter and progress to become certified as a paramedic. “I’m going to make San Marcos great again,” he said. Harris believes a mayor should focus on the basics: law and order, maintaining streets, lowering taxes and watching spending.

Arredondo introduced himself as a fifth generation San Marcos resident and his 5 years serving on the San Marcos Consolidated ISD Board of Trustees where he fought for taxpayers and teachers. “We need a leader who is going to respond and acknowledge that we have three crises going on,” he said referring to COVID-19, housing affordability and residents feeling unheard by city hall. Arredondo thinks a mayor needs to address tough issues that he said have been ignored; downtown parting, flooding, income inequality and a lack of living wage jobs.

On regional transportation, Hughson believes investing in Interstate 35, and planning around the major roadways coming in and out of San Marcos will bring more opportunities. She also supported recent efforts to combine the city and university bus systems and renter protections in new student apartment complexes.

The other candidates focused more on transportation concerns in town.

Harris said he wants to fix what we have, starting with potholes, in addition to planning for the new. Dethrow echoed the importance of resolving transportation and road construction in town.

Arredondo praised the importance of regional partnerships like Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization for infrastructure and mass transit but also highlighted concerns over long standing construction in the Victory Gardens Neighborhood, pointing out those neighbors feel forgotten. He also supported partnerships with Texas State University like the recent agreement between bus systems saying, “Housing affordability and congestion can and only will be solved if we work with Texas State in an intentional way.”

As far as working with the university, Dethrow emphasized ensuring there are jobs available for graduates, and Harris has no plans to coordinate or integrate additional services.

When asked about responsible tradeoffs when aligning affordable housing, lower transportation costs, and long term fiscal and environmental responsibility, Arredondo said he did not believe their had to be trade offs. He supported creative and more accessible development options like accessory dwelling units, cottages and infill development that would lead to more diverse neighborhoods and stronger communities.

Hughson also rejected the idea there had to be trade offs saying council has worked really hard to protect the environment from development through various mechanisms including the new land development code. She agreed with Arredondo that the city should do more to fill in vacant lots.

Harris and Dethrow both said there was no solution to affordable housing, but Dethrow attributed it to landlords controlling prices and opposed overdevelopment because of its environmental impact.

Harris on the other hand does not hold environmental impact as a priority; he puts fiscal responsibility above all else. “As for fiscal responsibility, there is no trade off. That needs to be a priority. As far as environmentalism is concerned, I have none. Environmentalism and all of that movement is an excuse to make projects that cost money and restrict business and hurt our economy.”

When asked about the recent passage of the Cite and Release ordinance, Dethrow and Arredondo expressed their support, Hughson explained that she supported the concept as a resolution instead of an ordinance to avoid telling police officers what to do and Harris maintains his view that anyone who breaks the law needs to go to jail.

Arredondo added as mayor he would increase funding for social services agencies to address economic issues associated with low level crimes.

On property tax relief, Hughson defended the city council’s approved tax rate saying the potential $30 per month per household in savings that was considered accumulates to millions of dollars for the city to maintain vital and costly services like fire stations and libraries.

Arredondo said he would rather see that money stay in the hands of citizens, citing work on the SMCISD school board to decrease taxes by 13 cents and saying he supports any time of tax relief for the citizens and the disabled.

Harris and Dethrow also supported lowering property taxes. Harris proposed “fat trimming” to get down to essential services, and Dethrow advocated for redistributing funds from the San Marcos Police Department to other programs that fight root causes of crime like poverty and mental illness.

In discussions about the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter that has been serving most of Hays County, Harris supported coordinating with Hays County to expand the shelter if necessary but ultimately supports “people over pets and plants,” he said. “I don’t want to spend any more money on animals when people aren’t getting the services they need.”

Arredondo suggested a public private partnership with organizations already doing that work, as well as ensuring other communities are contributing fairly to services they are using.

Hughson believes other cities need their own animal shelters and Dethrow advocated for anything that can be done to support the animal shelter.

When asked about bringing jobs to San Marcos, all candidates agreed this is a priority.

Dethrow supported introducing a $15 per hour minimum wage over time.

Harris said he would open the city for business with no restrictions, while Hughson advocated for quality jobs with benefits.

In closing statements Dethrow spoke about being more intentional with allocation of social service resources, especially to prevent homelessness and crime related to mental illness. “I believe that as a community we should come together to lift up the less fortunate ... I think love is stronger than hate. As long as we reject hate and reject selfishness we can do great things.”

Hughson highlighted her ability to find consensus when possible and cited her knowledge and experience to help her in a second term.

Harris added as a conservative leader, he would increase funding for law enforcement by increasing officers and giving them better pay. He said he would prioritize ending shut downs and restrictions from COVID-19 to get residents back to work and school. Harris also advocated for helping the homeless.

Arredondo urged residents to vote for a mayor who will acknowledge and respond to current crises that he feels have been largely ignored including COVID-19, affordable housing and flooding.

Early voting begins Tuesday in Hays County. Visit https://hayscountytx.com/ download/departments/ elections/2020/nov_03_ general/Vote-Centers-03- Nov-General.pdf for polling locations.

sgates

@sanmarcosrecord.com

Twitter: @StephJGates