Vote 2020: Kyle Council District 2 candidates speak in Q&A
Editor's note: Two candidates are facing off for Kyle City Council District 2. Both candidates Yvonne Flores-Cale and incumbent Tracy Scheel shared their views on the upcoming election in a Q&A.
Yvonne Flores-Cale
A Kyle resident of eight years, Flores-Cale works as paralegal and office manager.
Tracy Scheel
A resident of Kyle for a little over 16 years, Scheel is the current council candidate incumbent, and has served since 2017. She is also a registered sleep technologist and clinical manager.
Q. Why are you running for office?
Flores-Cale: “I am running for city council because I want to be part of changes happening in Kyle. Like many other Kyle residents, I feel unheard and unhappy with many of the current changes happening in Kyle.”
Scheel: “Currently I am the district 2 councilmember for the Kyle City Council and while I feel I have accomplished a lot, I feel I have not yet seen all of my goals to fruition, such as the downtown revitalization, several infrastructure projects and getting the Alliance Regional Water Authority pipeline servicing the citizens of Kyle.”
Q. What are the most important issues currently facing Kyle?
Flores-Cale: “Without a doubt, Kyle’s biggest challenge is its growth. Our rapid growth makes it difficult for the city to plan for our future and focus on our immediate needs. I would recommend slowing down residential development until the city has updated our infrastructure, such as water treatment centers, sidewalks, streetlights and fire hydrants, to match our current population.”
Scheel: “The most important is Kyle’s growth and making sure that growth can be maintained with our current and prospective infrastructure. We need to ensure we have the roads and utilities in place to handle all of our new residents without burdening our current residents. The second most important is recruiting employers to Kyle. Now that we have the spec space we are able to recruit businesses that will hire Kyle residents.”
Q. What is your position on the two major proposed ballot propositions, A and B?
Flores-Cale: “I 100% believe the citizens and officers of Kyle need and deserve a new police station with proposition A. However, it is hard to justify spending $37 million when the amount of information regarding how, or when, the building will be fully utilized is not available. Current estimates do not include information such as payout for positions which need to be fulfilled in order to have a fully operational safety center. Additionally, the monthly tax addition for homeowners is only an estimate for the average home price, for homeowners with larger home values, their tax increase will be even greater. As for proposition B, before I can create an opinion for or against it, I need to know how comparable the proposed regional sportsplex is from the sports complex located in Gregg Clark Park, which is highly underutilized.”
Scheel: “As a current elected official I can only educate, I cannot advocate.”
Q. During this pandemic, what do you think would be the best plan for combating active cases while also operating the city’s day-to-day?
Flores-Cale: “Tracing has been shown to effectively control diseases. I don’t think Kyle, Texas, nor the U.S. has spent an adequate amount of time trying to utilize tracing, instead they focused on quarantining, which failed miserably. Enforcing social distancing has also shown to be effective to control diseases. HEB, Wal-Mart and other stores operate as if we do not live among a pandemic. I understand it is hard to enforce social distancing in a private setting, however, controlling social distancing is achievable in public settings.”
Scheel: “Following the CDC guidelines with social distancing and disinfection protocols. We still need to keep online and virtual meetings in order for residents to be able to access city services and allow employees to still work from home if they are able to do so.”
Q. If elected, what would be your first steps in council for Kyle’s future?
Flores-Cale: “My first steps would be to fix up downtown Kyle and work on creating a plan to update the city’s infrastructure, so we can productively grow.”
Scheel: “I would not have first steps but continued steps in downtown revitalization by continuing the city square beautification plan and the construction the new building at 104 S. Burleson Street, city infrastructure by ensuring Post Road is completed and continuing on the Alliance Water Authority Board.”
Q. How do you think you differ from the other candidate running for district 2?
Flores-Cale: “I am a big believer on researching information and asking questions. It will be my goal to vote ‘no’ to anything that I have not read three days prior to a city council meeting.”
Scheel: “I have the experience and the knowledge of how the City of Kyle works by being on the council and being a graduate of the City of Kyle Leadership Academy.”
Q. Why should Kyle residents vote for you?
Flores-Cale: “If residents want a representative that listens to their needs, is accountable for their actions and will focus on responsible growth, they should vote for me. They should also vote for me because I’m funny, in a no-nonsense kind of way.”
Scheel: “I have worked tirelessly for the City of Kyle’s residents, especially those in district 2. I will continue to do so with my work on the Alliance Regional Water Authority Board and its administrative committee, the Elected Officials Board for the San Marcos Animal Shelter, the Capital Area Council of Governments Board, the Extra Cash Awards Program Board, the Downtown Revitalization task force, the 104 S. Burleson task force and ensuring the city keeps the prioritized district 2 Capital Improvement Projects at the forefront.”
