All three Buda City Council candidates running for the Buda Place 3 seat – Basil Lombardo, incumbent Jose Montoya and David Nuckels – were given questions about their intentions for running for office and other issues. Below are the responses from Jose Montoya. Click here to see Basil Lombardo’s responses. Click here to see David Nuckels’s responses.

1.  What prompted you to seek reelection?

Continue serving all the citizens with an independent voice as the only candidate that has been actively engaged in the civic affairs of Buda since 2008.  Ensuring that the economic base of Buda continues to grow to lessen the taxation burden to the citizens of Buda.  Buda has the second lowest tax rate in the Central Texas area and that did not happen without careful planning as evident by the city winning the Prestigious Community of the Year Award from the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association.  The association cited Buda as representing an ideal in engaging the community, developing a vision and pushing forward to make that vision a reality through sound planning and transparency.  

2.  What are Buda’s three most important issues and how do plan on addressing them, if reelected?

     a.  Ensure that all the items passed on the five Buda Bond Package propositions are acted upon in a timely basis as the public indicated in their input in over 50 public meetings and workshops held prior to the passage of the five bond propositions.  This includes the timely construction of the new multi purpose building to house a library, city hall, municipal court and community meeting space to include a new police building.  The remaining three propositions include street improvements, addressing drainage to control flooding and improvements to City Park and various trails .

     b.  As a board member of the Buda Economic Development Corporation, it is my aim to promote Buda as a business destination along the IH35 corridor and bring businesses that make economic sense to Buda and its citizens.  Being the first city south of Austin makes our location desirable for businesses wanting to relocate out of Austin and other businesses wanting to taking advantage of the fact that we are one of the fastest growing cities in Texas.   As I mentioned before, the more businesses we have contributing to the economic base lowers the tax burden to the citizens of this wonderful city.

     c.  Secure short and long term water resources for the City to maintain viable growth.  Smart growth was one of my platforms three years ago and still remains an important one today.  Prior to engaging in the Electro Purification project, the City of Buda had sought water resources for almost two years with no avail.  After the EP project was brought into the Barton Springs Aquifer board control by the last legislative session, the city found itself with potential offers of water resources.  We will continue solidify those resources and explore alternative resources in the event of future protracted drought.  

3.  What one issue is not being talked about, but should be?

Crowding of schools is an issue that needs to be brought to the forefront.  The school board is an elected body just like we are and as such we respect not meddling in each other business.  With that said, perhaps the school board should engage in more community outreach to inform the citizens that have school children on its plan for future schools developments that will alleviate crowding.  Growth in Hays County is poised to explode as our large neighbor to the North becomes more expensive for housing and the cost of living gets higher.

4.  What specific practices will you implement to keep in contact with constituents, if reelected?

I have always been available to all the citizens of Buda not just one area of the city.  I was elected three years ago to represent all the citizens and to make decisions that represented the best interest of the entire city.  I plan to increase my visibility in the community by attending more community meetings and engaging a cross section of the population.  I am especially interested in the possibility of a sports complex on the east side of IH35. 

Having served as past governor of the South Texas District of Optimist International with direct oversight of 72 autonomous clubs affecting the lives of children in 99 counties provides me the belief that if you engage children in sports it instills values that serves them well as they mature.