By Amira Van Leeuwen
KYLE — The dais is full for the first time since August after Bear Heiser was officially sworn into office on Tuesday, Dec. 20, securing the District 1 seat on the Kyle City Council.
Bear Heiser
After the election results were canvassed and certified during city council’s special meeting, Texas Sen. Judith Zaffirini swore in Heiser, who claimed victory over Amanda Stark during the Dec.13 run-off after winning with 767 votes (526 early, 241 on election day). Stark accumulated 302 votes (199 early votes, 103 on election day).
Mayor Travis Mitchell said the council functions best with a full dais and he was “thankful” for Heiser’s work during the campaign and looking forward to his time of service on the dais.
Mitchell noted that Heiser will bring more diversity and another perspective to council.
“We have a very diverse council and council member Heiser is going to add to that diversity,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s always healthy when council has a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives on the issues. The real test will be in learning whether or not this new council can work well together and I will say on that note, I’m very optimistic that we will be able to work well together as a group.”
During Heiser’s speech, he thanked Stark for running a “great campaign” and being a “very gracious opponent.”
He also vowed to represent all city residents.
“The reality is that there are a lot of people in the city who don’t feel represented and I vowed to all of them to stand up here one day and to represent everyone in the city, no matter where they live, making sure that the growth that’s taking place here is beneficial to everybody,” Heiser said.
He concluded by emphasizing his open-door policy.
“Whether it’s email, phone, text, I will be there to try to address, whatever is your concern,” he said. “And do whatever I can to try to create a solution for you.”
