Kyle candidates speak at annual forum

KYLE — The Kyle Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a candidate forum for the upcoming election on Tuesday, Sept. 26. Candidates for both the mayoral ticket and the District 4 city council ticket were invited to partake in answering questions, moderated by the League of Women Voters of Hays County, to inform the public about their prospective representatives’ visions for the city.

The mayor of Kyle is elected at-large once every three years. Candidates for the 2024-27 term are incumbent Mayor Travis Mitchell, council member Yvonne Flores-Cale, Robert Ferguson and Linda Tenorio.

District 4 city council is also elected every three years and presides over the western half of Kyle. Candidates are Lauralee Harris, Marc McKinney, Jake Webb and Claudia Zapata.

Tenorio and Zapata were unable to attend the forum due to scheduling conflicts.

Robert Rizo, candidate for District 2, was present, but has no opponent; therefore, he did not participate in the forum.

Travis Mitchell: Mayoral Candidate

Mitchell began his introduction by providing a history of his time in Kyle, noting that he was looking for a place to grow his small business when he settled on the, at the time, small town. Once acclimated to the city, he realized how much the decisions made by city council affected the residents and businesses. This, along with the potential he saw in the city, prompted his run for council in 2016, followed by his mayoral win in 2017.

“It seemed that the story of Kyle was just being written and that the decisions that we were going to make over the course of the next decade were going to profoundly impact and shape generations,” said the incumbent. “My mentality has always been to think about my children, to think about their future.”

The execution and timely completion of the $294 million road bond of 2022 weighs heavily on Mitchell. He described how he learned that the first road bond — to build six roads — that was passed in 2013 took seven years to be completed. His goal is to provide council with background information, including firm estimates of costs and thorough discussions, to avoid delays in building proposed roads.

His second priority is the long-awaited Sportsplex. Although voters approved a $14 million bond for a Sportsplex in North Kyle on FM 1626 in 2020, ground has yet to be broken.

“For a town of 60,000 folks, we have few sports-type amenities for our children. That’s a real oversight, in my opinion. We have thousands of kids who want to be outdoors and want to be active,” Mitchell said.

He is striving for downtown revitalization because there is a lot of potential that he hopes to show the public.

To achieve these plans in Kyle, the incumbent  believes that density is important for infrastructure and saves on resources. According to Mitchell, “sprawl” — a form of unplanned urban and suburban development that takes place over a large area and creates a low-density environment with high segregation between residential and commercial areas — is the number one threat to water because the highest use of water comes from single-family homes watering their lawns.

By creating dense developments, the city will build fewer roads and water lines, while also having less wastewater and water usage, but be more profitable.

“I don’t hide my motives or my desires when it comes to the city of Kyle. I am all about long-term planning and setting a vision for the city,” said Mitchell. “Anything worth pursuing, as a mayor or as a city council member, is a multi-year-long pursuit and it requires compromise and collaboration along the way.”

Yvonne Flores-Cale: Mayoral Candidate

“An advocate for the residents,” is how Flores-Cale described herself. Remembering her past as a non-council member, she stated that she felt unheard. This feeling made her wish to connect with the public and make the concerns of the people heard even more. She emphasized that her legal background would provide an unbiased mind toward decision-making.

“With a little bit of communication and gathering from both [east and west] sides, I think we can make one unified Kyle,” said Flores-Cale, advocating for creating a clear, concise vision.

One of Flores-Cale’s priorities is infrastructure, specifically in the creation of roads and management  of water resources. By making sure that money is being utilized to its fullest extent, the city can add amenities to both east and west, as well as lower commute time by constructing roads. The council member also emphasized that water conservation and locating new sources is a focus of her potential term. Citing the agreement with Alliance Regional Water Authority that will take approximately 16 years to implement, she stated that, as a city, council must find solutions now to mitigate drought impacts in the future.

Flores-Cale has a strong belief in curating relationships with the public to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

“I like to communicate with the residents,” she said. “I also have much respect for my landowners and advocating and making sure they have a voice. If we do that collectively, I think we can work with developers to make sure that we can explain to them what it is that our city and our residents desire and want for future needs.”

In terms of density, Flores-Cale stated that it is a “double-edged sword” because although she enjoys the walkability that it provides, she is afraid of losing the traditional feel of Kyle. The council member made it clear that she is not “anti-density,” but that it needs to make sense for the city. By ensuring that the multi-use buildings are complete with retail, it can be beneficial to the community. She stated that it can be completed successfully if the proper planning is done.

“I’m going to encourage you to research [the candidates],” said Flores-Cale. “I never want to hear anyone say I’m voting for X because I don’t like Y; I think that’s irresponsible … My suggestion is to make an educated vote.”

Robert Ferguson: Mayoral Candidate

Robert Ferguson introduced himself as a member of the Kyle Area Senior Zone and other community organizations with years of experience in engineering and government work. He recognized that there has been an issue of jumpstarting  projects in Kyle, noting the divide between the western and eastern parts of the city.

He is in support of the community center because it would give an opportunity for all residents, organizations, the chamber and more to come together in one central location. Currently, he said, there is not one local area where residents can get information.

Ferguson stated that infrastructure and water are essential for the city to excel. He also believes that communication between the residents and city council is important because of the lack of knowledge. According to Ferguson, he often meets residents who are unaware of votes or issues occurring in council meetings. By creating an open line of communication, perhaps through a website, more residents would be informed on what is happening locally. This idea also ties into creating a more engaged and united community.

“The metric of getting business into your facility or your organization is accessibility,” said Ferguson in regard to density.

By allowing more businesses and operations to enter the city, the economy will prosper, but the placement is key.

“I see the city growing so fast that you will not be able to keep up with it,” he said. “We’ve got a situation where we’ve got to start responding.”

Lauralee Harris: District 4 Candidate

Emphasizing the quality of life and the well-being of residents in the community, Harris has a doctorate in public health, a master’s in public administration and spent seven years on a planning and zoning commission, providing her with knowledge in community planning. She also currently serves on the Kyle Parks and Recreation Board and helped develop the community garden that launched earlier this year.

Harris believes that the city needs to begin holding developers to higher standards while keeping up with ordinances. This includes updating them and ensuring that they “match the goals of the city when it comes to bringing in new development, where it’s located, where it’s zoned, how it looks and how it serves the community.”

Although Kyle is finding new resources for water, such as the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, she stated that the city needs to consider desalination if the city uses that because the lower level of the aquifer is saline water.

Along with development is the introduction of more parks for quality of life, so that residents can enjoy living in Kyle, but she stated that this could be slightly hindered due to density. According to Harris, density lowers quality of life, but it is also important to note that the “World War II” home style — single-family home with white picket fences — is not realistic any more. In order to make density sustainable, quality factors have to be included when planning.

“I am about quality of life. I want people to enjoy living here. I want businesses to thrive here. In order to do that, you need a [candidate] that supports those issues and understands those issues and understands what makes a healthy community,” said Harris. “It’s absolutely important that we be transparent. That we are listening  and that we have a vision for this city.”

Marc McKinney: District 4 Candidate

Running as a concerned resident, McKinney has a background in finance and moved to Kyle eight years prior to enrolling his daughter in Negley Elementary. Over the years, he became more involved in the city and saw actions that caused concern, such as the lack of infrastructure.

“I just want to make sure that we have somebody who’s out there representing us to make the absolute best that the city of Kyle can be,” said McKinney.

Like others, he hears complaints from the community stating that there is immense traffic on the roads. By increasing infrastructure around the city, he believes that this could help with some of the frustrations residents are facing.

Another project he wants to focus on, if elected, is bringing more retail to the city, stating that the retail needs to match the growth of the city. According to McKinney, adding quality retail establishments would bring in more retail tax dollars, which would lessen the burden on homeowners’ property taxes.

“We’re not in a position where we should have to leave town to go have a nice sit-down dinner,” said McKinney.

He also wants to greatly increase transparency regarding the city council, noting that one of the faults within the city is making decisions without an explanation. If the council members explain their reasoning behind votes, even if residents do not agree, they are more likely to at least understand why.

In regards to density, he agreed with Flores-Cale about the topic of a double-edged  sword, but stated that with variety and compromises, it can work. A city can be dense while still providing the necessary resources and amenities to its constituents. It also does lessen the impact on resources and increases efficiency, according to McKinney.

“Reach out to us. Ask us questions. Figure out which one of us represents you the best and then show up,” said McKinney.

Jake Webb: District 4 Candidate

Webb stated that he has “always had a heart for public service.” Serving as the president of the Plum Creek HOA, he has spent his time contributing his skills “to do some really positive things for the community.” As he looks toward the future of Kyle, he recognizes the exponential growth that is happening and stated that the city has “one shot to get this right.”

Infrastructure and water are also priorities for Webb, but his focus would be on diversifying the water supply and educating the public. This includes creating ways that developments could be more sustainable and use less water, as well as equipping residents with skills to minimize their use. Webb believes that now is the time to be more proactive because the future is going to have a lot more summers that look like this year in terms of drought.

The cost of living is one of the aspects that make Kyle appealing, according to Webb, so he wants to focus on financing the growth with development strategies to lessen the tax stress on residents.

With this growth comes the possibility of density. For Webb, the key word is balance.

“One of the big complaints I hear is there are too many apartment complexes and my question to them is, ‘Do you enjoy going to Costco? Do you enjoy the new Academy?’ They say, ‘Yes,’ and then I say, ‘Where are their employees going to live?’ Because oftentimes, those guys aren’t buying houses in the suburban neighborhood. They’ve got to live close enough to work,” he said.

In order for businesses to be successful, there must be a balance between high-density and low-density.

“Right now, this name tag says, ‘District 4 Candidate,’ but after November, probably December, that name tag might say ‘District 4 Representative,’” said Webb. “You’ve heard a lot from me and you’ve heard a lot from us, but I want to hear from you about what’s important and what you want to see happen at the city level. Ultimately, that’s the job that I’m up here applying for today.”

Election information

Early voting times are as follows:

• Monday, Oct. 23- Friday, Oct. 27 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Saturday, Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Monday, Oct. 30- Wednesday, Nov. 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

• Thursday, Nov. 2- Friday, Nov. 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Election day voting will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7. For more information, including voting locations and district information, visit bit.ly/kyle23. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 10. Visit www.hayscountytx.com/departments/elections to register or request a ballot by mail.