SAN MARCOS CITY COUNCIL
Editor’s Note: This article has been lightly edited for readability. The questions and answers are written in the order in which they occurred.
The November election will see several candidates for San Marcos City Council on the ballot, including mayor, council member place 5 and council member place 6.
The San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Four Rivers Association of Realtors hosted a Local Candidates Forum on Sept. 19 to allow the chance for the public to get to know each of the candidates and their views a bit better. This article will focus on the candidates for place 6 — Maraya Dunn and Amanda Rodriguez.
The moderator allowed the candidates to make each make an opening statement before the questions began.
DUNN: Hello. I want to thank the Four Rivers Association of Realtors and the San Marcos Chamber of Commerce for hosting this forum, and for all of you for attending and getting involved in our local government. My name is Maraya Dunn, and I am running for San Marcos City Council Place 6. I'm from Sonora, and I came to San Marcos in 2013 to pursue a degree in Business Administration. I am now the proud downtown business owner of a pet grooming salon. I have experienced firsthand the challenges and the triumphs of running a business in our city. This journey is what motivated me to want to get involved in our beautiful town. That started with sitting on various boards, currently serving as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner. In these roles is where I learned about the amazing qualities of San Marcos and the rich history that we have here. I believe in the potential of our city and the power of our community to shape its future. In this role, I want to focus on economic prosperity, fostering good paying jobs and reducing unnecessary barriers that stand in the place of success for local businesses, streamlining permit processes and making it easier for businesses of all sizes to thrive and prosper, to keep the door open. Together, I know we can shape a future for San Marcos and support families, create opportunities and celebrate our vibrant community. I'm here to listen, to advocate and to work hard for you all.
RODRIGUEZ: I’m Amanda Rodriguez. I'm happy to be here, and thank you all for your attention and time. I've grown up here. I've lived here all my life. I'm 28 years old. I graduated from the high school in 2015, and I ended up going to Texas State shortly thereafter, got my Bachelor's in social work and started working at the Texas State Capitol, literally right after, for the last almost five years. I've been asked the question multiple times, why are you running? I think a lot of people are trying to understand why in the sense of, “Oh my gosh, why are you running?” I'm tired. I'm tired. Genuinely. I am sick and tired of feeling like the system that we live in is so married to the status quo but also expecting things to change simultaneously. It will never work that way. I've seen this town change so much in the 28 years I've been here, and I've also seen who has been left behind to accomplish that change. And I truly believe, I truly, truly believe, that when it comes to local politics — it was mentioned earlier — there's so much power here locally. There's power to imagine. There's power to do things differently. And I truly, truly believe that San Marcos can do such a thing, can create such policy changes to where not only people in this state but across the nation can look at us as an example, on “Hey, this is how it can be done.” So that's why I'm here. I'm super passionate, and I'm really excited to answer your questions and hope you all get to know a little bit more about me.
Question: Often when discussing land use, San Marcos faces the challenge of property rights versus historic preservation, where is the balance between historic preservation and property rights?
DUNN: At this time, I don't know enough to answer that question effectively. When I have the tools and resources [necessary to respond], I can better answer that question.
RODRIGUEZ: I appreciate the question. I think this has been a topic of conversation in the city for a very long time. Often when I hear the term historic preservation, I think I tend to push back on that because it's historical preservation for whom? I'm happy to see the work of many people in this community that have included additional populations and additional parts of this city into what it means to be preserving history. However, I think if we're going to be honest about the fact that by 2050 we're supposed to see over 740,000 people in Hays County, while also sitting here and saying that we can keep things exactly the way they are, is not realistic. It's not. I appreciate the laugh because it really isn't realistic. So I think we have to sit here and figure out, number one, how to bring people to the table to actually talk to one another. I think when you look at the current city council discussion, unless you have a lot of time or access, those are typically the people we see guiding this conversation. There has to be more opportunities available to people to be a part of these conversations.
Question: You will sit in a position of leadership and be responsible for making decisions on behalf of all of the residents of San Marcos. Please describe your leadership qualities and how you can be a leader of influence and not disposition.
RODRIGUEZ: I'm not here to sit here and lie to y'all and tell y’all, “I'm here to save you and fix all the problems in the city.” It's unrealistic. But I think there's so much power in the city, and I don't think I don't see my role necessarily as just leadership. I see my role as to sit here and actually create a relationship between myself and the people who live in this community. I think for too long, we have had people in government that often take away the self determination of people and make the decisions for them rather than actually figuring out, “What are your needs? What do you really need?” So I think it starts there. As a leader, …I know we are sitting here to represent all, but also my priority too is to represent the most marginalized as well. I'm a gardener; when you water your roots, everything else grows. So I think it's about having people in these positions that bring everybody to the conversation, the most marginalized to the conversation, and watch — all of us will flourish. That's how I did.
DUNN: As a small business owner in downtown, I gained the first hand experience of navigating through the challenges and opportunities with running a business. I wear so many hats, and I think I have more hats than I have shoes. And that's unfortunate, but I've been so blessed to do something that not everybody truly gets to do. If it was easy, everybody would do it, right? It's taught me how to collaborate, to work with others, to get involved with local stakeholders. My staff, we provide a service that our local community depends on. So I have gained the firsthand knowledge of what it's like to manage a budget, to constantly adapt to unforeseen circumstances and challenges that may come our way.
Question: The City charter states that council enacts policies, adopts ordinances and resolutions, establishes the annual budget to provide services to the public, sets the city tax rate, water, electric wastewater rates for San Marcos. In addition to these duties, what do you see as the most important role of a city council member?
DUNN: One of the most important roles that I see is that every voice needs to be heard. All of our voices need to be heard. So we start there — listening and seeing what our citizens truly need. It’s opening the doors, for one. One of my biggest platforms is providing more jobs, not saying no and promoting that economic prosperity. Once we do that, that's going to open the doors to an array of issues that we citizens are currently facing [such as] affordable housing [and] the list goes on. So I think that's where we start.
RODRIGUEZ: For those of you who don't know, going into city council — if y'all choose to elect me — we don't have staff. So on top of the regular job I have, that means we are fully responsible for figuring out and making informed decisions. Considering that's what, essentially, I will be going into. … You mentioned the charter. While the charter says that we cannot sit here and give orders or direction directly to staff, we can support them. There are a lot of city staff trying to do wonderful things, trying to bring wonderful ideas. I mentioned working in the legislature. I was a staffer. I wrote the bills. I took the meetings for my boss. And anybody who sits there and has played that role, whether it's a receptionist or administrative role, you know how you hold the stuff down. I think first and foremost, it starts by supporting staff, alleviating the burden on them and being willing to cope with creative ideas to do things differently so that they're not having to do it all by themselves.
Closing Statements RODRIGUEZ: I was hoping there would be more questions about housing and jobs. I keep mentioning where I work. Not only do I work in Austin, but 64% of people in this city who are residents here commute. That means they take their talents with them. That means that they take their tax dollars with them, and they take it to cities outside of here. Why? Why are we letting our talented workforce leave? Why? And that means we need to sit here and start figuring out, what jobs are they taking and why? Is it a labor issue? Do we need to sit here and figure out better ways to take care of our workers and let this city know that we prioritize workers? What is it? Is it housing? Is it the fact that, as was mentioned earlier, 74% of the people in the city are renters. With literally only one of two options — single family housing or apartments. We have made such a binary system for people to choose from and expect people to just do whatever they can with it. That will never work. It will never work. So again, I'm here. I'm passionate. I'm ready. I'm not sitting here trying to make this my entire career, but I sure as heck am sitting here and trying to figure out, how can we create this system to be better? So that when somebody comes up next, they're not inheriting a bunch of crap; it's ready to go, and we can move forward. I love this city. This is my way of giving back, and I appreciate your time and attention.
DUNN: As we look forward to the future of San Marcos, I'm confident that I have experienced the dedication, the passion to serve as your next city councilwoman. As a small business owner, I have spent years navigating the complexities of budget planning, resource management and maneuvering through unforeseen challenges. This has given me the firsthand understanding of going back to financial decisions, adapting to constant change, and I know the importance of collaboration, which is key in this role. I'm no stranger to hard work — from the long hours of building my business to serving on various boards. I’m currently serving as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner. I have shown my commitment to improving this community. My experience has taught me how to collaborate and how to create practical solutions for changes that may come our way. San Marcos deserves a leader who understands the value of fiscal responsibility but also has the determination to champion the needs of our residents and our businesses. I believe in fostering economic prosperity, advocating for our environment and ensuring that every voice in our community is heard. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves. I'm ready to work hard, and I'm ready to see our city thrive and for everyone to have the opportunity to thrive and prosper. I am excited, and I respectfully ask for your support and your vote. And thank you to the host and for everyone attending.
