SAN MARCOS CITY COUNCIL
There will be several San Marcos City Council seats as well as mayoral candidates in the upcoming election in November. Lorenzo Gonzalez is running for council place 5 against Griffin Spell, Roland Saucedo and Atom Von Arndt.
Gonzalez was born and raised in San Antonio and is a school-based law enforcement officer in Del Valle. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration and is currently getting a Masters of Science in Criminal Justice at Lamar University.
“I've always been kind of politically involved, especially when I was in San Antonio,” Gonzalez said. He also recently ran in the democratic primary for Hays County Constable Pct. 1 against David Peterson. “I just want to be the voice of the community [and bring] more positive changes to the council and… [address] the greater good of the community at large.”
Gonzalez pointed to San Marcos’ small-town charm as a reason for making it his home. He likes the juxtaposition of the student population that is changing every four years against the local population of which many have been here for generations.
“I just think it's a really unique community and somewhere where I want to spend a significant portion of my future,” Gonzalez said. “I've been in San Marcos just short of two years. I moved to San Marcos in Nov. of 2022 as I was preparing to gradu- ate from the Police Academy. I knew that I wanted to come work in Del Valle, but I didn't want to live in Travis County or in Austin. I had friends and family that went to Texas State, so I was kind of familiar with the San Marcos area. … I knew that I wanted to come work in Del Valle for the school district police department up there. San Marcos was the first place I thought of moving to because I had already fallen in love with the community.”
Although Gonzalez has not lived here long, he thinks his blend of appreciation for the community and desire to mold a better future for the city makes him a prime candidate for city council.
“There's things that I've seen and experienced in other cities like San Antonio and others across the state that I think gives me a fresh perspective,” Gonzalez said. “I feel that I bring a more progressive vision to the city than some of the council members that we have now that I think that the newer generations of San Marcos residents would get behind or prefer as the future direction of San Marcos.”
That vision involves a more cutting-edge direction for the city.
“Austin is booming in the tech industry. We're getting a lot of Austin residents coming down, but a lot of those tech jobs are still staying in Austin. I think influencing, or trying to get, these tech jobs into San Marcos and also building the job opportunities and the workforce to keep Texas State students in San Marcos,” Gonzalez said. “I feel like a lot of these students … spend four years here. They fall in love with the city, but a lot of times they have to leave because the job opportunities are elsewhere. So I think … just having a more progressive and a more modern and future plan for the city is something I could bring to city council.”
Gonzalez would like to address housing affordability and availability as well in addition to protecting the most valuable resource — water.
“As the city grows, more people come in, we need to protect our water source in order to make sure we don't end up in the same boat that some other cities like Kyle are getting into now. They've already outgrown their water supply, and they're having to find other resources for it. I think we need to grow wisely to make sure that we protect our recharge zones and make sure that we don't do things to affect our water availability moving forward. As far as housing goes, working with developers to have smart initiatives to where we can have affordable housing for future residents but also not price out our current residents,” Gonzalez said. “Basically, [I would be] protecting our resources to make sure that once people are able to afford to live and stay in San Marcos, they can actually live in San Marcos and actually have the resources that they need.”
The city of San Marcos has an ordinance that ended citations and arrests for misdemeanor possession of marijuana up to four ounces and was established by a vote of the people, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued the city in response. Gonzalez wants the situation to be handled more aggressively.
“I kind of feel like the city is taking the back seat and letting the other defendants become plaintiffs in fighting the state. I feel like the current council has taken a ‘well, we tried’ approach,” Gonzalez said. “I think that if that's something the residents want, then we as a council need to stand up to the state and fight for local control.”
Gonzalez said he wants to be a progressive voice to embody the people he feels are currently not represented on council, which is “the newer converts to San Marcos.”
Learn more about who is running for city council and mayor at this link sanmarcostx. gov/4117/Current- Candidates.
