Devin Barrett, a member of the San Marcos Human Services Advisory Board, has announced that he will be running for San Marcos City Council Place 2.
Barrett has been a member of the San Marcos community since he began as a student at Texas State University in 2016, and was appointed the human services advisory board in 2018.
“As San Marcos became a home to me, I had this desire to help the community an give back for giving me an atmosphere that has grown me as a person; so I decided to apply for the San Marcos Human Services Advisory Board in 2018,” Barrett said in a statement. "I was appointed and have learned so much from the Board on issues of food insecurity and the growing housing problem."
Barrett said he decided to run for a seat on City Council after seeing the issues the city faces in terms of housing and parking.
“We are seeing predatory student property developers charging exorbitant amounts for rent while constantly ignoring the health and well being issues of many of these complexes; these high rates cause all citizens to deal with the expensive and unsafe consequences,” he said.
“If elected I would work to establish a Renters Commission to explore how we as a collective can solve the rental issues of our community, for instance, rental rate management and reforms to how these student housing complexes operate and work to make sure that they don't destroy the beauty of this city.”
Barrett said another issue that pushed him to run for public office is the problem with parking in the city.
“We have free parking spots that have unrealistic time slots when most people utilize the facilities near those spots and in general we have an issue with a lack of parking near the center of this city,” he said.
“If elected I would push for student representation on the city's Parking Board so that we can bring all perspectives to the table and solve the parking problem of this growing city. San Marcos is evolving before our eyes, we must maintain the growth so that future generations are able to enjoy everything that the community has to offer. I would be honored to serve this great and unique city that has given us all so much.”
Barrett will run against incumbent Saul Gonzales and Lisa Marie Coppoletta.
