Narvaiz campaign announces plans for a third term
Posted by Chris Doelle on July 4, 2008 at 6:54 pm • Print This Page • Share
Mayor Susan Narvaiz announced today that she will seek a third term in November. Elected mayor in 2004, Narvaiz ran unopposed two years ago and credits reform, engagement and progress for San Marcos as mainstays of her campaign. “This is a great time for San Marcos. We are making great progress and I want to be part of continuing prosperity for our town and its citizens” she said.
“After many requests from citizens and supporters, conversations with family and dear friends and much prayer, I have made the decision to seek re-election in November of 2008 to continue to serve the citizens of San Marcos as their Mayor” she added.
Mayor Narvaiz was elected to the San Marcos City Council in June of 2002 as a council member and served two years before her successful mayoral run in 2004. Unopposed, she was re-elected to a second term as Mayor in November 2006. During her tenure as Mayor of the City of San Marcos, Narvaiz has supported and worked hard for reform at city hall, engagement of the citizenry and progress to ensure San Marcos remains viable.
“There is so much for our city to celebrate. We are blessed with wonderful natural resources, Texas State University - a first rate institution of higher learning and a vibrant, energetic pool of talent in all age groups. Collectively these are enviable assets that position us well for the future and I am excited at the prospect of continuing to guide our community” shared Narvaiz. “I am honored to be your Mayor and offer to serve you with the same passion, commitment and creativity that I have for the past 6 years.” said Narvaiz. Narvaiz will officially kick off her campaign at a public rally next Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the San Marcos River Pub and Grill.
Government reform has been a goal of her six years in public office. “I have enacted reform at city hall by supporting a new financial policy that requires strong fund balances in the three major enterprise funds, adoption of a land development code to encourage thoughtful development and ensure our sense of place sustains San Marcos long into the future, initiating the “one-stop” permit center concept to remove obstacles in the permitting and development process to expedite projects and return revenue to city coffers more quickly, recommending an increase to our property tax exemption for 65 and over and disabled which is now at $25,000, amended economic incentive policies to require that all incentives are tied to job creation with higher wage categories and added the selection of local businesses and vendors as a criteria for consideration and encouraging decorum and respect at the heart of democracy, City Hall” she added.
Narvaiz is proud of her leadership efforts that have encouraged engagement of the citizenry. “I have brought more people to the table in the governing process by initiating the Texas State Student Liaison to the Council position, hosting monthly coffees at city hall, launching the annual Citizen Summit that places the citizen input process at the front end of the budget cycle, introduced the annual State of the City Address to the people of San Marcos, imitated the Recognition Reception for Board and Commission Members, hosted regular neighborhood walks, Mondays with the Mayor, city facilities tours and Clergy Breakfasts. Mayor Narvaiz also voted to support moving city elections to November to increase voter participation at a time when more people traditionally remember to go vote.
Her leadership has brought progress to the community to ensure that our city remains viable in the area of economic development and has worked diligently to increase the standard of living” she said. “Together we have completed the Wonder World Drive Overpass, established a Sales Tax Rebate Policy for destination retail which provided for expansions and improvements for our important Outlet Mall partnerships, increased funding and performance standards in the city’s local economic development program, created more than 6,000 jobs that has resulted in an increase of the area per capita income by more than $10,000 per year from 2004 to 2007” she said. “Other improvements we have seen during my tenure as Mayor include the public/private partnership with Carma Texas which built the Yarrington Bridge Overpass, the city’s second overpass in as many years, the council’s Washington trip that brought us over $11 million dollars in federal appropriations for the Wonder World Extension Project and San Marcos Airport improvements, and our partnership with TxDOT on a multi-million dollar Pass Thru Finance Agreement to pay for the Wonder World extension project that is now getting underway” she added. Narvaiz has been relentless in pursuing the McCarty Lane/FM 110 Loop project and steered the council through many months of negotiations at the county and state level to ensure that San Marcos citizens did not lose millions of dollars of state money to help pay for the project. She also took on the General Land Office on behalf of the council and city when hundreds of acres of city land was purchased by the state.
“San Marcos has seen much success and increased prosperity since 2004. So many exciting projects have come together for our community. Among the list of things that we will all long remember as most significant moments we have shared are; the transformation of the Rio Vista Dam to the Rio Vista Falls, the amazing private/public partnership which purchased more than 250 acres of precious parkland at the headwaters of our river, now known as the Spring Lake Preserve, the successful relationship between John Q. Hammons, Terry Gilmore and the City of San Marcos which brought the San Marcos Conference Center and Embassy Suites hotel to our town and is slated to open this fall” Narvaiz said.
Other important neighborhood enhancements completed during the last four years noted by Narvaiz include solving the Wastewater Treatment Plant odor problem, Craddock Road improvements, and Post Road improvements. Projects funded and in process include Railroad Quiet Zones, Traffic Signal Synchronization and Rio Vista neighborhood improvements.
Narvaiz and her husband Mike have been married 11 years and share in the lives of their eight children and seven grandchildren. For more information on Narvaiz please go to www.mayorsusan.com.
Hearings scheduled on Parks Master Plan
Posted by Blake Doelle on July 3, 2008 at 2:56 pm • Print This Page • Share
Hearings Scheduled on Parks Master PlanThe City of San Marcos Parks & Recreation Department plans a series of public hearings in July, August and September to take public comment on the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Master Plan.
“We invite both written and verbal testimony from San Marcos residents at these hearings,” said William Ford, Assistant Director of Parks & Recreation. “The parks master plan will serve as an important guide for development of future facilities, parks, trails and open space corridors, as well as set priorities for our parks system.”
Public Hearing will be held on the following dates and locations.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - Goodnight Jr. High -1805 Peter Garza Dr. -6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Monday, July 21, 2008 - Crockett Elementary - 1300 Girard Street - 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - C M Allen Homes - 820 Sturgeon Street - 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Monday, August 18, 2008 - S.M. Activity Center - 501 E. Hopkins - 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - Parks and Recreation Office - 401 E. Hopkins - 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm
Individuals who require auxiliary aids and services for this meeting should contact the City of San Marcos ADA Coordinator at 393-8244 (voice) or 393-8229 (TDD).
Residents may also mail comments to the Parks & Recreation Department, City of San Marcos, 630 E. Hopkins, San Marcos, Texas 78666 or email to parks_info@ci.san-marcos.tx.us .
By MELISSA MILLECAM
Communications Director - City of San Marcos
Public Works to Repave Perkins Street
Posted by Blake Doelle on July 3, 2008 at 2:02 pm • Print This Page • Share
The City of San Marcos Public Works street crews will begin minor reconstruction of Perkins Street from Franklin to Marlton Street on July 7. The project is expected to take four to five weeks.
The crews will mill the old asphalt, shape the street and repave it with asphalt.
The project is part of minor reconstruction of about eight lane miles of streets this fiscal year. The department maintains more than 290 total lane miles in San Marcos.
Streets that are being resurfaced in 2007-2008 include Alabama, Aquarena Springs, Roosevelt, Cheatham from C.M. Allen to Guadalupe, Clyde from Perkins to Girard, High Street, Hummingbird, Laurel Lane from Alta Vista to Quail Creek, Perkins from Franklin to Marlton, and Quail Creek.
For more information, contact the Public Works Department at 512-393-8036.
By MELISSA MILLECAM
Communications Director - City of San Marcos
Bowen asks for Rotary help
Posted by Blake Doelle on July 3, 2008 at 7:45 am • Print This Page • Share
The Rotary Club of San Marcos was greeted Wednesday at noon with special speaker Rick Bowen from the San Marcos Performing Arts Association at the Price Center. The meeting was led by President David Bandy, CEO of D.L. Bandy Constructors, Inc, and the group had good attendance for this special presentation and luncheon.
Bowen told the group that building a foundation and a legacy for further community theater is a huge goal of SMPAA, and they hope “Oliver!” will be the cornerstone of things to come.
“One every ten years is not a program,” said Bowen, who also portrays Fagin. “We want a sustainable program and we’re thankful to finally have a theater in which we can produce a large scale musical like this.”
“Oliver!” will be shown at San Marcos High School in the new state of the art theater with seating in the hundreds, and cast members hope every seat will be filled over the show’s 3 day run.
“This theater is perfect for a large scale musical,” said Bowen. The facility holds 999 for each performance and tickets will be sold on the day of the event only so arrive early to avoid long lines.
Bowen said, “I listed the need for volunteers at Newstreamz.com and David Bandy called me to help with ticket sales.” Bandy asked ten or more members to step up and participate in the presentation through their volunteerism.”
Bowen added,”We chose “Oliver!” because we want to get the middle school kids involved in the theatre arts.” All actors in the play are all local and community actors from the San Marcos area.”
“Oliver!” will run on July 11th and 12th at 7:30 PM with afternoon showings at 2:30 PM on July 12th and 13th. Tickets will be $15 at the door with no advanced purchases available. The San Marcos Performing Arts Center is located at 2601 East McCarthy Lane. Also t-shirts will be sold at the event.
For more information visit the San Marcos Performing Arts Association’s website at www.smpaa.com
Bandy said,” This is the first meeting for the 2008-2009 year and I want it to be one for the record books.”
The group honored Wendell Hethcock for his perfect attendance over the last 19 years of service. The group watched a video from the Rotary Assembly Meeting held in San Antonio and Bandy discussed ways for the group to participate more in community service over the next year.
The club also discussed linking their site to Newstreamz.com to keep all members up to date on club news and community issues in San Marcos.The Rotarians also featured one of their own with Featured Rotarian of the Week with Jerome (Jerry) Niemiec being selected.
Jerry and wife Janice (Jan) have two children, Jorie and Julie. His grandchildren include Allison, Matthew, Kyle, Jack, and J.J. Jerry is a financial advisor with Edward Jones. He is also involved with his church. His greatest memory as a child is going as a family to the beach on Sunday afternoons - swim, picnic, etc.
Jerry says his greatest achievement in the business world has been helping his clients achieve financial success. He says his best (work-related) advice he received and would like to share is, “Golden Rule - respect others as I would wish to be respected.”
Jerry has been a Rotarian since 1989.
He is a Rough Rider as he graduated from Theodore Roosevelt high school in East Chicago, Indiana in 1959. He attended Illinois Institute of Technology where he received his Bachelors of Science Degree in 1969. He then attended University of Chicago where he received his Masters in Business Administration in 1973. He also received his CFP, CLU, and CLFC from 1999 - 2001. His greatest accomplishment was attending school in the evenings while working full-time and raising a family.
Jerry grew up in East Chicago, Indiana. He has enjoyed teaching at Texas State (Dept. of Finance & Economics) and playing in the Starlight Symphony Orchestra. His most memorable trip has been to Poland from where his father’s parents immigrated. He is planning a summer 2008 trip to Italy. Jerry enjoys “celebrating another year” at New Years and listening to classical music. He also enjoys watching football and playing golf and tennis.
Special thanks to Diane Riojas for contribution to this story.
By J. RONALD OSWALT
Correspondent
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Tom Brooks, VP Client Services for Priority Personnel, addresses the group on Wednesday.
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The group honored Wendell Hethcock for his perfect attendance over the last 19 years of service.
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Special speaker Rick Bowen from the San Marcos Performing Arts Association at the Price Center speaks to Rotary members.
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Rotarians stand to start meeting and group traditions.
Pics by J. Ronald Oswalt
Private Fireworks Pose Extreme Fire Danger
Posted by Blake Doelle on July 2, 2008 at 5:00 pm • Print This Page • Share
Don’t use personal fireworks over the July 4 weekend here.
Instead, enjoy the free public fireworks display at San Marcos Plaza Park at 9:30 p.m. Friday. That’s the message from San Marcos Fire Rescue and the Fire Marshal’s office.
“The extremely dry conditions this summer are even worse than New Year’s when several hundred acres and some buildings burned near San Marcos due to wildfires caused by fireworks,” said Ken Bell, Fire Marshal. “Any rain we get now will have little effect on the severe fire risk we are experiencing.”
The Fire Marshal’s office and San Marcos Fire Rescue will have extra patrols on duty this weekend to answer fireworks complaints. They will also set up traffic signs warning that fireworks are banned in San Marcos.
To report illegal fireworks in San Marcos, call 753-2108.
The City of San Marcos prohibits the sale, possession, storage, or discharge of fireworks in the city and within a mile of the city limits. Violators can be fined up to $2,000.
Hays County commissioners have issued a “sticks and fins” fireworks ban which prohibits using aerial rockets.
Nationally, nearly 10,000 people are treated in emergency rooms annually for fireworks- related injuries-and most are children between the ages of 10-14. In 2005, fireworks sparked 2,500 fires and caused $39 million in property damage. Most fireworks fires and injuries happen around the July 4 holiday.
Friday’s Summerfest Celebration at San Marcos Plaza Park will feature a public fireworks display “bigger and better than ever,” said festival co-chairs Lisa Morris and Rebecca Ramirez.
Fireworks will be staged from the parking lot on the west side of Bobcat Stadium on the Texas State University-San Marcos campus beginning at 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 4. Great viewing will be possible at a variety of locations, including San Marcos Plaza Park, the Activity Center, Library, City Hall and Strahan Parking Lot.
By MELISSA MILLECAM
Communications Director - City of San Marcos
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