Meet the Candidates

My name is Jim Jones, and I am a native Texan, born in Corpus Christi in 1964. I moved to Wimberley about 25 years ago when I gained custody of my three children. I recently retired from the military after serving in all three components of the US Army for over 38 years, including two combat tours in Iraq. I was on active duty over 20 years and a total of five times, starting with an enlistment in the Regular Army in 1985, serving in Germany and at Ft. Sill, and ending as an Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) officer serving with US Army North (5th Army) in San Antonio. I have a BS in Multidisciplinary Studies and an MBA, both from Liberty University.

My wife, Andrea, and I founded The Hog Pound motorcycle and accessory shop south of the Square after my last tour in Iraq in 2010 and ran it continuously until I received orders from the National Guard Bureau to serve in the National Capital Region in October 2015. We sold the business and moved to Northern Virginia where a oneyear order ultimately extended into five. Throughout that time, we kept our home here in Wimberley, leasing it out as an Airbnb which enabled us to keep the house. We returned every year for the holidays and permanently in the summer of 2020, making a very difficult move during the height of the pandemic. I am a co-founder and former board member of the local nonprofit My Neighbor’s Keeper (MyNK), and my wife and I assisted the community and many people affected by the disastrous flood on Memorial Day weekend in 2015. Some of our friends in the community have often urged me over the years to run for city council in the past but federal law prohibits Title-10 active-duty personnel from holding elected office. Since I retired last February, these same friends have held me to that promise, so I filed to run in the current election for Place 4.

I see the two top challenges in Wimberley today as growth and water, which are intertwined. While growth is impossible to stop, it can be managed. I believe that all council decisions should be unbiased and support the needs and demands of the community without overwhelming existing infrastructure. As the commercial hub of the much larger Wimberley Valley community, we must include this population in all future planning. The water supply is limited, and new developments increase the strain on this resource. For this issue I would encourage rainwater collection where possible and ask new development proposals to present a sustainable water usage plan. My primary focus as a council member would be a limited government, commonsense approach to city issues and trying to mitigate council decisions that could be construed as favoritism or corruption. There is no place for these things in a truly representative body, and it is the interests of the people that I intend to represent. Since I no longer own a business in Wimberley and have no plans to start one, I have no special interests other than the overall welfare of our community. I welcome any questions and concerns that citizens may have which can be posted on my official Facebook page at facebook. com/profile.php?id= 61557416516208.