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Political turnover on Wimberley Council

#6 MAY. 3 2018

A lot has happened to the makeup of the Wimberley City Council in 2018. Not only did the May election change the scope of the council from one that was in favor of a city-owned treatment plant to one that favored Aqua Texas, it has also seen multiple resignations. Days after the election, former Mayor Steve Thurber announced his resignation from his seat on the council citing “extreme” differences with the newly elected officials. Then, just a few weeks ago, Patricia Cantu-Kelly, who was halfway through her one-year term, announced her resignation saying she could not be a part of a “mayoral regime.” Michael Mc-Cullough was appointed to fill Steve Thurber’s vacated seat while the council is still in the process of accepting Cantu-Kelly’s resignation and presumably appointing her successor. Here is the story we ran in May of 2018 immediately after the city election:

ELECTION DAY

Susan Jaggers, Craig Fore, Gary Barchfeld and Patricia Cantu Kelly swept the ballot in Wimberley.

For Mayor, Susan Jaggers pulled in 51.42 percent. She beat former Mayor Steve Thurber by 30 votes by receiving 544 votes to his 514.

Jaggers said that residents should be “ready for progress” and that she thinks the council can work together as a whole.

“My first priority is to assure the citizens, whether they voted for one side or the other, that it is not all or nothing. It’s not ‘we lost and have to suck it up for the year,’” Jaggers said. “We will reach across the aisle, so to say, even though we aren’t Democrats or Republics here in a local election… If you look at the campaign promises on both sides, they were going for the same issues… no discharge, build roads and no taxes. Everyone is speaking the same language. It’s just working out the details.”

Incumbent City Councilmember Craig Fore won Place Two with 53 percent of the vote total beating Rebecca Minnick.

“We ran on roads, no property tax and zero discharge,” Fore said. “What I want to do is continue to seek a solution that guarantees zero discharge whether it is the pond or sprinklers out to the bypass. Whatever that is, that is my priority. And we want to work with this council. They have had the majority before. We have it now, but that is not what this is about. It’s about getting things done and working together.”

Incumbent City Councilmember Gary Barchfeld won Place 4 with 51.86 percent of the vote edging out Christine Bryne by 39 votes.

“One of the first priorities I see is a unification program,” Barchfeld said. “I see the city as being an independent entity within our county and community. I want to get the county commissioners and visit with some of the county people so we can be proactive in working with them. I think it is also important that we do that with our school board, city of Woodcreek and that we gather in the health and safety individuals like Ken Strange at the EMS, Carroll Czichos at the fire department and the Sheriff and Constable so we have a good report with everyone in the valley.”

For Place 5, incumbent City Councilmember Roberta Holland fell to challenger Patricia Cantu Kelly after Kelly received 54.45 percent of the votes. Kelly received the most votes of the election with 569 total votes.

“I think we need to reevaluate the direction the city is going. Reevaluate the sewer system,” Cantu-Kelly said. “We are not going to change it back to Aqua Texas, but we need to make sure and look to see if there anything we can do to make it better. We need to look at what we have and see if we can make it better financially. We don’t want to city to go bankrupt, and I want no discharge. Not a drop.”

Overall, there were 1,058 votes in the Wimberley City Council Election, a new local record. Last year, 998 votes were cast in the election.

Wimberley View

P.O. Box 49
Wimberley, TX 78676
Phone: 512-847-2202
Fax: 512-847-9054