BY JARRETT WHITENER
New Schertz council member sworn in Benjamin Guerrero was sworn into Schertz City Council Jan. 28, following the canvassing of votes from the Jan. 18 runoff election between Guerrero and Tim Dusek. Results show Guerrero with 51% of votes, while Dusek received the remaining 49% votes. How we got here Following the resignation of Tiffany Gibson in September, a special election was called Dec. 14 to fill the Place 4 seat. Out of five candidates, Dusek and Guer- rero received the highest number of votes, receiving 28.99% and 22.38% respectively. Due to neither candidate receiving more than 50% of votes during the Dec. 14 elec- tion, a runoff was required by the Schertz City Charter.
Universal City pursues trail funding Universal City staff are pursuing grant funding from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Recreation Trails Grant Program for the construction of a trail connecting the back of Universal City Park to Kitty Hawk Road. This trail would continue the trail development from Veterans Park to Universal City Park, eventu- ally connecting to Historic Evans Road in Selma. The details Universal City’s City Council approved an ordinance allowing staff to apply for the grant Jan. 21. If awarded, the grant would require the city to match 20% of the funds. Public Works Director Randy Luensmann said the city’s portion of the payment would be around $75,000 if grant funds are received. The project is planned to be constructed by city staff, which will help take funding as far as it Location picked for Cibolo animal shelter Cibolo City Council on Jan. 28 gave city staff direction to move forward with the new animal shelter. The details Bryan Hugghins, executive director of safety and infrastructure, said staff looked at putting the animal shelter in the same loca- tion as the current shelter, which is located at 108 Cibolo Drive, Bldg. 3, but decided the area at the corner of Haeckerville Road and Schaeffer Road would be a better location. The final architectural design for the facility is expected to be brought back to city council in May, Hugghins said.
NEW PROPOSED TRAIL
KITTY HAWK RD.
518
EXISTING TRAIL
UNIVERSAL CITY PARK
N
will go and complete the second phase of the trail connection, Luensmann said. Upon completion, the second section, called the Cave Trail, will connect to the Cibolo Creek Trail—creating a walking path from Veterans Park to Kitty Hawk Road. Looking ahead If the grant is awarded to the city, the project will be done under the fiscal year 2025-26 budget, meaning the trail will be completed in 2026, Luensmann added. Schertz elected official compensation increased Schertz City Council and mayor compensation will be increased starting with the next group of elected officials, following an ordinance approval on Feb. 4. The overview Under the city charter, elected officials receive compensation which is adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index, City Manager Steve Williams said. With the approval of these compensation increases, neither the current mayor or city council will receive new compensation until after the next election. The mayor position alongside council places one and two will be increased after the November election, while places three, four and five will be increased in 2026 and places six and seven will be increased in 2027. What they’re saying Mayor Ralph Gutierrez made the motion to approve the ordinance without any changes to the compensation numbers. Councilmember Mark Davis voted against the ordinance.
Elected official compensation
Term
Mayor
City Council
1
$9,000
$6,000
2
$11,000
$8,000
3
$13,000
$10,000
4+
$15,000
$12,000
SOURCE: CITY OF SCHERTZ/COMMUNITY IMPACT
“I think all of our council members put in a significant amount of work,” Davis said. “I do not understand the logic of a first time councilmember getting paid $6,000, but someone in their third term getting paid $10,000.” While the council agreed that the mayor does more for the city than the city council does, discus- sion focused on the actual compensation numbers. Recommendation included making the com- pensation a flat rate of $8,000 for city council and $15,000 for the mayor, which was recommended by Councilmember Robert Westbrook. Gutierrez said the tiered system will allow elected officials with more experience to have additional compensation. “It is difficult for us to have a discussion about giving ourselves more money,” he said.
78
Animal shelter
E. SCHAEFFER RD.
N
19
NORTHEAST SAN ANTONIO METROCOM EDITION
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