North San Antonio Edition | February 2026

BY PARKS KUGLE

County forms center to combat senior abuse In a move to create a holistic and coordinated approach toward protecting the county’s senior population, the Bexar County Commissioners Court ocially celebrated the creation of the Bexar County Senior Justice Assessment Center, or SJAC, Dec. 16. In a nutshell According to county documents, the SJAC is a county-led interagency task force designed to combat senior abuse. SJAC will meet weekly to review and discuss cases involving abuse, crime, exploitation, or neglect of individuals aged 65 years or older. Judge Veronica Vasquez said Bexar County has the highest Adult Protective Services intakes and completed investigations per capita in Texas, and that SJAC will provide a much-needed role within the county. “We have horric rates of senior elder abuse and exploitation in this county. ... We realized that this was something that was a need in Bexar County,” Vasquez said. Local municipalities call May elections During their January City Council meet- ings, both Hollywood Park and Shavano Park approved ordinances ordering a general election for May 2. What you need to know The mayor and Place 2 and Place 4 council member seats are up for election in Holly- wood Park. Mayor Chester Drash, Place 2 council member, Todd Kounse, and Place 4 council member, Wendy Gonzalez, all incumbents, are running for reelection. Shavano Park will hold elections for three alderman positions: Maggi Kautz, Lee Pow- ers and Konrad Kuykendall, with Kuykendall and Powers both seeking reelection. New candidates include Alex Kling, Christian Lyons and Vicky Maisel.

Shavano Park eyes improvement district On Jan. 26, the Shavano Park City Council reviewed two 1604 Public Improvement District, or PID, ordinances, which would establish a reimbursement and development agreement with developers Bitterblue. Once completed, the mixed-use develop- ment will include housing, retail and more. Assistant City Manager Curtis Leeth said the reimbursement agreement would create three additional PID funds. Leeth empha- sized that this structure will not obligate taxpayers to cover the development costs. Looking ahead The ordinances will be brought back to City Council in February.

Adult Protective Services 2024 completed cases per county

Harris Bexar Tarrant Dallas Nueces Wichita

160

121

38 37

Taylor Travis Collin Fort Bend

21 20 20 20

El Paso Hidalgo

Lubbock Cameron Williamson Galveston Tom Green 0

15 14

13 13

50 100 150 200

SOURCE: BEXAR COUNTYCOMMUNITY IMPACT

San Antonio, VIA launch free student program To combat chronic absenteeism, the San Anto- nio City Council entered into a $150,000 funding agreement between the city and VIA Metropol- itan Transit on Jan. 15 to launch a pilot program that provides middle school and high school students with VIA bus passes for a semester. The gist According to city documents, the pilot program will cover the costs of VIA semester bus passes at $28.50 per student, providing free transportation to more than 5,200 students ages 12-18. To apply for free bus passes, students must complete a form available on VIAinfo.net or at VIA’s transit centers and obtain signatures from their educational institution. VIA will oversee the program as part of its cur- rent bus fare program, which currently provides semester bus passes for students for $28.50 a SJAC core team members: • Law enforcement and APS • Bexar County District Attorney’s Oce and Public Health Department • Texas and US Attorney General’s Oce • Bexar County and the City of San Antonio Code Compliance

Loop 1604 Public Improvement District

1604

POND HILL RD.

KINNAN WAY

To apply for free bus passes, students can visit VIA's transit centers.

COURTESY VIA METROPOLITAN TRANSIT

semester. The pilot program will begin retroac- tively Dec. 20, 2025, and end once all funding has been used. Funding for the pilot program will be taken from the scal year 2026-27 general fund operat- ing budget. The entire program includes a 25% discount per pass to the City of San Antonio.

NORTH SAN ANTONIO EDITION