Anzaldua answers mayoral forum questions while Miller responds to recall petition

The Gonzales Inquirer and American Legion Post 40 held a candidate forum for the mayoral candidates on Thursday, March 27. at the post hall.

Both Mayor Steve Sucher and challenger Isaac Anzaldua were invited to the forum. Sucher notified the Inquirer before the forum he would not be able to attend due to a prior out-of-state commitment.

The Inquirer also gave District 4 City Councilmember Ronda Miller the chance to address the upcoming recall election against her that was sparked by a signed petition submitted to the city. None of the more than 60 people in attendance stepped up in defense of the petition when given the opportunity.

Anzaldua answered the following questions asked by moderator jand Inquirer publisher Lew K. Cohn:

What role should the mayor play in the leadership of the community and how much involvement should he or she have in promoting tourism, encouraging economic development, and the day to day operations of the city?

Anzaldua: “The role is very simple. For the people, with the people, by the people and next to the people. As a mayor, I feel it's the job to come out, promote your local businesses, to stand with them, to work with the people in Gonzales to find out. What is it they desire? How can we make sure they feel appreciated? How can we make sure when they invest in Gonzales they feel there's a return on their investment? That's very important. Your local businesses rely on us to actually get out and advertise for them, to speak with them, to meet with them, to talk to them, but more importantly, to listen to them. What can we do to help them grow? What are avenues we can take and explore that allow business to prosper so we no longer see a business for three or four months, but rather three to four to 10 to 15 years. So those are things we look at, but the greater thing we need to do is begin to listen to our boards. We have great boards set up by a lot of great community members, but if we are not going to listen to them and take back their considerations to council, then we're doing a disservice to the community, but we need to start listening to what the people are asking, and how can we together work to formulate a plan that satisfies Gonzales and helps everyone to move forward quickly and swiftly.”

The City of Gonzales recently severed ties with the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce for the promotion of tourism and removed the management of the Visitor Center from the Chamber of Commerce. On what basis do you think the decision was made? Do you agree or disagree with this decision? Are there data or studies to support your choice?

Anzaldua: “The question you're asking requires more information to make an answer, because I was not in the room when the decision was made. It'd be foolish for me to sit here and tell you I know all the facts when I do not. That decision was made by the current council and current administration, so you're asking me a question I was not involved in the conversations with., so I will address it in this manner. We have to continue to work together: the Chamber, Tourism, Main Street, EDC, every person out there, down to the CVB and JB wells. We have to learn to work together to focus on the greater good of Gonzales. If you ask me, we're all ambassadors of our city. If you ask me, we're all tour guides to our city. If you ask me, we're all the link to our city to make it great. That's what I feel about Gonzales. We all have the opportunity to go out and be the next tour director. Go out and promote chamber, go out and promote the events. Go out and promote everything in Gonzales. It's based on the community and the people here. So to work with them, again, I will tell you, we have to learn to listen to our boards, and we have to learn to appreciate them in a professional manner where their opinion is valued, their input is appreciated and is actually put into action so we may not only see a plan that is in progress, but also a plan of completion.”

There was discussion during the last mayoral campaign about the cost of operations and profitability of the JB Wells Expo Center, Park and Arena and whether the facility is generating enough revenue. Has the situation improved and what more, if anything, needs to be done to further the advancement of that property for the community?

Anzaldua: “Okay, this one here is going to be rather easy. They do a great job at JB Wells. If you have ever been out there, they do a wonderful job entertaining so many. It's one of the most prominent things we have in Gonzales, and it brings so many people here. Are there opportunities for growth? Absolutely, but are they working as hard as they can? You better believe they are. Anybody's welcome to come out and volunteer for any event they have there, and you'll see the effort that goes into it. You'll see the work, the passion, the love, the commitment by everyone there to help it grow. But to answer your question, it actually goes back to my plan number three, which was a venue tax. If we look at adding the venue tax to the city of Gonzalez at a 2.5% rate, that would bring approximately anywhere from $18,000 to $22,000 per year that can be used towards the venues. A venue tax is not a property tax and it's not a sales tax. It's added to your hotel tax. The state allows that up to 17% currently. Gonzales is at 12%, so by doing a 2.5, we go to 14.5, which allows room for growth in the years to come and keeps us very well under the umbrella. When you look at that, those funds are now allowed for repairs or modifications to JB Wells that would exceed the normal budget and maintenance for the facility, so that gives opportunities for those things, but also gives opportunity for growth at JB Wells if we want to build anything additional, like conference rooms and a convention center. You may use the venue tax to do that, to make JB wells a true convention center now.”

One of the biggest complaints Gonzales citizens have is about the quality of streets within city limits. Our streets are one of the first impressions people get about our community when trying to attract new industry or tourism. What would you propose as the best way to fix more of our city streets?

Anzaldua: “This one's going to be an answer that many will agree with and many will disagree with, but I truly believe, in order to fix the infrastructure, because not just your streets, you have to look what's below your street. Have we done a true study of the asphalt? Have we tested the soil? Do we know the water pressure? What do we know while we’re in that street? So before we can just lay a mix on top and think it's going to be smooth, and in two years be in the same spot, we have to do an independent study to find out what happens to that street, exactly how damaged is that particular area of that street in that neighborhood or in that particular portion of the city? Once that is there, we can now formulate a plan that goes into repair and correction of that. This is where people may disagree. It may mean there may have to be an increase in your taxes to cover that. I don't know that for certain, but I would not lie to the city and prepare them either way. At that point in time, a discussion would be held, but it would not be by the mayor alone. It's by the council, it's by the people, and it's by all the boards that are needed to make the best decision for Gonzales moving forward that we would not be in the same place five years from now that we are today.”

The expenditure of HOT funds and who receives what amount has been a hot topic of late in the wake of funding for the Texas Legacy in Lights, Cattle Country Fest and Come and Take It. How should it be decided who gets funding, how much they should get and who is best suited to make those decisions?

Anzaldua: “On the hot funds and the tax things of that nature. A hot fund, as ours, is designed to be anything that brings things to our city that we may profit from. If Cattle Country is bringing visitors in, how much sales tax are they bringing in? If you have people coming in, what are they bringing to the city in exchange? So you have to look at a HOT tax as anything that develops your city as more of a destination for visitors to come to visit? The projector — that comes through a reserve fund. That reserve fund was set aside for different purchases, not from the HOT fund that would supply your Cattle Country, nor would it supply your Come and Take It. So those are two different things. As far as who's able to distribute those funds, we have boards that allow for that. We have boards we need to listen to. What is your guidance? What is your recommendation? What do you see fit for us? But if we're only going to make decisions and then notify them of our decisions, then why do we have a board? It's time we listen to our boards, speak to our boards, talk to our boards, take into consideration fully what they're asking and listen to their recommendations and, from there, make an educated decision for our city for the future, so that all funds are given, but also that the community understands how the funds were required, what the totals were and how they were being used.”

Last year, the city council voted down a possible increase in the compensation for the mayor and council. Under the proposal the mayor’s salary would have gone from $1,000 per month to $1,500 per month and the council salary would have doubled from $500 per month to $1,000 per month. Would you support an increase in the salary and why or why not?

Anzaldua: “An increase is treated like a business. There has to be a performance evaluation. What justified the increase? Was there additional travel? Was there training? What might have gone into request for that? As for me personally, I've already made public and I'll continue to state it, I will actually donate my funds back to Gonzales the check I receive for being your mayor. I'm here to serve you. I'm here to give all I have to Gonzales, and I want to be able to take that, those funds, and donate them back to committees, back to youth organizations, church organizations, people who are doing great things for our city, but maybe need a little financial assistance to get it done. If we can do those things, that means in a year's three-year term time, if it's at the current $1,000, that's a $36,000 return to our city and to the people. As far as anything additional, again, you have to really justify as to why the increase would be there, and is it truly in the best interest of the city?”

District 4 recall

Miller had three minutes to publicly address the petition filed to recall her from office. That election will also be held Saturday, May 3, on the same day as the mayoral election, but it is only open to District 4 voters.

“I'd like to state that I believe in the recall process yet it should be carried out properly with factual reasons rather than petty dirty politics or people's personal agendas and opinions. I cannot give much credence to a group that didn't bother to show up to support the lies and slander they spread and attempt to smear the good name of a person who works hard to be a voice for the community and the taxpayers. My goal has been to represent in a fair and equitable manner as a team, to work together and make decisions with you, rather than for you. And I have a good track record for advocating for this community and for welcoming feedback and dialog for the local businesses and residents. The climate when I was first elected to this office was one of distrust and bad feelings towards City Hall and our city government. The voters wanted a strong voice, and I was given instructions from the voters to clean out the bureaucratic bloat and to address an out-of-control budget that did not reflect the community members’ needs and that catered to a City Hall that seemed to think the community and taxpayers somehow answered to them instead of following the will of the people.

“I only have three minutes, and I cannot scratch the surface of all the items I have either initiated or helped facilitate on behalf of this community. So please call me anytime if you have questions and you want to talk about something that we can't address tonight at 830-263-9480 and I'll be happy to answer any questions and share more details of the work I've accomplished while serving District Four and the town's businesses and residents. Or you can call the city manager and he can vouch for my hard work and support of this community. A few highlights: keeping property tax rates down; city wide cleanup efforts, starting with the city and its public spaces; to lead by example and not have government infringe on property owners rights; reduce rates at City Public Works dumpsters, plus an additional day on a weekend, instead of just midweek Wednesday. I worked closely with the city manager in keeping garbage service rates low, adding back the four bulk pickups and getting residents’ choice of dumpster companies to boost the citywide cleanup efforts. I initiated a building codes workshop with local building owners and contractors to remedy the restricted building codes that hinder the revitalization of local destroyed buildings. Facilitated improved relations and roles and responsibility awareness between the city and its economic arm of the GEDC. I initiated and advocated to move tourism to the chamber back in 2022 hoping to streamline efforts and work together. I advocated for tourism to be recognized as an industry by GEDC, and we now have a designated heritage tourism director to boost tourism as a major economic driver for Gonzales, which is the Lexington of Texas. I want to thank District Four voters for your vote and confidence in me to get this work accomplished, and there is much to still do, so please vote no on the recall ballot so I can continue to advocate for this community.”