SAN ANTONIO – There will be a new council member representing District 4. Councilman Rey Saldana was elected in 2011 and is wrapping up his fourth and final term.
Five candidates have put their hats in the ring to represent parts of the city's west and south sides.
Sarah Acosta spoke with all of the candidates, asking them questions viewers sent in to KSAT's San Antonio Questions forum. One thing all of them agreed on is that District 4 has been neglected.
None of the five candidates have ever been in office, though two have run for the District 4 seat in previous elections.
Joel Mendoza has lived in District 4 for four years. He sells insurance, and says he got the bug to give back to the community while block walking for state election campaigns earlier this year. He says the district is missing transparency.
“It's more about putting the power back in the peoples hands and talking it away from the politics and politicians,” Mendoza said.
Samantha Sanchez grew up in the area . She is a former grant writer, and lives in the district with her husband and two young girls. She has cerebral palsy and wants to be an example of empowerment to others with disabilities. She says she wants to focus on more educational after school programs for our youth.
“Youth development is really important,” Sanchez said. “I think through education we can address a lot of the social issues that we are facing as a community.”
Genevieve Trinidad is retired and used to work for the Harlandale Independent School District. She is a former military wife who has lived in the district for 55 years. She says she wants to see more improvements to the Palo Alto area.
“A little bit of loving on that infrastructure,” Trinidad said. “I did notice that there were a lot of homes that were -- homes shut down, weeds, a lot of stray dogs. I know. I've been block walking.”
Adriana Rocha Garcia says she is proud working single mother. She is an assistant marketing professor at Our Lady of the Lake University. She has been on the Council's Ethics Review Board for three years. She wants to see District 4 represented at a higher level within the city.
“Represented at those decision making levels, and get some of the funding that we need to continue the park improvements, the sidewalk improvements, the lighting improvements that would be beneficial to our district,” Garcia said.
Johnny Arredondo is retired from the retail industry. He says after 20 years of refereeing college basketball he is used to handling conflict. He says he wants to fight for homeowners to lower property taxes.
“The biggest issue is over appraisals,” Arredondo said. “I believe the representatives are neglecting the opportunity to help the homeowners from over appraisals.”