“I’m With Tony” Villarreal Campaign for Mayor Kicks Off

Flanked by his father and three-dozen supporters at Kid’s Kingdom along the Concho River downtown yesterday afternoon, San Angelo businessman Tony Villarreal announced he was running for mayor. Election Day is May 6, and the term of office is four years.

Villarreal’s platform has four legs.

1. Water conservation and water infrastructure: Villarreal is particularly critical of city infrastructure such as leaking water mains. He proposes to work with state and federal sources to find grants to upgrade it.
2. Making the city’s permitting processes for new construction projects simplified. He proposes procuring for the city government a computer system contractors can connect to with tablet PCs to obtain permits. For large projects, he proposes assigning a city staffer as its project manager.
3. Deeper cooperation of city government, other government entities, and non-government organizations. He proposes more frequent meetings between organizations to find duplication of effort, and joining together those efforts to optimize services for citizens. “After all, we all have the same taxpayers,” he said.
4. Double down on economic development. Villarreal said San Angelo should compete with its comparable cities ferociously to attract new industries and jobs to San Angelo. He also mentioned assisting small, and particularly minority and woman-owned businesses to succeed.

Villarreal has experience in public service since being elected to the Rocksprings city council at age 19. He later served as an Edwards County Commissioner. Later in life, he moved to Fort Stockton where he served on the school board, the Pecos County Commissioners’ Court and then served as mayor of Fort Stockton. Daniel Valenzuela was city manager of Fort Stockton back then, about 13 years ago.

Villarreal admitted he was an outsider, and said he was thankful the San Angelo community welcomed him with open arms.

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Above: Tony Villarreal kicks off his campaign for San Angelo mayor on Jan. 18, 2017. (LIVE! Photo/Joe Hyde)

Of the supporters interviewed, many sporting red T-shirts announcing “I’m With Tony,” they expressed their concerns were about the quality of city services. They didn’t care about the trash contract as long as trash wasn’t blowing down their street and the trash was picked up when it was supposed to. They were upset the roads in the city were in disrepair, and, in Villarreal, they see someone who will fix them. They weren’t concerned with the details of policy; they were instead seeking results.

Villarreal was the first candidate to officially file his candidacy for mayor. Joining him on the ballot later yesterday was San Angelo businesswoman Brenda Gunter who announced her candidacy last week.

The filing period for mayor continues through Feb 17.