SAN ANGELO, TX — At The Angry Cactus Restaurant, 1 W. Concho Ave., proprietor Tim Condon claimed San Angelo Mayor Brenda Gunter was corrupt because the appraised value of her home went down when her neighbor’s homes went up. However, after the massive increases in value on Gunter’s other properties during the 2023 Appraisal Crisis came to light, he retracted his accusation.
Condon’s war against Gunter had reached a boiling point where and the mayor claims our reporting on it was exaggerated.
Wednesday night on the LIVE! Daily News Special Report on the Appraisal Crisis, Gunter said San Angelo LIVE! was engaged in using clickbait headlines when this news agency reported that her home’s appraisal for 2023 was set 5.09 percent less than last year while her neighbors’ properties rose four to 84 percent just as Condon, who has a large social media following, had said. The story’s headline was titled "Home of Mayor’s Lowered Appraised Property Value Raises Eyebrows.”
Watch Mayor Brenda Gunter discuss the Appraisal Crisis on Wednesday evening's LIVE! Stream:
At the time the article was written, we explored the possible reasons why Gunter’s home value decreased amongst the rising values of her neighbors. And because of the value differential, many citizens wondered aloud why the appraisals were so uneven throughout the city. The article was necessary because the mayor’s home value had become the most highlighted example of alleged appraisal district malfeasance this year.
The 2023 appraised values of homes on Mayor Gunter's street:
| Address | Acres | Total 2022 | Total 2023 | Total % Increase | Land 2022 | Land 2023 | Land % Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 503 S Bishop | 0.157 | $190,040 | $201,460 | 6.01% | $13,700 | $45,260 | 230.36% |
| 505 S Bishop | 0.161 | $175,430 | $186,310 | 6.20% | $13,990 | $46,210 | 230.31% |
| 509 S Bishop | 0.161 | $168,760 | $181,620 | 7.62% | $13,990 | $46,210 | 230.31% |
| 511 S Bishop | 0.241 | $457,370 | $493,320 | 7.86% | $20,990 | $56,450 | 168.94% |
| 525 S Bishop | 0.241 | $213,890 | $393,630 | 84.03% | $31,480 | $59,450 | 88.85% |
| 615 S Bishop | 0.647 | $710,450 | $742,700 | 4.54% | $81,679 | $105,650 | 29.35% |
| 630 S Bishop | 0.304 | $470,920 | $522,900 | 11.04% | $25,470 | $75,000 | 194.46% |
| 635 S Bishop (Mayor) | 1.286 | $1,236,380 | $1,173,510 | -5.09% | $112,030 | $39,920 | -64.37% |
We believe we debunked the story, so-called clickbait headline or not. We did by highlighting other examples of uneven appraised values, like this one. Here, lots less than one acre large saw massive increases in value while lots greater than one acres saw appraised value decreases. To illustrate the point, we printed the appraisal numbers on Bentwood’s Imperial Circle:
| Address | Acres | Land 2022 | Land 2023 | Land % Increase | Total 2022 | Total 2023 | Total % Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5601 Imperial Ct | 1.042 | $70,000 | $33,340 | -52.37% | $218,900 | $902,420 | 312.25% |
| 5602 Imperial Ct | 1.057 | $75,000 | $33,820 | -54.91% | $1,050,540 | $1,067,890 | 1.65% |
| 5605 Imperial Ct | 0.739 | $72,500 | $104,650 | 44.34% | $935,600 | $1,022,750 | 9.31% |
| 5606 Imperial Ct | 0.450 | $70,000 | $101,670 | 45.24% | $684,510 | $819,280 | 19.69% |
| 5609 Imperial Ct | 0.823 | $72,500 | $89,930 | 24.04% | $1,017,820 | $1,116,570 | 9.70% |
| 5610 Imperial Ct | 0.494 | $70,000 | $96,190 | 37.41% | $768,820 | $931,740 | 21.19% |
| 5613 Imperial Ct | 0.854 | $72,500 | $93,400 | 28.83% | $804,500 | $964,300 | 19.86% |
| 5614 Imperial Ct | 0.543 | $70,000 | $105,660 | 50.94% | $913,360 | $1,032,660 | 13.06% |
| 5617 Imperial Ct | 0.751 | $70,000 | $105,660 | 50.94% | $848,150 | $934,430 | 10.17% |
| 5618 Imperial Ct | 0.545 | $70,000 | $106,050 | 51.50% | $1,006,120 | $1,058,520 | 5.21% |
| 5622 Imperial Ct | 0.526 | $70,000 | $102,480 | 46.40% | $961,060 | $1,089,210 | 13.33% |
Days later, Mayor Gunter brought to our attention the drastic increase in value of her commercial properties downtown. Her signature property, Miss Hattie’s Restaurant, 26 E. Concho Ave., rose 58 percent in value between last year’s appraisals and 2023’s. The increase was in line with neighboring properties. However, her business offices on West Concho saw a dramatic increase — an increase in value greater than the property value increase of the building on where nemesis Condon pays taxes.
Gunter owns three buildings at 24, 26, and 28 W. Concho Ave. The three properties together increased in appraised value from $629,810 in 2022 to $2,114,990 in 2023. That is a 235.81 percent increase over the previous year.
| Address | Acres | Total 2022 | Total 2023 | Total % Increase | Land 2022 | Land 2023 | Land % Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 W Concho Ave | 0.327 | $413,040 | $1,803,090 | 336.54% | $106,880 | $142,500 | 33.33% |
| 26 W Concho Ave | 0.216 | $91,120 | $138,740 | 52.26% | $70,420 | $92,890 | 31.91% |
| 30 W Concho Ave | 0.230 | $125,650 | $173,160 | 37.81% | $75,000 | $100,000 | 33.33% |
| TOTALS | $629,810 | $2,114,990 | 235.81% | $252,300 | $335,390 | 32.93% |
Gunter is livid about all of the appraised values across the city and calls them excessive. While recognizing the problems exasperated during the Covid era, such as supply chain issues hiking building materials, and an influx of new citizens to San Angelo, Gunter doesn’t excuse what she called a “broken system.”
“The price on my office building is so out of line with any price I could sell those buildings for,” Gunter said.
“This is a war on peoples’ lives and [their] livelihood. It’s money they don’t have,” Gunter said.
Upon the revelation that Gunter’s office buildings on West Concho increased 235.81 percent to $2,114,990, we called Condon to get his reaction. Prior, Condon had alleged Gunter must have made a special deal with the appraisers to lower her home’s appraised value (a charge Gunter and chief appraiser Tyler Johnson vehemently deny). Meanwhile, the property where Condon’s Angry Cactus is located — across the street from Gunter’s $2.1 million offices — was appraised only at $1,529,390, up from $680,370 in 2022, a 125 percent increase, much smaller than Gunter’s.
We asked him what he thought about the new information. Condon thought for a moment and then said:
“Oh, well I guess she’s not corrupt anymore.”
Both Condon and Mayor Brenda Gunter were on Wednesday night’s LIVE! Daily News Special Report: The Appraisal Crisis. The show was live streamed across SanAngeloLIVE.com, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Rumble. The show was the eighth most popular post on Facebook in all of Texas last night. Watch the entire show here.
Watch Tim Condon's remarks during Wednesday night's live stream:
Subscribe to the LIVE! Daily
Required
Comments
Guys... corruption is against COSA policy. Therefore, it is impossible for the mayor to be corrupt. Think, people.
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkRemember everyone that runs this town is republican, no democrat has run in the last 2 local elections. Not to mention that texas has been run by republicans for 20+ years, if you have an issue with state or local government, its due to republicans.
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkIn all seriousness, I remember leaving some comments on here a few years ago pushing for a female mayor to be elected. I don't know if those comments had any effect on mayor Gunter being elected or if others, including the current mayor herself, just thought it was time. (I suspected something "funny" might happen. Here we are...)
What's striking about this situation is that the only reason this came to light is because the mayor left her property values listed for the public to see. They say "be good or be good at it," so if the mayor is actually corrupt, she isn't too good at it - and we can be sure that there are many more influential people benefiting from favorable appraisals if corruption is afoot.
A real cutthroat wouldn't be so sloppy. If this is corruption, the mayor was probably just playing the same game as her peers...
- Log in or register to post comments
PermalinkPost a comment to this article here: