One More Announces He'll run for San Angelo Mayor

Tony Villarreal threw his hat into the ring officially today for the May 6 election. Villarreal is the first to file. Also expected to file is downtown entrepreneur Brenda Gunter who announced her candidacy last week. Her application has not been received as of this morning.

Villarreal said he has four priorities if he is elected mayor. First is water conservation. His principle target is city infrastructure, or the water mains that are leaking. Second, he said the city’s permitting processes for new projects should be simplified. Third, he wants to build better partnerships between the city, county, Goodfellow AFB, the Chamber of Commerce, and other entities where collectively the organizations can create better value for the taxpayer. Finally, Villarreal said he will double down to economic development. “I want to better compete with Midland, Abilene, even Lubbock for more business,” he said.

Villarreal is a baseball fan, too. He said he’d love to see a minor league baseball team come back to San Angelo. He cited success stories in Amarillo and Midland.

Villarreal is hosting his formal announcement Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at The Bosque on the Concho River.

Councilwoman Lucy Gonzales filed for re-election to the Council’s District 4 seat and newcomer Steve Hampton for the District 6 post.

The District 2 council seat is also on the ballot, awaiting candidates to file for it. Winners in the election will serve four-year terms.

The filing period began today and continues through Feb. 17. Candidates file the necessary paperwork in the City Clerk’s office in Room 210 on the second floor of City Hall, 72 W. College Ave. The office is open from 8 a.m.-noon and from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Candidate packets containing applications, information and forms about the process for those considering running for City Council are available in the City Clerk’s office or at cosatx.us/May2017. Questions can be addressed to City Clerk Bryan Kendrick at 325-657-4405 or at [email protected].

Voters and potential candidates can access a map of the City Council districts at cosatx.us/council. Determining which district one lives in can be determined by clicking the GIS map viewer on the same page.

Voters must be registered to vote by April 7 to be eligible to cast a ballot in the May 6 election. Voter registration information can be found at votetomgreencounty.org; in the Tom Green County Election/Voter Registration Office on the first floor of the Edd B. Keyes Building, 113 W. Beauregard Ave.; and at all three Tom Green County library locations.