The City of San Marcos selected Stan Standridge as the new San Marcos Police Department Chief of Police.
The San Marcos City Council approved city plans to spend federal CARES Act funding and appointed members to two citizen committees at its regular Oct. 20 meeting.
The San Marcos City Council approved the city's municipal budget Sept. 15 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, taking into account a number of issues caused by COVID-19 during its development.
The San Marcos City Council voted against relocating the city post office and expanded a law enforcement information center at its regular Oct. 7 meeting.
The San Marcos City Council voted on several resolutions and ordinances, including the budget and tax rate for the fiscal year at its regular Sept. 15 meeting. Following a public hearing, the council voted to approve the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021, which totals $258,741,41…
San Marcos City Council candidates shared their campaign platforms revolving around affordable housing, job market recovery and the city’s response to COVID-19, during a Sept. 10 virtual forum. Of the 12 candidates running for office, five are running for mayor, two for City Council Place 3,…
The San Marcos City Council met for its biweekly meeting Sept. 1 to vote on a new land development code and discuss the city’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as numerous resolutions and land ordinances. The council approved several amendments to the city’s development code, as …
The San Marcos City Council met for its biweekly meeting Aug.18 to announce the opening of two free COVID-19 testing sites, discuss a possible return to in-person council meetings and discuss various resolutions and land ordinances. Director of Public Safety Chase Stapp announced that San Ma…
The San Marcos City Council met for their regular biweekly meeting Aug. 4 after a one-month hiatus to discuss the city’s response to COVID-19 as well as various resolutions and land ordinances. The meeting began with a COVID-19 status update, after which the council voted to approve a progra…
San Marcos City Council met for its biweekly meeting June 16 to redirect COVID-19 relief project funds to improving testing, provide funding for police department building additions and discuss Community Development Block Grant projects. The council agreed the city needs improved testing cap…
Offices, lobbies, courts and parks within the Hays County system are in varying stages of reopening to the public. All members of the public who enter county buildings should wear face coverings and maintain six feet between themselves and others who are not in their own family. Below are th…
The San Marcos City Council met for their regular biweekly meeting June 2 to discuss the development of the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus Response fund allocation and pass various land ordinances. The council approved the amendments to the CDBG program to add $425,261 in COVI…
The San Marcos City Council met for their regular meeting May 19 to pass a multi-million dollar plan for improving city services, pass a commercial scooter ban and discuss a variety of land ordinances and resolutions. On the first and final reading, the council unanimously authorized the usa…
The City of San Marcos is accepting applications until May 20 for funding through a $425,261 Community Development Block Grant for Coronavirus Response. The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. San Marcos is seeking qualified applications from for-profit e…
The San Marcos City Council met for their regular meeting May 5 to discuss a temporary downtown parklet program and amend the 2019-2020 fiscal year budget for mental health services for public safety employees. City Council passed a temporary program allowing businesses to convert on-street …
San Marcos City Council met for their regular meeting online over Zoom April 7, passing the cite-and-release ordinance, passing an action giving relief to tenants facing eviction and discussing additional funding for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) tests. The council voted 4-3 in favor of passi…
The San Marcos City Council passed an ordinance encouraging the use of cite-and-release during its first reading on Tuesday, April 7, with four members voting in favor and three opposing it. The reform will need to be voted on twice in two separate city council meetings. If passed during its…
The fate of a cite-and-release ordinance could be affected by the recent resignation of Place 5 City Council member Jocabed “Joca” Marquez. Marquez, who was elected in December of 2018 to serve a three-year term and sat on the Criminal Justice Reform Committee, had been a primary supporter o…
The City of San Marcos announced the closing of all public-facing counters most public facilities to entry from the public beginning Friday March 20. The order from the city is aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and falls within the Centers for Disease Control…
City and Hays County officials issued a state of disaster following the county’s announcement of the first presumptive case of COVID-19. Hays County reported its first presumptive case of COVID-19 on Saturday, March 14, according to a county press release. The patient was admitted to a local…
The City of San Marcos issued a press release following the announcement of Hays County’s first presumptive positive COVID-19 case, the City of San Marcos, in coordination with the County, is planning to declare a state of disaster. Per Hays County, the presumptive positive patient traveled …
San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission Vice Chair Mark Gleason announced he will be a candidate for the vacant seat left after Council Member Jocabed “Joca” Marquez’s resignation on Monday, March 9. According to the press release detailing Marquez’s resignation, a special election to fil…
Place 5 City Council Member Dr. Jocabed “Joca” Marquez submitted a resignation letter to the city clerk March 9. Marquez was elected to her position December 2018 for a three-year term. The resignation letter states Marquez’s resignation is due to new employment plans requiring her to move r…
The lack of knowledge in local government jurisdiction is one of the top five obstacles listed for poor voter turnout in millennials, according to focus group study from the Knight Foundation, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to creating “informed and engaged communities.” In the 2014 midter…
San Marcos City Council met during their regularly scheduled meeting March 3 to discuss a proposed ordinance encouraging the use of cite-and-release and approved the annexation of an additional 57 acres of land. The ordinance seeks to guide San Marcos Police Department officers’ discretion, …
“Your rights are not guaranteed unless you fight for them. Unless you vote, unless you participate,” Shannon Fitzpatrick, former Texas State University attorney for students, said to a group of about 40 women. “They can be taken away. And they were hard-fought to get there. Please keep that …
Editor’s note: In no way is this article meant to promote the use of animals as a means of transportation in the downtown square area of San Marcos. Video circulated online by @BarstoolTXST of a horse on the downtown square left many viewers asking the same question: Can you legally have a h…
The San Marcos City Council discussed amendments to the affordable housing policy, public hearings for land rezoning ordinances and a renaming of the El Camino Real Park. The pending revisions to the San Marcos Affordable/Workforce Housing Policy included requiring projects seeking a tax exe…
A proposed ordinance incentivizing the use of cite-and-release will be considered by City Council March 3. Pushed by local grassroots organization Mano Amiga, the ordinance seeks to guide San Marcos Police Department officers’ discretion, allowing them to issue citations for class C misdemea…
As discussions on whether to preserve or remove Cape’s Dam continue, locals and community leaders have called into question the history of Thompson’s Islands. The argument pertains to whether slave labor was used to build a sawmill and gristmill in the 1850s at the location of Cape’s Dam. In…
The San Marcos City Council passed the Lantana on Bastrop Multifamily Housing Project Feb. 4 meeting alongside various amended city service agreements. The now-approved Lantana on Bastrop project consists of a multifamily development with affordable rental housing. The construction will be l…
Voter awareness organizations and Student Government are expanding their voter registration efforts as the Feb. 3 deadline to vote in the March 3 primaries approaches. Organizations like MOVE Texas and Texas Rising have amplified their efforts to help students register at their current addre…
Following a formal ethics complaint that prompted two Ethics Review Commission meetings, San Marcos Councilwoman Jocabed “Joca” Marquez’s public hearing has been slated for April 8, 2020. The San Marcos Ethics Review Commission met Jan. 29, 2020, to schedule the public hearing, unanimously a…
A tweet from San Marcos Councilwoman Jocabed “Joca” Marquez prompted a formal ethics complaint, currently being investigated by the Ethics Review Commission. Nov. 6, 2019, Marquez published a tweet on her personal account criticizing affordable housing developers. “All the developers seeking…
The San Marcos City Council met for their biweekly regular meeting to discuss city rezoning and restructuring plans, approving various ordinances to receive additional discussion in future meetings. The council reintroduced a discussion surrounding a newly amended Ordinance 2020-03, a rezoni…
The Ethics Review Commission of the City of San Marcos held a special meeting to discuss a tweet from City Council Place 5 member Jocabed Marquez. An additional public hearing will be held at a later date. Marquez posted the tweet in question Nov. 19 in regards to housing developers making p…
The San Marcos City Council discussed the 2020 Census and land rezoning at the first regular meeting of the year on Jan 7. Texas State sociology professor Dr. Gloria Martinez represented the city’s Complete Count Committee during a presentation to the council. The presentation was an update …
The San Marcos City Council met for their regular biweekly meeting to discuss housing, disaster mitigation and funding for construction projects in 2020. The council cast a second vote on Ordinance 2019-43 after facing a three-to-three stalemate during the previous regular meeting. This time…
The San Marcos City Council approved two new assistant city managers following a recommendation by city manager Bert Lumbreras and named the new director of Public Safety during its Dec. 17 meeting. Former assistant city manager for the City of Richardson Joe Pantalion will fill the position…
The San Marcos City Council met Dec. 3 to continue the ongoing discussion surrounding affordable housing issues and environmental conservation. City council voted on previously discussed ordinances, tax credits for low income housing and approved an Edwards Aquifer Conservation Plan. The cou…
The San Marcos City Council postponed a decision to move forward on two affordable housing projects and appointed city council members to committee vacancies. City council members met Nov. 19 to discuss the Redwood Multifamily Housing project, located at 1600 block of Redwood Road, and Bastr…
San Marcos City Council swore in two members and voted on new mayor pro tem and deputy mayor pro tem. Maxfield Baker, who garnered 50.43% of the votes and won the open seat narrowly over Mark Gleason, was officially inducted into the City Council Place 1 seat. After reciting the oath of offi…
City council discussed a mitigation action plan as well as the reestablishment of the juvenile curfew. Nov. 6, Community Initiatives Program Administrator Aaron Harris gave a presentation for a mitigation action plan to the San Marcos City Council. The city had received $24,012,000 in federa…
San Marcos City Council finalized its budget Sept. 19, including new positions in animal control and the fire department. New positions at San Marcos animal shelters will help turn the facilities to no-kill, defined as animal shelters meeting a 90% benchmark; 90% of animals meet redemption. …
San Marcos City Council delayed a decision to vote Feb. 21 on an economic incentive agreement for the potential development of a heavy industrial park. The S.M.A.R.T Terminal will be a heavy industrial area with a railway to deliver manufactured products from the site to potential buyers. Th…
San Marcos City Council is discussing a development agreement with S.M.A.R.T terminal developer Mike Schroeder to eliminate certain production uses on the new site. The council will post an agenda when they plan to vote on the development agreement. According to Councilmember Ed Mihalkanin, …
