SAN ANTONIO -- Eight people want to be the next District 2 representative for the City of San Antonio.

  • Large pool of candidates
  • Run-off is expected
  • Election is May 4

Keith Toney comes into the pack with name recognition having served as an interim council member in 2014. Toney retired as a federal worker and served the Fort Sam Houston Independent School District as school board president.

In an interview with Spectrum News he said, “experience matters."

Jada Andrews-Sullivan sought the interim seat earlier this year vacated by Cruz Shaw. The army veteran and small business owner has the vision to deliver easier access to medical care.

"A hospital would be wonderful,” Andrews-Sullivan said.

Denise Gutierrez-Homer is an artist, activist, and teacher who resides in the rapidly changing Government Hill neighborhood.

She says higher rents, greater appraisals and city-backed incentives for developers is a problem for many in the Alamo City.

“We must be considerate of the fact that we have legacy homeowners,” Gutierrez-Homer said, “So we need to make sure we sure we have incentives for them as well."

On the same topic of the fast-growing inner core of the city Andrews-Sullivan adds:

“To bring in those developers to sit down with the community and say, 'Ok, this is what we're developing, this is what it will breathe back into the community.'"

The large voting bloc stretches from downtown north and south along I-37, absorbing neighborhoods all the way east to Loop 1604.

In surveys, voters have asked the city for better streets, sidewalks, and drainage.

“It's not that they're terrible, it's that they've been bad for so long,” Toney said, “So they feel neglected. We need to go ahead and give them some attention."

As more and people move to the Alamo City, a once heavily-blighted District 2 is now an attractive opportunity for newcomers.

"We need to make sure that people remain in their homes,” Small business consultant Salena Santibáñez Guipzot said, “That no one is displaced."

Walter Perry runs a community-based organization in the heart of the east side.

"The people of District 2 are not hard. They are simple people. They have very good values,” Perry said.

Early voting runs through next Tuesday, April 30.

The election is Saturday, May 4.

With the number of names listed on this year’s ballot, a run-off can be expected.

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