Category: City & County Politics

Information you need to know about the City of Devine, Medina County Commissioner’s Court, City of Natalia, City of Lytle, and our local Emergency Service Districts.

City of Devine elections underway

By Victoria Arredondo
Staff Writer
The City of Devine will hold its General Election on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at City Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Additional early voting hours will be held Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and April 29 and 30 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voting will take place in Devine Municipal Building, 303 S. Teel Drive Devine, TX 78016.
The District 3 race will be between the incumbent Stacy Pyron and candidate Jeff Miller. The District 1 race will be between the incumbent Rufino Vega and candidate Ray Gonzales.

Jeff Miller

Ray Gonzales

Stacy Pyron

Ruffino Vega

Sales Tax Holiday for Emergency Supplies, April 27-29

(AUSTIN) — As we enter the severe weather season, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminds Texans they can purchase certain items tax free during the state’s sales tax holiday for emergency preparation supplies, which begins at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, April 27, and ends at midnight on Monday, April 29.
“Fires, tornadoes and other severe weather conditions can strike at any time, so it is important that families, homes and businesses have the supplies they need to face these and other emergencies,” Hegar said. “There is no sense in waiting for disaster to strike. I’m encouraging Texans to take advantage of this tax holiday to save money while stocking up for emergency situations.”

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HANK and SJRC connection

By Anton Reicher and Kayleen Holder
In business discussed at Medina County Commissioner’s Court, it was announced that St. Jude’s Ranch for Children (SJRC Texas) will take the reins of property owned by HANK, Inc., a charity established 14 years ago by John and Debbie Southwell to provide food, clothing and shelter for hundreds of local foster children.

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Workshop: Devine’s unique factors and value drivers discussed

By Anton Riecher
Historical buildings being allowed to decay by owners with no incentive to invest in their upkeep is significantly hindering downtown redevelopment in Devine, a couple of participants in an economic development workshop agreed.
John Gamble, a business professor with Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, said he has heard the same complaint in various small town communities across the state.
“What some communities have said is ‘We have codes in place to prevent this but we don’t have the enforcement capabilities,” Gamble said.
The workshop program, organized with the help of Texas A&M, consists of six 75-minute workshops schedule every three- or four-weeks to identify community…

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Zoning amendment triggers continued friction over Lytle mobile home park

By Anton Riecher
By a vote of 4-1 the Lytle City Council approved an amendment to local zoning ordinances March 6 establishing a separate designation for mobile home parks previously classified as “secondary businesses” under municipal regulations.
Molly Solis, serving as city attorney during a special session of the council, stressed that the change would not affect the Harris MH Park project underway north of the Interstate 35 access road which is effectively grandfathered under state law.
“You can’t change the game in the middle of the game,” Solis said.
District 5 Alderman Charles Cate was alone is voting against the amendment.
“I do not believe we have provided proper notice to everybody involved in…

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Application for courthouse renovation grant moves forward in Hondo

By Anton Riecher
Medina County commissioners unanimously approved the intermediate step in a three-phase program to qualify for a potential $10 million in state funding to renovate the county courthouse in Hondo.
“We are getting ready to submit our plan to the Texas Historical Commission,” County Judge Keith Lutz told the commissioners during their regular meeting Monday.
Gabriela Fierro with McKinstry Company, LLC, experts on maintaining government buildings, presented details on the timetable to meet the May 13 deadline to apply for the Texas Historic Courthouse Preservation Program.
“We had a really successful meeting last week in Austin at the THC,” Fierro said. “This was the time for us to go through the first stage of draft plans with…

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Natalia discusses terms for new EMS station

By Victoria Arredondo
Staff Writer

On March 18, the Natalia City Council held their regular meeting. The council passed a motion to accept the interlocal agreement between the City of Natalia and Medina County Emergency Services District No. 4 regarding construction and operation of a 24-hour EMS station.
“I think this is going to be something that’s very much needed,” council member Ruby Vera said. “Some of you may or may not have been on council back when EMS and ESD was established, one of the things we insisted on — but didn’t have a place to put the ambulance — was to have an ambulance here in Natalia on a 24-hour basis, and this is going to…

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Two contested races for Devine Council

All three incumbents have re- filed for office as well as two challengers Jeff Miller and Ray Gonzales.
The City of Devine General Election will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2024 at City Hall.
Filing began in January as usual and the deadline to file was Friday, February 16, 2024. The deadline to file a declaration of write-in candidacy is 5 p.m. on the 74th day before election day which is February 20, 2024 (press day).
District 4 – Josh Ritchey (i) is the only candidate for District 4.
District 3 race will be between the incumbent Stacy Pyron and Jeff Miller.
District 1 race will be between the incumbent Rufino Vega and Ray Gonzales.

Local EMS board approves financing for two ambulance units,big changes coming in October

By Anton Riecher and Kayleen Holder
The Medina County Emergency Services District No. 4 Board of Trustees voted unanimously Feb. 6th to finance the purchase of two additional ambulances through Southlake, TX-based Government Capital Corp., a public sector financial services firm with a goal of the local entity running its own ambulance service for the Devine and Natalia area (like the ESD did many years ago). The current contract with the for-profit…

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