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Meet the 9 Applicants (So Far) For San Antonio City Council District 9

Ryan Loyd
/
TPR News
Art Downey chairs the city's Ethics Review Board. He is one of the interested candidates to fill the vacant District 9 seat until a special election is held next May.

Nine candidates from a wide range of backgrounds have applied to to fill Elisa Chan's District 9 seat for six months until the position can be voted on in May 2014.

Chan vacated the seat in order to run for Texas Senate District 25, where she will face incumbent Donna Campbell, who won in the November 2012 general election.

Here are the nine applicants so far:

  • U.S. Army Col. Art Downey, retired, who is the current chair of the Ethics Review Board
  • Realtor Bob Leonard
  • U.S. Air Force Col. Bert Cecconi, retired
  • Civil Engineer Donald Oroia
  • Real estate broker Richard Brewer
  • Retired environmental engineer Geoff Leech
  • Attorney Paula McGee
  • Librarian Marina Narvaez
  • Consultant Joe Krier, the former head of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

All applicants, including the one chosen to fill the seat, can run in the May special election.
Bert Cecconi said he hasn't decided if he wants to run in May, but will give it a thought. He said he doesn't want to be a lame duck. He wants to get things done.

"If you go in thinking you're going to be just a caretaker, you might as well leave the slot vacant," Cecconi said.

Art Downey doesn't plan to run in May.

"I wouldn't aspire to start anything new but I certainly would like to see some of the projects that are underway finished," Downey said.

Leonard wants to work on changing the perception of the city and said there are important votes coming up on utility rate increase proposals.

Leech, the environmental engineer, said he might be swayed into running in May but he wants to focus on reducing youth incarceration and water and energy conservation issues.

Not all of the applicants have returned phone calls yet. The deadline to apply for the District 9 seat is today at 5 p.m.

The city council will interview the candidates at both its A and B sessions next week.

Ryan Loyd was Texas Public Radio's city beat and political reporter. He left the organization in December, 2014.