Lara, 65, is a native of San Antonio who is making his first run for elected office. He is a maintenance technician for Bexar County.
Hear from the candidate
The following questions were asked of all City Council candidates.
Please tell voters about yourself.
I have lived in San Antonio for 65 years. I’m a graduate of Jefferson High School, with an associate degree in automotive engineering from Texas State Technical College in Waco. I also earned certifications in business management and customer service working in the automotive dealership industry, owned an automotive parts and accessories company for 12 years, and was a manager at a call center bank mortgage company. I am currently working at Bexar County facilities management at the courthouse and Justice Center.
Do you have any previous experience in government or participation on local boards, commissions or neighborhood associations? Have you run for elected office before?
I was involved with the homeowner association of Northwest Crossing subdivision in 1984. In 1994, I was president of the Texas Corvette Association nonprofit organization. This is the first time I have run for an elected city or county position, encouraged and supported by several county leaders.
What three issues do you consider to be most pressing for your district and how would you address them?
Property taxes: Being familiar with the county, I can strengthen the bridge of communication between the city and the county appraisal district to reevaluate and reappraise houses. Conduct meetings with appraisal district on land values and cost of building materials per home or structure on property, not by top buying or selling prices.
Second, promoting for the growth of our city. We need to bring in new industries, along with new businesses, to create more jobs to stimulate our economy and to have infrastructure readiness for such expansion.
Third, dealing with crime. The way I would deal with this is to create more jobs to expand and strengthen our police department and expand the jail facilities to avoid overcrowding, which causes early release of inmates. Get homeowners association more involved and create watch patrols where residents can get more familiar with the neighbors that live around them. Also, have petitions signed by the citizens of San Antonio for our city leaders to send to our state legislators to pass a bill for more funding for expanding prisons and building new ones which would also create more jobs.
Do you support the proposed city charter amendment, known as Proposition A or the Justice Charter, that would bar certain policing tactics, decriminalize abortion and low-level marijuana possession and create a city justice director to oversee criminal justice policy? Why or why not?
I am strongly against Proposition A! This would cause crime to increase immensely. Knowing that criminals won’t even have to do jail time would be a big problem for the community. They have to be accountable for their actions. Similar measures have been passed in cities like San Francisco and Austin, and records show that crime is on the rise in those cities. Law enforcement officers in Austin are frustrated and leaving the police force. I do not want that to happen to our city. I ask for your support in voting no on Proposition A.
How do you feel the city has done at balancing the needs of downtown and the neighborhoods, from bond projects to budget priorities?
The city has done a moderate job with this issue. This is a very difficult situation that needs to be handled very carefully. Just like the suburban neighborhoods of our city expand, so does our downtown area, which affects the inner city neighborhoods. Bond projects must be properly budgeted and properly planned in not affecting our historical inner-city neighborhoods. This involves city officials’ attention in listening to the residents of the inner-city neighborhoods.
If elected, how do you plan to solicit input and feedback from residents in your district?
If elected, I would definitely keep an open-door policy of communication through Internet, websites, phone contact and conducting district meetings with the residents and businesses of District 9. To be the voice of the district you must have input and feedback from the residents.
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