2014 Election Profile – Jane Hughson

By Marissa Castro
News Reporter

Jane Hughson previously served six years on the San Marcos City Council and more than 10 years on various city committees, non-profits and boards. With Hughson’s experience and passion for her hometown, she believes she has what it takes to take on Place 4 incumbent Wayne Becak and continue to grow and beautify this town.

“(Becak) was not on (the) planning and zoning commission; I have over six years of experience with the planning and zoning commission, and I’m on the planning and zoning commission now,” said Hughson. “I’ve also served on other city boards and commissions: I was on the ethics review commission, the women’s commission and just a number of other boards and commission(s).”

Hughson said she is used to spending a lot of time outside of her regular 40 hour work week on other projects, trying to help people while doing some good for her community.

One of the biggest attractions the city has to offer is the beautiful San Marcos River. Hughson said she believes that it’s incredibly important to preserve the river because that’s why so many people vacation or move to the city.

For Hughson, one of the city’s biggest concerns is its environment. She said it’s important that there’s a balance between new development and preservation. Hughson explained that we are in an environmentally sensitive area and that some of the city is over the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, a water source that many people draw their water from.

Hughson said she would like to see see big corporations move to San Marcos and offer full-time job opportunities, reasonable pay and benefits to residents. She believes that everything in life should be a balance, that we need large businesses as well as small local businesses.

“We have large business in town, which are great because that means they employ a lot of people generally,” she said. “The university is a huge employer in San Marcos, HEB warehouse, we have Goodrich, CFAN, Thermon, Mensor, a number of corporations that we have here. But small business is really the backbone of our nation. It’s your coffee shops, it’s your dry cleaners, it’s the produce stand in addition to the grocery store, so you need small business, and small businesses generally (are) what’s going to make a town unique.”

Hughson also wants our community to show why San Marcos would be a great place to live: what the skill sets of residents are and the quality of life, including the San Marcos River and its surrounding environment.