San Marcos Mayoral Candidate John Thomaides campaign efforts

By Baylee Green 

 SAN MARCOS – Former San Marcos Mayor, John Thomaides, hopes to rebuild his campaign for the upcoming election, after losing the 2018 mayoral election.  

John Thomaides served as Mayor from 2016-2018 making him the 45th Mayor of San Marcos. His vision for this city is to solve the challenges we face or may face with solutions rather than partisanship.   

Thomaides feels that spending four years outside of government has been very beneficial to him. He saw his time out of office as an opportunity to observe and listen to what the town of San Marcos needs.   

“I have become a better listener over the last four years,” said Thomaides. “I have had these four years to watch and see some of the things that need to be fixed, and to hear what average folks are saying. I believe we have to learn from the past, but we can’t change it, so if you are concerned about right now and the future, I think that is the biggest difference between the choices in this election.” 

Plan for Housing  

Thomaides recognizes that San Marcos has grown exponentially in the last ten years and will grow even more in the next 20 years. He wants to form a plan to build more houses and make housing more affordable for San Marcos residents.  

 “I feel like I can do a better job in affecting in a positive way that’s going to help lower peoples rent and help make housing more affordable for those who want to buy a house,” said Thomaides. “With the rising cost of things and the increase in rent and taxes and all these other things I think we need someone to step in there and make some changes and help out with those particular issues.” 

Plan to protect the San Marcos River and natural environment 

 Thomaides acknowledges that as a community we can do a better job protecting our environment. He has come up with 5 practical solutions that he will work to carry out in our city to improve our environment.    

“Here are (5) practical solutions I will work to implement in our city,” said Thomaides. “Housing policies that reduce urban sprawl, non-automobile transportation options, electrify our city fleet. I will also work to finish our Green Loop around the city and acquire more greenspace to preserve wildlife habitat and aquifer recharge for future generations.” 

 Plan for better economic opportunities and city budget 

 Thomaides believes that good jobs and quality economic opportunities are imperative. He says quality of life begins with a great-paying job. He expresses that we need to fund our needs first and focus on delivering our core city services to the citizens of San Marcos on a superior level.  

“There is housing issues, water issues, public safety issues and all of that is connected to your budget, your taxes, and your economic opportunities,” said Thomaides. “We need to allow our business economy to grow to increase our tax base and not our tax burden. We need to improve our housing policies to provide additional options and provide property tax relief to lower rents in our community.” 

John Thomaides will be on campus during the week of early voting. Mr. Thomaides wants students to put a face to the name. He encourages students to have conversations with him and ask him any questions they may have.  

For more information on Mr.Thomaides and his campaign, you can visit his website at: https://www.votejohnt.com/, email his team at: john@votejohnt.com, or call at 512.757.4204.