John Alvarez (Texas)
John Alvarez was a candidate for District 10 representative on the San Antonio City Council in Texas. Alvarez was defeated in the general election on May 6, 2017.
The city council is a nonpartisan office. Alvarez described his political identity and philosophy in Ballotpedia's 2017 candidate survey, saying:
| “ | I consider myself politically independent. My loyalty is not to a party but to people and good policy. I believe that as an independent public servant, I am able to focus on the priorities of the people, regardless of political affiliation.
Philosophically, I am socially progressive but believe in sound and responsible fiscal policy with a focus on efficient use of tax payer dollars.[1] |
” |
Biography
Alvarez earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Texas Tech University in 2005 and a graduate degree in community counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2007. As of the 2017 election cycle, Alvarez was a licensed professional counselor working as a psychotherapist for a nonprofit agency that provides support to at-risk public school students.[2]
In 2012, Alvarez was appointed to the SA 2020 Commission on Strengthening Family Well Being and was later elected chairman and was reappointed to the seat. In 2015, he was elected to the Community Action Advisory Board for Area 5 of San Antonio. He had also served as the vice president on the board of directors for the Royal Ridge Recreational Club, as well as being a member of a home owners association and the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance.[2]
Elections
2017
The city of San Antonio, Texas, held general elections for mayor and all 10 of its city council seats on May 6, 2017. Candidates had to earn a majority of the votes cast in this election to win. Any race where no candidate received a majority (50 percent plus one) of the general election votes cast for that position advanced to a runoff election on June 10, 2017. The following candidates ran in the general election for the District 10 seat on the San Antonio City Council.[3]
| San Antonio City Council, District 10 General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Ezra Johnson |
21.69% | 2,733 |
| Clayton Perry |
21.55% | 2,715 |
| Jonathan Delmer | 15.85% | 1,997 |
| Reinette King | 11.79% | 1,486 |
| Diana Kenny | 11.26% | 1,419 |
| John Alvarez | 9.60% | 1,209 |
| Celeste Montez-Tidwell | 3.05% | 384 |
| Andrew Padilla | 2.66% | 335 |
| Eric Morse | 1.54% | 194 |
| Lon Jett IV | 1.01% | 127 |
| Total Votes | 12,599 | |
| Source: Bexar County, Texas, "May 6, 2017 Media Report," May 18, 2017 | ||
Endorsements
As of April 10, 2017, Alvarez had been endorsed by the San Antonio Progressive Alliance.[2]
Campaign themes
2017
Alvarez participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates.[4] The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | My top priority would be to overhaul ethics in City Hall and to give our citizens a reason to believe in our city government. To protect and address the needs of our citizens, we must first be willing to show that we are moving forward ethically and with their best interests in mind.[1] | ” |
| —John Alvarez (April 10, 2017)[2] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.
| Issue importance ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking |
Issue | Candidate's ranking |
Issue |
| Government transparency | Housing | ||
| Crime reduction/prevention | K-12 education | ||
| Civil rights | Homelessness | ||
| Transportation | Unemployment | ||
| Environment | Recreational opportunities | ||
| City services (trash, utilities, etc.) | No item ranked at this value by the candidate. | ||
Local topics
Ballotpedia asked candidates specific questions regarding recent issues in the city. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Although I have concerns about the potentially negative environmental and economic impacts of the Vista Ridge pipeline, I believe it is important to continue to diversify the water sources for our quickly growing city. I believe that going forward, the Vista Ridge project should be subject to the utmost scrutiny to maintain the highest levels of ethical and environmental standards of execution as well as to make sure that the poor populations of San Antonio do not shoulder the financial burden of the project. | |
| I support the decriminalization of marijuana at the municipal level. | |
| San Antonio should legally challenge a preemption from the Texas State Legislature. Texas is a state that takes pride in its independence from large government control. That philosophy should extend to individual municipalities as well. | |
| Law enforcement in San Antonio has neither the time nor the resources to make immigration status a priority in interactions with individuals. Law enforcement should be focused on enforcing the law and protecting the citizens of San Antonio. |
Nationwide municipal issues
The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Very important | |
| Federal | |
| The path to a safer city will require multiple simultaneous measures. We will need to better support our police and first responders. We will also need to increase citizen engagement and education with continued community policing efforts. We must also address the root causes of crime in a quickly growing city, particularly the vast inequalities in wealth and education. | |
| Recruiting new businesses to your city | |
| I am most proud of the rich historical and cultural heritage of San Antonio and the warm and welcoming people that make San Antonio such a wonderful place to live. | |
| I would like to improve the level of civic engagement in municipal initiatives and elections by improving the standards of transparency and ethics. This should be accompanied by improving community outreach and utilization of technology for more effective education and feedback to and from our citizens and city leaders. |
See also
| San Antonio, Texas | Texas | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
|---|---|---|---|
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2017, "John Alvarez's Responses," April 10, 2017
- ↑ City of San Antonio, "Candidate Listings," accessed February 21, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
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