(Seguin) — Voters will decide who will be the next mayor of the city of Seguin during Tuesday’s election. The race is a contrast in experience, leadership and vision. Frank Herrera is a relative newcomer, with no real experience in city governance. But he has some big — and sometimes controversial ideas. Donna Dodgen is a former member of the Seguin City Council, who is a longtime resident. She’s been involved in a number of community organizations and projects. She says she understands the job and understands what Seguin needs to be even better. The two will face off on Tuesday, as citizens look to replace Mayor Don Keil, who is not eligible to seek re-election due to the city’s eight year term limit. Herrera has lived in Seguin for approximately five years now, and even though he may not be well known, he thinks he has what it takes to lead the city. One of his controversial proposals as mayor is something that he likely would not have the authority to do. He says that he would require all city employees to live inside the Seguin city limits, and if they failed to do so, they would be fired.
“Without full commitment from the municipal employees that are here, they are sending out a message that this community is not good enough for them or anyone else. We cannot sit here and say ‘hey, come live in Seguin’ when our municipal government doesn’t live here,” said Herrera. Herrera thinks the proposed residency requirement to work in Seguin shouldn’t just apply to city employees. He thinks other entities, like the Seguin ISD and Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, as well as local manufacturing facilities — should all require their employees to live in Seguin. “If you just layer the city and then on top of that the independent school district, on top of that the hospital, on top of that, the manufacturing firms – (they) have the same tendencies that is why you see what you see in Seguin proper, a very weak economic pulse, most definitely. You have to take a firm stand on this and I don’t mean for this to be mean but if it is uncomfortable for them to see Seguin as a place to live because it hurts their eyes, we have to be kind to them and remove that irritation,” said Herrera. It’s pretty clear that his proposed policy would violate state law (Texas Local Government Code Sec. 150.021, Residency Requirements for Municipal Employees), which prohibits this kind of residency requirement. However, that hasn’t stopped Herrera from promoting the plan.
“So, it’s kind of a difficult start but we have to start somewhere and it’s going to have to be tough decision making, hard decision making and the attitude that I’ve heard from before from those that make and appoint policy is that if they want to live wherever they want to live or they do whatever it is they want to do, they can find employment elsewhere,” said Herrera.
Donna Dodgen (top) and Francisco “Frank” Herrera (bottom) are vying for the mayor’s seat in the city of Seguin.
Dodgen, who has run largely on her experience and leadership, says that she disagrees with Herrera’s proposed residency requirement, because that’s not the most important thing when it comes to finding the right person for whatever the job happens to be. She says it’s just not a good idea. “No, I think we are chomping on their constitutional rights for one, if we do that. Two, I want the best employee for that position. I think that’s the most important thing. I think three, we don’t have the power to hire and tell people where to live. That’s that business’ job to do that. That’s that entity’s job to that because they know how to do. They know what they want and what they need. I don’t know that. That is not my job to do,” said Dodgen.
Dodgen says not only does the idea run afoul of state law, but she says it exceeds any authority that is given to the mayor or to the Seguin City Council. She says that’s not the mayor’s job. “The Seguin City Council by charter doesn’t have the right to hire and fire except in the city manager position. We don’t have that right to hire and fire by our charter and so I just don’t see how we can do that. I would love for everyone to live in Seguin and I think how we get them to is to want them to live in Seguin – to have great business, to have great play, to have great fun, to have great shopping and that’s where we are going. That’s what we are aiming for and once, we have that in housing, which is happening rapidly, then we’ll have the people live here in town,” said Dodgen.
There is a residency requirement for the Seguin city manager, which is permissible by both federal and state laws. Dodgen says she would love to have more people live in Seguin, regardless of where they work. But she says that shouldn’t be a mandate from the city.
“People have choice. It’s a constitutional right where you want to live. I would love for them to live in our town and city council has incentivized that as a benefit for employees with helping with a stipend for housing and low interest loan – those sorts of things – to encourage them to live here and many took advantage of that and still continue to take advantage of that. If we have enough budget money, we’ll continue those sorts of things to encourage them to live here which is helping them being a part of that family. I don’t think making anyone do anything sets a good precedent for teamwork, loyalty and caring about a place that they work,” said Dodgen.
Herrera’s residency requirement proposal may be controversial, but he says it’s at the heart of something that he thinks is bigger. He accuses those employees, who live outside of Seguin, of abandoning the city and its residents. He not only faults those employees, but he says that the city’s leadership, including current and past members of the Seguin City Council and the city’s administration, have abandoned the city. “I am saying that the municipal leadership has abandoned Seguin proper and we need to make it a policy that says that within nine months, they have to move back. You’ve got to move to Seguin. If not, we’ll open the door for people that want to migrate into Seguin and fill those positions and we also have to do the same thing with the independent school district. We have to do the same thing with the hospital and the manufacturing entities that are coming in, they have to be fully committed to Seguin. They have to work here. They have to live here and hopefully, they’ll retire. That’s what is going to bring the initial part of the critical (plan) that we need to support something like that,” said Herrera. Dodgen says neither she, nor other members of the council — in the recent past or present — have abandoned the town. She says Seguin is moving in the right direction, and they need to continue to build on that momentum to give people a better overall quality of life. She says she’s the right person to do just that, and that’s why she’s asking people to support her in this election. “I think how involved I’ve been, how I’ve participated in things and my experience, that I see a big picture. That I’m trustworthy, honest and enthusiastic will speak for itself in all honesty. I want us to be the best city that we can be. I want to help provide an amazing place to live, work and play and I think we as city council need to help be a part of the solution with challenges that arise and I think those are the kinds of things that are important,” said Dodgen.
Herrera says that he brings a new perspective, including an idea for a big mixed-use space in downtown. He’s only been in Seguin a short time, but he says his educational background has given him some insight into how he believes the city should be run. “I came here about five years ago out of San Marcos. I graduated with a master’s degree. It was an interdisciplinary degree which involved parts of the MBA, parts of the political science department, parts of the job planning department and parts of the sociology department and we made a nice blend to where I can look at a community and identify issues with it and the main issue with most communities is the economy and my focus was in trying to identify a distressed area and then finding the cause and that’s basically it. I am out of El Paso. I moved to Austin ’77 and then from there, I went to San Marcos in 1993 and in 2015, I arrived here,” said Herrera.
Dodgen says people know her, and they know they can trust her to be good for Seguin. She says there’s lots of work that needs to be done, but it’s work that has to be done together. She says her leadership style will allow that work to continue.
“I’ll listen. I’ll try to communicate. I’ll educate to the best of my ability. I’ll keep an open mind and my goal is to improve our community. We’ve already begun facilitating a mayor, city council, city manager team and I want that to continue. I want us to continue to work as a unit and move things forward. I don’t work in a silo. The mayor, the only voting authority that I would have as mayor, is to break a tie. So, it’s the council people and I’m a part of a team and I want to continue to be a part of that team and I have lots of team experience. So, I also think that the county, the city, the school and industry and business need to continue keeping that dialogue going. That has been really strong and it continues to grow and those are the sorts of things that we need to facilitate and be positive about our community and love our Seguin because it’s a great place to live, work and play,” said Dodgen.
The mayor’s race is one of the many items that will appear on Tuesday’s ballot. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at various locations in Seguin. The Guadalupe County Elections Office manages all of the local elections, and it uses Vote Centers. That means Guadalupe County voters can cast their ballots at any polling site in the county on election day.