(Seguin) — The portion of the street in front of the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office may soon get a new name. The city of Seguin is considering a request to rename the 2600 block of North Guadalupe Street to John Koch Drive.
The request is being made by retiring Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke and soon to be Sheriff-Elect Joshua Ray, who is running unopposed during the November General Election.
Sheriff Zwicke says Captain Koch died earlier this year. Zwicke says Koch was a fixture at the sheriff’s office for decades, which is why he thinks it’s appropriate to rename a small portion of the street in his honor.
“Take a second and think about February 1989 and then think about April of this year. That’s the time that John Koch spent serving the citizens of Guadalupe County — not just the unincorporated areas but he would burn up a motor to cross that city limit in need of help for a city officer and all the cities in the county and they did the same for us,” said Zwicke.
Zwicke says it wasn’t just the time that Captain Koch spent on the street. It was how he went about serving this community for more than three decades.
“John is a friend that I had the opportunity to work with for over 31 years. He dedicated his life. He’s one of the last officers to work the midnight shift by himself. I had to do it a few times. I hated it but he never minded.
“That’s how far back in the history of Guadalupe County that John has gone and so it’s only fitting that we get to name this street in front of the sheriff’s office,” said Zwicke.
City Manager Steve Parker says there have been some concerns raised with the proposed name change. He says it’s unusual to change a small portion of a city street, and that’s one of the reasons why city and county officials wanted to have some additional conversations about the name change.
“I did reach out to the county and just to be transparent and honest, they do have some concerns with setting a precedent. So, they weren’t fully on board one way or another. They had made a request that possibly the city look into maybe an alternative where it would be like Highway 46 Edmund Kuempel Memorial Parkway – if there is a way to kind of have a dual naming kind of deal. I think they would be more in favor of that but ultimately, it’s up to the city council to make that decision. I don’t think the city has any heartburn one way or another,” said Parker.
It may be unusual, but these types of name changes have happened before, and that ultimately led to the council to reach a consensus to move forward with the name change. Councilman Jason Biesenbach says it’s an appropriate honor for someone who served this community for such a long time.
“I think it would be fitting to rename the street. You can kind of look over at Rosemary Drive. We renamed that after AJ Malone. Continental Drive and how many times has that been renamed for a business that takes over and this is a man that has dedicated his life and service to the community that he loved and so I think it would be fitting to rename the street in his honor,” said Biesenbach.
The city will now move forward with contacting the Post Office and Bexar Metro 911 officials about the next steps to officially approve the name change to John Koch Drive directly in front of the Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office.