Author: Jon Mark Hogg

Wednesday January 1, 2025 the newly elected officials for Tom Green County were sworn into office. The ceremony took place at the Tom Green County Courthouse in court room A. The large ornate courtroom was a fitting place for the conclusion to this election season. Many of the officials were elected, or reelected without opposition. Only two had Democratic opponents in the general election, Rick Bacon County Commissioner Precinct 3 and Ralph Hoelscher County Commissioner Precinct 1. District Judge Jay Weatherby welcomed a large crowd of family, friends and well wishers. He noted how fitting it was to hold the…

With the Republican victory last November, many are predicting this will be the year that a program to give away public tax dollars for people to use to send their children to private schools will finally pass. While there will likely be more support for the idea in the upcoming session than in years past, the question is whether the pro-voucher advocates can agree on a bill that will have enough support to become law. We do not yet know what that bill will look like. There is a lot of propaganda out there on both sides of the debate.…

Brenda Gunter has served as San Angelo’s Mayor for almost eight years. San Angelo faced many difficulties during her tenure, not the least of which was the COVID-19 pandemic. She will be stepping down in May as she is term limited by the City Charter from running for another term. A new Mayor and council members for SMDs 2, 4 and 6 will be elected May 3, 2025. The new Mayor and council have their work cut out for them. There will be many challenges facing the City in the years ahead. But perhaps the most critical will be personnel.…

A week before the Christmas holiday the SAISD Board of Trustees received an update from the District’s Facility Advisory Committee. The committee was made up of 60 members and stakeholders from the San Angelo community. It was formed to review and prioritize facility/capital improvement projects and provide guidance to the SAISD administration regarding a possible bond referendum to be held in May of 2025. The committee held seven meetings starting on September 24, 2024. The last meeting was held December 5, 2024. Through the process the committee identified three priorities. The first was the safety of the children and educators.…

The approach of January means that the season for city and school board elections are upon us once again. The City of San Angelo and some local school districts will be holding elections on Saturday May 3, 2025. While that sounds far away it will be here before you know it. The filing period for the seats that will be up for election opens January 15, 2025. The deadline to file is February 14, 2025. There is no filing fee to place your name on the ballot for these offices. The City of San Angelo will be accepting applications for…

The swearing in of County and District elected officials to begin their new terms are scheduled for January 1, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom A of the Tom Green County Courthouse at 11:00 a.m. Courtroom A is located on the second floor at the east end of the courthouse. The swearing in of the new 119th District Judge Gonzalo Rios will follow at 12:00 noon. These events are open to the public and everyone is invited to attend. Come meet your elected officials and meet our new District Judge.

The City of San Angelo has announced the retirement of Bob Salas, Neighborhood and Family Services Director. He has been with the City for eighteen years. During his time with the City, Bob created the Neighborhood & Family Services Department, which includes community development, social services, code compliance, animal services and WIC. He worked to eliminate veteran homelessness in our community and oversaw affordable housing projects that made more than 400 apartments available to low-to-moderate income residents. On a personal note, Bob Salas joined the City around the same time I was first elected to the City Council. We cut…