By Edmond Ortiz
A local small business owner has been elected mayor of Cibolo in a Nov. 4 election that included voters retaining one incumbent City Council member, and sending two other council races to a December election runoff.
What you should know
Kara Latimer, a previous council candidate, received 58.7% of the vote over former local school board member Terry Hinze in the mayoral race. Latimer will succeed departing incumbent Mayor Mark Allen.
Latimer previously served with various city boards, commissions and panels, and with The Chamber-Schertz-Cibolo-Selma Area. She most recently served with the city’s master plan advisory committee, and ran for mayor in 2022.
Campaigning for the mayor’s office this year, Latimer indicated maintaining public safety, infrastructure, responsible growth and land use, and economic development as her top priorities.
“I’m excited to serve as mayor of Cibolo. I look forward to working together to make our city an even better place to call home,” she said in a statement.
Two other council contests have yet to be decided and are now headed for a Dec. 13 runoff involving the top two vote-getters in each race. State law allows an election runoff matching the top two vote-getters if no candidate in that race clears 50% of the vote.
At the end of early and Election Day voting, Marissa-Ellen Patterson led the council Place 3 race with 43.9%, followed in second place by Maria Fishback, who had 35.4%. Joe Armstrong and former mayor Charles Ruppert rounded up the Place 3 candidate field.
A U.S. Defense Department operations research analyst, Patterson is advocating smart, sustainable growth, improving infrastructure and road safety, and strengthening community engagement in her council campaign.
“Your support and encouragement mean the world to me. Let’s keep this momentum going through the finish line,” Patterson said on her Facebook campaign page after Nov. 4 election results were announced.
A contracts manager and scheduling coordinator for San Antonio-based Lake Flato Architects, Fishback serves with Cibolo’s planning and zoning commission.
Summer Marie Brown led a four-way race for the at-large Place 7 council position, receiving 41.3% of the vote. Shari McDaniel tallied 22.8% to place second. They were followed by Cody Hicks and incumbent Robert Mahoney.
Brown is a U.S. Army veteran, and a current human resources professional who is an active volunteer in the Cibolo area. She lost the 2023 mayoral election runoff to Mark Allen.
Brown is campaigning issues such as maintaining smart growth, parks, community services and adequate infrastructure, promoting public safety and emergency preparedness, bolstering economic growth, and emphasizing the importance
Having worked in sales and marketing. McDaniel most recently served with the city’s parks and recreation commission, zoning board of adjustment, and charter review commission.
A former council candidate, McDaniel has also served with boards of the Green Valley Special Utility District and Canyon Regional Water Authority.
McDaniel’s campaign priorities include growing local businesses, especially those owned and operated by military veterans, maintaining public safety, supporting smart growth and infrastructure, and promoting a stronger sense of community through the city’s parks and recreational amenities.
Also of note
Randy Roberts, a production manager at a local heating/ventilation/air conditioning company, won a second term as the Place 2 council representative. He received 55.7% of the vote against challenger David Freimarck.
Cibolo voters also considered 22 city charter amendments, approving 19 of them. Voters rejected Proposition D, which would have raised meeting attendance compensation for the mayor and council members.
Voters defeated Proposition L, which called for removing a requirement that all sample ballots be published in a local newspaper.
Voters also rejected a provision for allowing gender neutral pronouns in official city business.
