By Edmond Ortiz
Windcrest’s incumbent mayor faces a challenge from the town’s former mayor and a financial planning professional.
Focus On San Antonio recently sent questions to filed candidates in contested races, inviting them to share experiences and backgrounds that are relevant to the public office that they are seeking, and to have them offer their priority issues and goals.
Each elected position carries a two-year term.
MAYOR
Alan Baxter served as Windcrest’s mayor from 2011 until 2017, when he lost to Reese. He ran for the Republican nomination for Precinct 4 Bexar County commissioner in 2014.
Baxter’s professional roles have included coaching golf and working as an assistant athletic director at Our Lady of the Lake University.
Focus On San Antonio did not receive a response from Baxter to questions posed to him.
Robert Maloy, founder of Zaibatsu Financial, a boutique investment firm, was born and raised in Miami and spent 30-plus years living in South Florida. Maloy’s grandfather was an Air Force major general at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, and his family eventually settled in Windcrest. Robert Maloy has lived in Windcrest about eight years.
Maloy has indicated that his campaign is centered around a need to cut the town’s property tax rate, boost public safety, and focus on local business growth.
Focus On San Antonio did not receive a response from Maloy to questions posed to him.
Incumbent Dan Reese seeks a fifth term in office. A retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Reese holds two degrees, and was a Windcrest volunteer firefighter prior to his appointment as the city’s fourth-ever fire chief.
Reese has also served as a training coordinator at San Antonio College’s First Responders Academy, and was a City Council member before his election as mayor in 2017.
Reese has indicated that the city has achieved many things under his leadership, including expanding the police force, enhancing road infrastructure, parks and recreational amenities and opportunities, and ensuring an adequately equipped fire department that has full-time and volunteer firefighters.
Reese also has indicated he looks forward to the city staying proactive in economic development, which includes the recent decision to convert the former Rackspace Technology campus, at the old Windsor Park Mall, into an international business park.
Focus On San Antonio did not receive a response from Reese to questions posed to him.
COUNCIL PLACE 4
Retired teacher Narquiz Cervantes and realtor Rainbeau Presti are vying to succeed incumbent Marcus Yax, who opted not to seek re-election after one term in office.
A Windcrest native, Presti currently sits on Windcrest’s animal services advisory committee and economic development corporation board. She also founded the local animal welfare group TxWeACT.
Presti unsuccessfully ran for the council in 2024. Focus On San Antonio did not receive a response from Presti to questions posed to her.
Cervantes was a candidate in Windcrest’s 2024 council elections. Cervantes did not respond to questions posed by Focus On San Antonio.
COUNCIL PLACE 5
Incumbent Adam Astleford was initially appointed to fill the last three months of Joan Pedrotti’s expired council term, and then was elected to the council in November 2023.
With two degrees in hand, Astleford is currently working toward a doctorate in higher education and leadership at St. Edward’s University.
Astleford is a contract specialist focused on realty, construction projects, information technology and services procurement for a federal agency. He has served with multiple Windcrest boards and commissions, and has volunteered with local organizations such as the Windcrest Citizens Patrol.
Astleford has indicated that his priorities include proper funding and training for city staff, including first responders, developing proactive solutions for animal control and sheltering, making the city more walkable, and maximizing use of city property and resources to provide more amenities for local residents.
Focus On San Antonio did not receive a response from Astleford to questions posed to him.
Rick Cockerham, is a retiree and a former councilman who currently serves with the Bexar County Water Control and Improvement District No. 10.
Focus On San Antonio did not receive a response from Cockerham to questions posed to him.
Billy Gipson, a retiree, currently serves with the city’s board of adjustment. He previously served on the town’s ethics commission.
Gipson unsuccessfully ran for the council in 2024. He did not respond to questions posed by Focus On San Antonio.
What’s next
Early voting will be held 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 20-24; 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Oct. 25; noon-6 p.m. Oct. 26; and 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Oct. 27-31 at the Windcrest Civic Center, 9310 Jim Seal Drive, and other sites. Election Day polls will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Nov. 4 at the civic center and other locations.
