Three challenge Mitchell for mayor

A trio of candidates — two of them who could be called political perennials and the third a political neophyte — have filed to challenge city council member Travis Mitchell’s bid to become mayor of Kyle in the November elections. In addition, only two candidates filed to fill each of the three open city council seats meaning the chances are overwhelming those races will be decided without a runoff. And because of Mitchell’s depth of support, it is possible he could win election on Nov. 7 as well.

I said the chances are overwhelming the two-candidate races will be decided without a runoff only because, in the city’s most recent council general election, one two-candidate race ended in a tie vote. I know all about lightning not striking twice, but, when it comes to things like lightning, I’d rather not take too many risks.

Jaime Sanchez, a 50-year resident of Kyle and a former city council member who was unsuccessful in his last city council race in May 2015, losing in a runoff to Damon Fogley, waited until just before the deadline to file his application to run for mayor. Sanchez was elected in February 2010 to fill the unexpired District 5 council term of Lucy Johnson, who vacated the seat to run for mayor. He chose not to seek re-election when the term expired in 2012.

Bill Sinor, who has also unsuccessfully sought locally elective office previously, originally filed for the council seat currently held by Becky Selbera, who announced she would not seek re-election, but unexpectedly withdrew that application on Friday and decided to file for mayor instead. I am not absolutely certain of this, but it appears Sinor ran unsuccessfully for the District 3 seat in 2013, an election won by Chad Benninghoff, then again in a special election called the next year when Benninghoff resigned, an election won by current council member Shane Arabie.

Although all three of these individuals have run for political office before, I am fairly certain none of them are experienced in a November political campaign which produces a much different voter turnout than ones held earlier in the year.

The fourth mayoral candidate is school teacher Nicole Romero-Piche, who calls herself "a mom on a mission" with a website that displays a certain naivete about municipal financing. However, as I have done in the regular and runoff elections The Kyle Report has covered during the 34 months of its existence, I hope to sit down for recorded conversations with each of the candidates and reproduce the transcripts from those interviews on this blog so voters may get an unedited picture of each of the candidates from their own words.

One of the two candidates seeking the Place 1 seat being vacated by Mitchell is Dex Ellison, a bank manager and the chair of the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission, who captured 20 percent of the vote and finished third in a bid to be elected to the District 6 seat in an election ultimately won in a runoff by Daphne Tenorio. Only 4 percent of the registered voters bothered to cast ballots in that election; it is anticipated the turnout will be somewhat higher, at the very least, on Nov. 7. He, too, waited until the last day to file his application. The other candidate is Marco Pizana Jr., who lists his occupation as a Hays CISD CTE internship coordinator. To my knowledge, this is Pizana’s first run for a political office.

Tracy Scheel, a healthcare manager at REM Sleep Center, a member of the city’s Parks Board, and a regular attendee at city council meetings, and Robert Rizo, who lists his occupation as "construction," will oppose each other for the District 2 seat Selbera is vacating.

Plum Creek resident Tim McHutchion, who owns a storage facility in east Kyle, will face Hometown Kyle resident Alexander Villalobos, a Texas State University police officer, for the District 4 seat which became open when David Wilson announced he would not seek re-election.