BOERNE CITY COUNCIL
DISTRICT 1 Jeremy Pratt
Pratt, 51, says he’s not a developer, realtor, or influencer: just a conservative neighbor who wants to make a difference.
“I want to give back to Boerne, make this an even better place to live and help ensure that our kids have a place here to work and thrive,” says Pratt, a threeyear resident of Boerne and father of two boys. “I don’t want Boerne to turn into Katy, just another suburb city marked by a freeway name and Buc-ees sign.”
Pratt is an engineer in networking and cyber security for the past 29 years, with Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), and Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Administrator (PCNSA) certification, among others. “I have managed a staff of 80 analysts, engineers, and architects across the country with a 34-million-dollar budget.”
Ty Wolosin
Wolosin, 40, is seeking re-election to the Council District 1 seat. Wolosin, a 10-year resident of Boerne, and his wife, Megan Mazour Wolosin, have two children at Curington Elementary. The co-founder and general manager of brewing operations for Hamby’s and Cibolo Creek Brewing in down- town Boerne says his desire “is to continue making Boerne the great community it is.”
After earning his bache l o r ’s degree from Southwest Texas State and his master’s from the University of Montana, he returned home, engaged in the family business, then entered the brewing business before venturing into politics, first appointed to council in 2018.
“I am committed to contributing to our thriving community,” he says. “Having a proven and experienced leader on council matters, I am confident in my ability to lead citizen engagement and represent our community through council.”
QUESTION 1: “GROWTH: Acknowledge it’s coming, and deal with it? Or, take action to “head it off at the pass?”
Pratt: “If you’re not growing, you’re dying, so we need to deal with it. We need to be smart in our organic growth.
We must be very careful with developments to ensure that they make sense, and everyone is onboard with it. We must look at our ability to provide water, power, sewer, trash, storm water runoff and traffic flow.
We also need to take into consideration a match for the community in function and design.”
Wolosin: “Growth is coming, as it is not a Boerne challenge, it is a Texas challenge.
We must make sure that smart policies are in place to help slow the growth and allow us to plan for the type of growth we want and mitigate the impact to existing homeowners/community members.
The balance of property rights and regulation is how we achieve smart growth. Our community wants smart, slow growth, so this must be our goal.”
QUESTION 2: Traffic: Congestion, lack of parking, condition of roads: You are appointed to head a panel studying these. Which do you attack first, why, and how?
Wolosin: “I would attack congestion and conditions of roads together, as they are interlinked. When sourcing financial help from the state or other resources, the more parameters we can add to a submittal, the better.
Congestion is generally a creation of intersection issues. How can we ‘fix’ an intersection to allow for more constant flow? Roundabouts are one way, as well as other innovative traffic patterns.
The future Adler and Cascade Caverns Road projects are great examples of road condition and intersection (congestion) improvements done together.”
Pratt: “I’ll first attack congestion; time is money and traffic congestion isn’t productive.
Append existing light controllers with smart connected signals with AI/ML that can help streamline congestion at nodes and provide real time and historical data that is actionable. This will require TxDOT collaboration on their lights.
Road conditions are next: concentrate on roads that have already been identified as needing repair and have funding, such as Adler.
Parking is an interesting problem. I believe that we need input from business and the Chamber of Commerce. A shuttle service with offsite parking comes to mind, but I need more information.”
QUESTION 3: Should the city invest in, and seek funding partners for, a City Performing Arts Center?
Pratt: “Boerne currently has Boerne Performing Arts, Boerne Community Theatre, several art galleries and public exhibits and studios, plus The Agricultural Museum and Arts Center. The city of Boerne already provides funding for many of these in addition to private funding.
If we’re looking for another center, we need to look at usage of the existing facilities before the city moves forward. I personally believe that we’re missing our Germanic history and culture.”
Wolosin: “If our citizens want that for the community then we should investigate it.
First, explore funding partnership opportunities and grant availability. Second, put public funding to voters via a quality-of-life bond election.
If voters want to fund it, they can vote to decide, yay or nay. The long-term operations expenses would be a good opportunity for a funding partner to run, with oversight by the city manager and council. This keeps long term operation costs off city residents, should they vote to fund the construction.”
DISTRICT 3 Quinten Scott
Scott, 50, is running for re-election to the District 3 seat he’s held since 2019. A resident of Boerne for the past 16 years, he’s married with four sons —all Boerne High School graduates; one serving in the U.S. Marine Corp, two in college and one working for a survey company in town.
“As our city faces challenges, experienced leadership is crucial,” Scott says. “In my five years on the city council, I’ve worked with several mayors and council members, gaining valuable experience.’
“As the second longest- serving member, I’ve played a key role in our achievements, all thanks to teamwork with city staff and fellow council members.”
Daniel Weis
Weis, 56, and his wife, Sherilyn, have been Boerne residents for the past 14 years. Currently serving veterans as the commander of the CPT Mark T y l e r V o s s American Legion Post 313, Boerne, Weis holds a master’s degree from Webster University.
Thirty- plus years of leadership and complex decision- making “will allow me to work with the challenges our city faces now and in the future,” Weis says. “My experience with the Army’s Garrison Commander’s Course (mayors/ city managers course) will aid me as an active and engaged member of the city council.
“Your voice needs to be heard and I will bring your voice to City Council.”
QUESTION 1: “GROWTH: Acknowledge it’s coming, and deal with it? Or, take action to “head it off at the pass?”
Scott: “Boerne faces rapid growth, urging collaboration with county partners to tackle traffic and water issues. Balancing growth with property rights preservation is crucial, a top concern in citizen surveys.
Aligning budgets with community needs from our master plans is vital for governance. These challenges demand proactive steps and diligent planning.
Expanding our reclaimed water system can reduce reliance on potable water for landscape irrigation, extending our requirements for additional water needs.”
Weis: “Proactive is always better than reactive. The residents, and their way of life, should dictate speed of growth.
Boerne continues to create resource opportunities, but these should neither drastically change our residents’ way of life or the landscape of our Hill Country town. There are ways to balance opportunities with growth.
Infrastructure, including Police/Fire/EMS and Life Cycle Replacement plan including electricity, sewer, water, storm, roads, etc., needs to be in place prior to development.”
QUESTION 2: Traffic: Congestion, lack of parking, condition of roads: You are appointed to head a panel studying these. Which do you attack first, why, and how?
Weis: “Four great topics, and all need to be addressed. I would start with safety; which is the biggest safety concern? The panel would need to reach out to a variety of demographics as members so they can voice their concerns.
After safety, residents of District 3 have indicated that congestion and road conditions are great concerns. If you have recently driven down School Street and Old San Antonio Road, you will have noticed what bad condition they’re in.
Communication amongst all stakeholders is essential to address these concerns.”
Scott: “The approval of the Transportation Bond in August 2022 marks a promising beginning. Over the next two years, visible improvements in roads and intersections will result from these projects.
Another well-considered, voter-supported bond will be crucial for addressing subsequent congestion mitigation projects identified by past committees.
Maintaining funding for road maintenance is vital; our budget has increased significantly since 2019, reaching $621,000.
Continuous funding growth for routine maintenance is necessary to address our project backlog. While a downtown parking structure is desirable, it will remain a distant goal until we secure a public/private partnership.”
QUESTION 3: Should the city invest in, and seek funding partners for, a City Performing Arts Center?
Scott: “No. While I've attended several Boerne Performing Arts events, there hasn't been community feedback indicating a necessity for a dedicated center.
I propose sustaining our support for local groups and urging them to utilize our current facilities and area partners like BISD.”
Weis: “A City Cultural Arts and Performing Arts Center on the surface sounds like a great idea, but again, residents are required in all phases of developing the City Cultural Arts Master Plan.
As a conservative, I believe there needs to be fiscal responsibility as with any building and/or buying land, buildings, art, statues, etc.”
DISTRICT 5 Joseph Macaluso
Macaluso, 70, a retired physician/surgeon, is running for re-election to the District 5 council seat. First elected in May 2019, Macaluso obtained degrees from the University of New Orleans, biology/ chemistry, and LSU’s School of Medicine. He completed surgical and sub-specialty residency training, and is a Fellow, American College of Surgeons.
He and his wife, Renée Langston Macaluso, a native Texan, have three grown daughters, all married, and have five grandchildren.
“I am excited to seek re-election,” Macaluso says, “to continue the work that I have been engaged in for our community; work to deal with parks and recreation, downtown parking, highway enhancement, and beautification, implementation of our bond issue, and eventual construction of two new fully staffed fire stations.”
Nick Nuth
Nuth, 40, and his family, his wife of 16 years and their three sons, have lived in Boerne for the past two years. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California- Davis in biol ogical sciences, with an emphasis in neuroscience, physiology and behavior.
His work experience includes project and product management, technical sales, business management and business ownership.
“I am concerned the city of Boerne is trending toward ‘big government,’ which I strongly oppose,” Nuth says. “Its fiscal year 202324 budget of $141,000,000 — $6,000 per capita — and 350-plus employees with access to lifetime retirement benefit are, well ... eye opening.
I want fresh eyes and a bright spotlight on the innerworkings of beloved Boerne.”
QUESTION 1: “GROWTH: Acknowledge it’s coming, and deal with it? Or, take action to “head it off at the pass?”
Macaluso: “Both. We are growing because Texas is growing.
We cannot control growth. We can influence, direct, facilitate, and incentivize the type of growth but rarely stop or “control” it.
Ordinances and regulations are, in fact, the mechanisms that home rule cities in Texas have in their toolbox, allowing them to exert that influence — also termed “smart growth.”
Increased tools from our state legislature for counties to exercise development control would be most helpful.”
Nuth: “Boerne’s current population growth rate (~6%) is unsustainable. We should strive to halve it; meanwhile, embrace a ‘not to exceed’ total population number that is sensible and sensitive to our extremely limited natural resources (e.g. water).
Tools for what I call a ‘conservative growth model’ may include a building moratorium within the ETJ, elimination of tax abatements for high-density development within the city, limited sponsorship of quasi- public corporations and a highly abridged UDC.”
QUESTION 2: Traffic: Congestion, lack of parking, condition of roads: You are appointed to head a panel studying these. Which do you attack first, why, and how?
Nuth: “First, implore the city to reallocate taxpayer dollars from non-essential to essential infrastructure and services as much as possible.
This is not a novel policy; however, it is commonly ignored by those with power to spend other folks’ money.
Next, implore the city to retrofit existing infrastructure to the greatest extent possible; according to previous mobility plans that predate development within ETJ and annexed parts of Boerne within the past 10 years. After all, the past holds much wisdom.
Finally, implore the city to find contentment in its small stature. In a world full of Katy(ies), we need more Boerne(s).”
Macaluso: “I am and have been working on these issues. Parking downtown has been a frequent topic of discussion between Kendall County Commissioner Richard Chapman and me.
I have also spoken with County Judge Shane Stolarczyk about parking. The city is ready to partner with the country on a parking project and has funds earmarked for initiating it.
Roads are being addressed with the passage of the citizen- approved bond issue. This includes the complete redo of a major road and the repair of multiple streets in the city.
Our city-initiated transportation committee provided many suggestions that are being implemented or planned.”
QUESTION 3: Should the city invest in, and seek funding partners for, a City Performing Arts Center?
Macaluso: “Invest time and effort, yes. Public funds, not yet. Seeking partners via grants and sponsorships will play a major role.
This project requires careful planning, study, and sound strategies for funding the building and ongoing operations. It would require support from the business community, as well as county and state partners, where possible.
In short, we need our long-established arts community to work with the city to lead any such effort.”
Nuth: “Certainly not.After all, our esteemed Boerne-Samuel V. Champion High School already boasts a world-class auditorium which attracts tremendous talent; meanwhile, our close neighbor, San Antonio, offers a plethora of venues and opportunities to experience cultural arts in a deep, meaningful manner.
Anew center in Boerne would only exacerbate what I perceive to be a crisis of identity. Boerne is beloved for its small-town, rural charm — why ruin that?”
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