City Hosts First Trunk or Treat

VON ORMY--The City of Von Ormy hosted its first ever Trunk or Treat event in the Von Ormy City Park.  The event was organized by City Commissioners and staff.  The event provided a safe Halloween venue for area kids.  Among the activities at the even were a costume contest, hot dogs, car decoration contest. ESD 5 Fire and Rescue was on scene as were City Commissioners Sally Martinez and Alex Quintanilla.  The Best Car Decoration was won by Rachel Quintanilla who turned her  vehicle into a haunted version of the Von Ormy Castle.

 

Von Ormy Mayor withdraws resignation

VON ORMY-- Von Ormy Mayor Trina Reyes withdrew her resignation on Monday August 29, 2016 in an email sent to City Commissioners and staff.  Reyes had resigned during a meeting of the City Commission on August 22, following a commission vote rejecting her nominee for Chief of Police --Pedro Rosario.   The vote was the 4th time in 6 months that the City Commission has voted to reject or remove Rosario, who Mayor Reyes has repeatedly appointed as a vacancy appointment to serve as interim Police Chief.  
     Texas law does not make a resignation final until eight days after being submitted in writing to the City.  Reyes withdrew her resignation just prior to the eight day and will continue to serve as Mayor.  Her current term of office ends in May of 2017.

City adopts zero property tax rate; Hires Police Chief; Mayor Reyes resigns

Greg Reyes being sworn in  as Police Chief
by Von Ormy City Clerk Juanita de Anda

VON ORMY--At a special meeting held Monday, August 22, 2016, the Von Ormy City Commission adopted its fiscal year 2017 budget and tax rate.  Commissioners Martinez and Quintanilla voted unanimously to adopt a tax rate of zero, returning the city to a no property tax status.  The City receives most of its income from sales tax and franchise fees.  City sales tax receipts have stabilized over the past two years, following a dip resulting from Eagle Ford Shale decline.
    The new city budget totals $656,200.00 for 2017 and includes paying off the the city's remaining debt on the city park ($50,000.00), leaving the city with no debt.  The City also carries over $600,000.00 in surplus into next year.
   The Commissioners appointed Greg Reyes as the city's first Police Chief.  Reyes formerly served as City Marshal in Von Ormy.  In 2016, the City converted from a City Marshal's Office to a Police Department, which necessitated the application of a new law enforcement agency license.  The change also means that the City will no longer have a City Marshal, but will instead have a Chief of Police.
   Mayor Trina Reyes resigned during the meeting.   The City Commissioners elected Sally Martinez to serve as acting Mayor.
  The Commission also moved its regularly scheduled meetings to the first Thursday of the month.

City Commission adopts proposed property tax rate of zero

VON ORMY-- The Von Ormy City Commission met for a special meeting on August 11, 2016 and took the following actions:

- Adopted a proposed tax rate of $0 for 2016 to be included in the rate notice to be published pursuant to Texas Tax Code Sec.26.052     

- The City Commission approved a contract with Shauna Zamarripa to maintain the www.VonOrmyTX.gov website 

- The City will solicit bids to build a shed to house the new tractor.

- The City will solicit bids to clear land in City Park.

- The City Commission tasked the City Attorney to create a policy to allow residents of Von Ormy and organizations to use the city building for meetings and workshops

- It was announced that City Auditors Garza/Gonzalez and Associates have completed the FY 2013 and FY 2014 audits
- The Mayor's nominee for Chief of Police, Pedro Rosario, was defeated for the third consecutive time.  Following the meeting, Mayor Reyes appointed Pedro Rosario to be interim Police Chief to fill the vacancy in the office.  Interim appointments serve until either confirmed or rejected by the City Commission at the the next meeting.   

Former Von Ormy Councilwomen's criminal case tossed; District Attorney reviewing whether to refile

VON ORMY--The criminal cases against former Von Ormy Councilwomen Verna Hernandez, Jacqueline Goede and Carmina Aguilar were dismissed on Monday, August 1 due to an error in the indictment.  An indictment is a written statement of the formal charges against a criminal defendant.  The indictment as written alleged, among other things, that the three former Council members held a City Council meeting without a quorum, but it failed to state that a quorum is necessary for a City Council meeting to be valid.  Attorneys for the former council members argued that the indictment was defective because it failed to list all of the elements of the crime being charged.  The judge agreed and dismissed the case.

     The Bexar County District Attorney's Office stated in a statement to the press that they are still able to correct the indictment and recharge the three former Council members and are reviewing the case to determine whether they will or will not.  

    Following a Texas Rangers investigation, the three former Councilwomen were indicted by a Bexar County Grand Jury and charged with violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act stemming from an October 15, 2014 meeting.   

City hires new Clerk and approves furniture for Municipal Court

VON ORMY--At its July 18, 2016 meeting Von Ormy City Commissioners hired a new Assistant City Clerk.  Irma Trejo of San Antonio will join the city staff and serve as an assistant to both the City Clerk and Municipal Court Clerk.  

  City Commissioners also approved the purchase of furniture for the municipal court and city commission meetings.   A custom made dais, chairs, judge's bench, witness stand, reporters stand, and floating podium will be purchased from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Texas Correctional Industries.  The Von Ormy Municipal Court and City Council/Commission has for years been operated out of temporary facilities, but now has a permanent home in the city offices erected on Quarterhorse Road.  The prisoner-constructed furniture will replace the folding tables and chairs used in the past.  

   The new city buildings and furniture has been paid for cash, out of the surplus that has been saved over several years.  The city's plan to erect city offices without incurring debt has now been completed.

   A 48" x 24" outdoor sign was also approved.   The sign will state "City of Von Ormy City Hall and Municipal Court."  The sign will be installed outside of the new City Hall and Municipal Court buildings soon.

Von Ormy receives grant to complete Quarterhorse Road reconstruction project

VON ORMY--Bexar County has awarded the City of Von Ormy a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to complete its reconstruction and drainage project on Quarterhorse Road.  The grant is in the amount of $250,000.00 for Phase III of the project.      

Construction of Phase II of the project is ongoing.  Under Phase II, drainage ditches were enhanced and the road surface reconstructed from Von Ormy Road to the end of cul-du-sac. Phase III will extend these from Von Ormy Road to I-35. 

  Quarterhorse reconstruction was planned to handle the increased traffic from the construction of a City Park, City Offices and new Fire Station located at the end of the Quarterhorse Road.  The road was originally designed for residential traffic and not for the increased business traffic resulting from the city's uses.  

    City Commissioner Sally Martinez wrote the grant application, which was approved by the City Commission in February.  The project was selected among many by Bexar County Commissioner's Court on July 12, 2016 and funded.  The engineers on the project are Gonzalez - de la Garza & Associates. Bids for construction are forthcoming.  

May 2016 Election Results

VON ORMY--  The race for Somerset Mayor was narrowly won by Lydia Padilla Hernandez by four votes over opponent Leroy Vidales.  Final results were as follows:

 Leroy Vidales .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .        170   44.97%
 Jesse Arriaga Jr..  .  .  .  .  .  .  .         34    8.99%
 Lydia Padilla Hernandez.  .  .  .  .  .  174   46.03%      
 
 
Ida Sudolcan and Sylvester Vasquez, Jr. won re-election to the the Southwest ISD Board of Trustees. Full results are as follows:

Ida Sudolcan-316
Sylvester Vasquez, Jr. - 300
Phillip "Felipe" Vargas.- 76
Chris Villarreal - 54

Alamo Community College District, Trustee District 4 race was won by Marcelo Casillas over perennial candidate Phillip "Felipe" Vargas.

Marcelo Casillas . . . . . . . . . . 647 51.80% 
Phillip "Felipe" Vargas. . . . . . 602 48.20%

SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL BAND TO PERFORM AT CARNEGIE HALL THIS WEEKEND

VON ORMY – The Southwest High School (SWHS) Band has a different answer to the pop culture question “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Not only did the band have to practice, practice, practice-they had to send in an audition with musical samples to be invited.

More than a hundred students - 111 to be exact- will leave for the Big Apple on Thursday morning, in preparation for their performance at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, March 26. The high school’s two wind ensembles were selected to perform at the prestigious venue. Wind Ensemble A will perform at 9:30 a.m. and Wind Ensemble B will perform at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.

The students have been busy rehearsing over Spring Break, and a have a busy schedule this week, complete with a Fine Arts Pep Rally in their honor on Tuesday at 8 a.m., hosted by the SWHS athletes and spirit organizations. On Thursday, they will depart at 3:15 a.m. from the high school to the San Antonio International Airport, where they are scheduled to take their flight at 6 a.m. While in New York, the students will visit the Empire State Building, enjoy a walking tour of Times Square, visit the Statue of Liberty, and watch the Broadway Shows, Les Miserables and Wicked.

For many students, this is the first time ever flying on a plane, and for some, even leaving the State. For high school junior, Ti Mitchell, an autistic student at SWHS, this is more than a once in a life-time opportunity, this is something that his entire family never imagined would happen.

SOUTHWEST TO HOST FIRST UIL STATE MARIACHI COMPETITION

VON ORM – Did you know that Mariachi is now a recognized UIL Event? The inaugural UIL State Mariachi Festival will be held this weekend, beginning at 5 p.m. on Fri., March 11 and continuing through Sat., March 12 at 10 p.m. at Southwest High School.

Southwest High School’s Mariachi Los Dragones takes the competition stage on Sat., March 12 at 5:15 p.m. Mariachi groups that are competing at the State level have advanced through various rounds of competition all held within the last few weeks to get to this moment. During those stages of competition, the judges were looking for tone intonation, instrumental technique, interpretation and showmanship in the groups that they selected to advance.

 “It is a privilege and honor to be hosting this event at SWISD not only because we have always been very supportive of incorporating the mariachi program at our campuses, but also because we are happy to see that Mariachi music is finally a recognized part of the Texas education system,” said Dr. Lloyd Verstuyft, Superintendent of SWISD. Mariachi Los Dragones has hosted the MASBA State competition for the past two years, and hosting the UIL Competition is a task that the District has been preparing for several months.

VON ORMY CITY OFFICES BREAK GROUND

VON ORMY-- Von Ormy will soon open its first city offices.  The long awaited city office buildings are currently being installed in the Von Ormy Municipal Park.  The first to be installed will serve as the home of the Von Ormy Police Department.  The building was originally used as a bank building and was purchased by the city in 2014. 

      City Commissioner Sally Martinez said, "A second building will house the City's administrative offices, court and council meetings.  The second building is new and will be delivered in February."  The City Commission has also approved bids for a parking lot to service the new buildings.  Once installed the buildings will receive ADA compliance decking for accessibility.   The buildings were paid out of the the City's multi-year surplus. Martinez said, "We have been saving for several years so that we could buy our city buildings outright and avoid debt to the city." 

      City Commissioner Alex Quintanilla told the Star, "These are our two big projects now.  Following completion of this project, I would like to focus on  the park , including clearing the rest of the property, connecting the park to Ridgecrest and installing benches and maybe a basketball court." 

      At the January regular meeting, City Commission approved the founding of a Von Ormy Park Endowment (to be formally named later) to help raise funds to maintain and improve the park.