Burnet City Council, school board candidates share views with voters

Candidates for the Burnet City Council and school board attended a forum hosted by the Burnet Chamber of Commerce on April 16 at the community center. Each candidate was given one minute to introduce themselves and two minutes to answer questions written by the chamber.

The forum was moderated by 33rd/424th District Court Judge Evan Stubbs.

Candidates were given the questions for the forum ahead of time.

“They’ve had an opportunity to not be surprised by the questions,” Stubbs told the crowd.

The event was livestreamed. Visit the chamber’s YouTube page to watch the full forum.

Election Day is May 4. Early voting is April 22-30.

BURNET CITY COUNCIL

Burnet City Council members serve staggered, two-year terms. Three seats are up for election this cycle. The top three vote-getters out of six candidates will fill those seats. 

Running for the council are Anthony Francisco, Tommy Gaut, Dennis Langley, Zac Neely, Cindia Talamentez, and Philip Thurman. Of the six candidates, only Talamentez was absent from the forum.

Each candidate was asked five questions. DailyTrib.com selected three of those questions and the candidates’ responses for this story.

PHILIP THURMAN

Thurman is the current mayor pro-tem of the city of Burnet. He is the chief executive officer of OfficePLM, an engineering software company. 

“I am pro-citizen, pro-business, and pro-Burnet,” he said. “What that means is I’m motivated to let you have the best experience you can with the city.”

ZAC NEELY

Neely was born in Burnet and raised in Lampasas. He was a teacher for four years before working at ExxonMobil. He has been the assistant boys’ camp director at Camp Longhorn for nearly five years.

“The whole reason for me and my wife to come back to Burnet was to raise our family here,” Neely said. “I’d like to see Burnet keep its small-town atmosphere.”

TOMMY GAUT

Gaut has lived in Burnet since retiring over 10 years ago from the computer industry. He has served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission for the past 10 years and as the board’s chair for the past five years. He also chairs the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment.

“I want to be an advocate for all the voices,” he said. “I want to be proactive. I want to listen.”

DENNIS LANGLEY

Langley is the owner of Dennis Langley Construction and an incumbent city councilor. 

“I’ve enjoyed serving on council and working with the city staff and City Manager David Vaughn,” he said. “Over the past two years, I think we’ve accomplished some good things.”

ANTHONY FRANCISCO

Francisco has lived in Burnet for 30 years after leaving for six years to attend college and for work. He is the owner/partner of Thess Mortgage in Burnet.

“My motivation would be to make sure that Burnet is transforming and moving forward in the right, correct way and for the people,” he said. 

QUESTION 1

What particular skills and experiences qualify you to serve on the City Council, if elected?

NEELY: “In a way, I’m already on a city council as a management position at Camp Longhorn. (The camp is) a small city of about 750 people. The only difference is they switch around about every two weeks.”

Neely also cited his experience as a turnaround specialist for ExxonMobil as proof of his knowledge of construction practices.

GAUT: “I bring to the position 25 years of senior management experience. I’ve been responsible for projects nationally and internationally in areas like anti-corruption, human resource development, and re-engineering businesses to particular forms that were more cost-effective.”

Gaut also referenced his familiarity with city ordinances and codes from his longtime work on Burnet’s Planning and Zoning Commission.

LANGLEY: “I’ve been a small-business owner for well over 30 years. I think that gives me the experience to be financially responsible and help the city go in the right direction.”

Langley followed with the importance of working to improve the lives of residents and city employees by ensuring their voices are heard.

QUESTION 2

With the projected growth and the growth that’s occurring, where do you see the city of Burnet in five years?

THURMAN: “It’s going to impact our life. It’s going to attack the way we live, but it’s not all bad. How do you turn that growth into something good? You do that by using the money from the growth to grow the city the way that you want. What does that mean? It means that we have to plan for the growth. We can’t just sit back and wait for it.”

Thurman pointed to the importance of strategically preparing and planning for an influx of new residents to avoid mirroring mistakes made in other municipalities, such as Liberty Hill and Dripping Springs. 

NEELY: “The growth is going to come, and we have to plan for it. Burnet is in a fortunate situation where we’re just far enough from Austin that we can see it coming our way. We do have that foresight there because of our distance.”

Neely also touched on how interest rates can dictate growth. He specifically mentioned how record-low interest rates in 2020 fed into growth in other Central Texas towns.

LANGLEY: “I believe with the leadership that we have and the nature of the citizens, I think that Burnet will still be the best place to live in five to 10 years. Now grant you, it’s going to grow, and, unfortunately, Austin is moving this-a-way. We’re fortunate that our leaders have got to watch places like Liberty Hill and Dripping Springs, and, yeah, we’re still going to have issues. But I think, that being said, the city workers and the (council) kind of know what’s coming.”

Langley doubled down on his hopes that Burnet remains small but also identified the historic downtown square as an area that could benefit from future growth.

FRANCISCO: “I think if we can continue to have a firm foundation for Burnet to grow—when we do hit those spurs and absorb those extra people—we’ll look like professionals that have been doing it all along. We can do it with open arms and continue to be Burnet: kind, loving, and great.”

Francisco also echoed Thurman’s concerns that Burnet needs to work hard to prepare itself for future growth.

QUESTION 3

Being on the City Council requires teamwork. Give us an example of when you have worked as a team.

THURMAN: “Teamwork is about doing and being part of a solution. As it relates to the question, I’ve been on a team with (former City Councilor) Ken Graham and (City Manager) David (Vaughn) and remodeled Galloway-Hammond (City Park) and handed it over to the (YMCA). We were taking about a $500,000 hit on that (annually), and we turned it into an incredible facility for the people of Burnet.”

Thurman also touted his experience reworking the Delaware Springs Golf Course budget to become sustainable without being subsidized by tax dollars.

GAUT: “To deliver projects to customers, by default, you have to be able to work with teams. Not just in leading teams, but by being a collaborative team member. Being a chair of the Planning and Zoning (Commission) and the (Zoning) Board of Adjustment, I work with my fellow commissioners and city staff.”

Gaut spoke directly to the city’s recent passage of its new short-term rental ordinance as an instance that required coordination between multiple bodies, including city staff, the Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Burnet City Council. 

FRANCISCO: “There’s many things, from being a collegiate athlete to being a member of many startups to also being involved in large transactions with investment brokers. When it comes to teamwork, it’s just allowing everyone to use their strengths and working with them to create unity, not uniformity.”

Francisco promised the crowd that he would lead when needed but also let others lead when the time was necessary.

BURNET CISD

Burnet Consolidated Independent School District trustees serve staggered three-year terms on a seven-place board. Place 5 is the only contested race in the May 4 election with Katy Duke and Amber Cardenas vying for the spot. Trustees vote on BCISD policies and budgets.

School board candidates were each asked four questions. DailyTrib.com selected two of those questions and the candidates’ responses for this story.

KATY DUKE

Duke is a Realtor with GEC Real Estate in Bertram. She has served on several committees within the district, including the District Advisory Committee and the Bond Oversight Committee. She was appointed to the BCISD Board of Trustees in November 2023 following the death of longtime Trustee Andy Field in September 2023. 

“The main reason that I want to serve on the school board, and the main reason I already am serving on the school board, is that I am very committed to making sure that all of our kids are well-cared for and have the best opportunities they possibly can,” Duke said.

AMBER CARDENAS

Cardenas is the owner of Bill’s Burgers in Burnet and has lived in the city for the majority of her life. She is also a marriage and family associate therapist. She has four children in the district.

“I want to be a voice that represents the public’s interest,” Cardenas said.

QUESTION 1

With the growth that Burnet has seen and will see in the future, where do you see Burnet Consolidated Independent School District in five years?

DUKE: “I see an additional elementary (school) or two, possibly a middle school, and I know there’s been conversations about a possible fifth- and sixth-grade center. I’m a real estate agent, so we need to be buying land now.”

Duke also mentioned that BCISD could have its own police force by 2029 and touched on the potential of one or two future bond elections to cover costs from the district’s expanded enrollment.

CARDENAS: “In five years, I see Burnet CISD as a district that will be providing safe and supportive learning environments for our kids, providing staff and faculty with resources to provide a great education, and meeting our goals for students to lead successful lives and be prepared for their future.”

Cardenas also acknowledged that growth is already here and touched on the importance of retaining quality staff and faculty to ensure successful outcomes for students. 

QUESTION 2

If you had the sole power to change one thing, what would you change and why?

DUKE: “Ideally, I’d like to do away with Robin Hood (a state law that sends tax dollars from wealthy school districts to poorer districts) or get more help from the state. Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s something that I’ll have direct impact over. As a board member, you don’t have sole power to change anything. You’re a team of eight (including superintendent). I want to work the best I can with that team.”

Other hopes outlined by Duke were that the district continue its focus on building students that are “ready to adult” upon graduation through providing academic support and resources.

CARDENAS: “I would ban cellphones. I mean, all the way, across all campuses, all the phones, all the students. I’ve heard from numerous faculty that the policies we currently have on our books don’t work.”

Cardenas elaborated, stating that cellphones lead to undesirable student behavior such as disrupting class and vaping. She recommended the district research the success of similar phone bans at other ISDs in the state.

nathan@thepicayune.com