Sunrise Beach Village residents to vote on new government
Residents gather at the Sunrise Beach Civic Center to gain insight on a proposed Council-Manager form of government. Staff photo by Maci Cottingham
Sunrise Beach Village voters will be asked to check “for” or “against” a new form of government on their November ballot. If passed, Proposition A would allow the hiring of a city manager at an estimated $120,000 to $150,000 to oversee the city’s day-to-day operations.
Election Day is Nov. 4. Early voting runs Oct. 20-31.
Currently, Sunrise Beach Village is administered by its elected and unpaid City Council, which consists of a mayor and five councilors who each serve two-year terms. In a city manager-council government, legislative decisions would be left to the council, while the actual running of the city would fall to the hired hand.
Some residents of the small Lake LBJ community in Llano County think the price of a city manager is too steep and the need isn’t there, while supporters believe a professional leader could do a better job than the council.
One proponent is John Schwin, a former Sunrise Beach Village city councilor and the leader of Citizens for a Better Beach, which hosted an Oct. 15 town hall on the proposition that was attended by dozens of residents as well as Marble Falls City Manager Caleb Kraenzel, who explained his role to the audience.
“This is a full-time job to run the city,” Schwin told those gathered at the Sunrise Beach Civic Center on Wednesday. “We need someone who has financial acumen, knows how to get people working together, and can manage the city professionally.”
Schwin justified the cost of the city manager’s salary—$120,000 to $150,000, including benefits—by saying that elected officials don’t typically have formal knowledge of city finances and municipal management, and, specifically, that the city needs a strong leader to carry it through an upcoming $10 million to $12 million water infrastructure upgrade project.
Several residents questioned the need for a city manager in a city with such a small population, staff, and budget.
“We’re not really going to need a city manager to manage growth or expansion or roads and infrastructure, other than the water system that desperately needs to be replaced,” said one resident in attendance. “So instead of a city manager, can’t we just hire a water specialist for the project?”
Sunrise Beach Village has an estimated 804 residents, according to 2024 U.S. Census data. Fully staffed, it has 12 city employees and an operating budget of about $3 million per year.
In contrast, the city of Marble Falls, according to Kraenzel, has an estimated population of 9,413, a full-time staff of 160, and an annual operating budget of around $22 million. Former Marble Falls City Manager Mike Hodge made $170,000 a year.
The Proposition A movement is being led by Citizens for a Better Beach, which got the proposal on the ballot by collecting 108 resident signatures on a petition. That’s well above the 74 needed to meet the state statute requirement for 20 percent of the number of total voters in the city’s last mayoral election, which was 370.
On its website, the Citizens group touts the perceived benefits of having a professional city manager, such as a clear separation of roles for leadership, municipal expertise, direct accountability, improved efficiency, non-partisan decision making, fiscal discipline, and continuity of leadership.
“We have outgrown our well-meaning and superb volunteer government,” reads a line from the group’s Q&A webpage. “We need a professional, full-time manager to navigate these issues and provide efficient results.”