SAN ANTONIO – This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
The San Antonio City Council has all but named an activist, and mother of the city’s two most recognizable political figures, as the interim council member for District 7.
Following public interviews with the four applicants for the position and a brief discussion behind closed doors, the council approved Maria del Rosario “Rosie” Castro on Wednesday as the lone candidate to be interviewed at Thursday morning’s council meeting.
Castro is a civil rights activist and the mother of prominent Democratic politicians, Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and cabinet member of the Obama administration, and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.
Once officially approved with a majority vote, Castro would immediately join the city council and finish out the last three months of Ana Sandoval’s council term as the councilwoman for the Northwest side district.
Sandoval left the District 7 council seat in late January because of family obligations and financial reasons. Council members receive an annual salary of $45,722.
Castro told reporters after Wednesday’s decision that, presuming she’s chosen, her priorities would be on government transparency, infrastructure, and following through on the 2017 and 2022 bond projects.
With the early stages of the city budget process beginning in April, Castro said she planned to get as much input as she could from residents.
“So it is hard being, you know, not having years of experience with the budget. But I think that we can, all together, create something that will be good for the district,” she said, before adding with a chuckle, “And of course, Ana’s still out there. And I know Ana. So I’ll give her a call.”
Castro ran unsuccessfully for an at-large city council position in 1971, when she said there was lacking representation for the city’s East, South, and West sides.
Neither Castro, nor any the of the other three applicants, applied to run for a full term in the May 6 election, though. So the district will have a new, permanent council member beginning in June.
David Avila, a site coordinator for a veterans nonprofit; Delia Guajardo, a retired school secretary who has been involved with numerous community groups; and Sean Murphy, an armorer and former county commissioner in Florida, also applied for the position.
Read the applications and resumes of each of the candidates below: