Seats on ballot in Castle Hills, Leon Valley
City Council seats and a mayoral post are up for grabs this Saturday when Castle Hills and Leon Valley voters go to the polls.
In Castle Hills, the incumbents in Place 4 and Place 5 have drawn challengers. In Leon Valley, three candidates are vying for the Place 2 council seat, and the mayor has a challenger in her reelection bid.
Below is a look at the candidates. Visit Expressnews.com to see their answers to our candidate questionnaires.
Castle Hills
Voters in Castle Hills will determine whether two incumbent City Council members, who are facing strong challengers, will remain on the council during Saturday’s municipal elections.
Councilmen Jack Joyce and Douglas Gregory are running for re-election. Joyce, 70, is going up against Kim Wynn, 62, in Place 4, while Gregory, 69, is being opposed by Beth Daines, 49, in Place 5. Both council posts are for two-year terms.
Joyce is running for a second term on the council, having been elected to the body two years ago. He is an architect, planner and real estate investor who has served on numerous city committees and commissions before and during his time on the council. Joyce currently is the council liaison for both the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee and the Parks and Projects Commission.
Wynn, a teacher, has been a resident of the city for 33 years and has been a member of several community organizations, including the Castle Hills Women’s Club and the Castle Hills Community Organization.
Gregory, a stockbroker, has served on the council for a total of 18 years, during two different time periods — 2003-13 and 2014-present. He is a 35-year Castle Hills resident. Daines, a substitute teacher and stay -at-home mother, has served in various community organizations and was a member of the Castle Hills Strategic Planning Committee from 2012-13.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday in the Castle Hills Community Room, located at 209 Lemonwood Drive, at the municipal complex.
Leon Valley
Leon Valley residents will go to the polls Saturday to decide whether longtime Mayor Chris Riley should get another term leading the city, and they’ll choose among three candidates for the Place 2 seat on City Council.
Riley, 70, a legal assistant and office manager for a law firm, has served as the suburb’s mayor since 2004. She is running for another two-year term. She is being challenged by 31-year-old Evan Bohl, a business owner who is a member of both the city’s Planning and Zoning and Park commissions, as well as the city’s Economic and Community Development Advisory Committee.
In addition to her duties as mayor, Riley is a member of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board. The MPO is an agency that provides local direction for urban transportation planning and projects and allocates federal funds for transportation projects to cities with populations greater than 50,000.
In Place 2, incumbent Josh Stevens, 32, is running for reelection to a second two-year term after his election in 2020. Stevens, an owner of a customized medical products company, is being challenged by Danielle Bolton and Elaine Valdez. Bolton, 50, is an educator and administrator who serves on two city boards. She is vice chairwoman of the Park Commission and a member of the Capital Facilities Oversight Committee. Valdez, 66, is a retired recreation therapist and a member of the Park Commission.
This is not the first time Bohl, Bolton and Valdez are running for seats on the Leon Valley City Council. All three ran for the council in the 2021 election.
Incumbent Rey Orozco is running unopposed in Place 4.
Leon Valley residents can cast their ballots for the city election Saturday at the Leon Valley Conference Center, 6421 Evers Road. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.