Leon Valley voters re-elect longtime mayor, councilman
Voters in Leon Valley returned Mayor Chris Riley to a 10th term in office, while Place 2 Councilman Josh Stevens held off two challengers during Saturday’s election.
Riley garnered 820 votes, or 71 percent, in cruising to victory over Evan Bohl, who netted 330 votes, or 29 percent.
In Place 2, Stevens was re-elected with 53 percent of the vote, beating out Elaine Valdez, who got 29 percent, and Danielle Bolton, who got 18 percent. Stevens tallied 610 votes, with Valdez totaling 331 and Bolton 202.
First elected in 2004, Riley has served as the city’s top elected leader for the last 18 years. The mayor said she looks forward to working with City Council on several issues the city needs to address.
“I want to thank the citizens of Leon Valley for their support,” Riley said. “It was very overwhelming, and heartwarming to get that support from the citizens. I think the election results were a mandate from the citizens on the issues I ran on.”
As she starts her next term, Riley said she wants to work on completing the planning process for a project to improve mobility along Bandera Road, which runs through Leon Valley and San Antonio. Over the last three years, Leon Valley has been working with the Texas Department of Transportation and the city of San Antonio on a plan for potential solutions for congestion and mobility along Bandera Road from Interstate 410 to Loop 1604. Workshops and a virtual public meeting have been held to gather public feedback on the project.
Other priorities for Riley include where the city should spend the rest of the funds it received from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and improving salaries for police officers, firefighters and public works employees so Leon Valley can retain experienced employees.
In his bid to unseat Riley, Bohl — 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 — advocated for banning puppy mill animals from being sold in animal retail stores in Leon Valley. Bohl also wanted to implement an animal care program to assist in addressing and enforcing all animal-related issues in the city.
In addition, Bohl wanted to collaborate with county and state officials to obtain funding for public safety improvements, infrastructure improvements and more comprehensive flood mitigation.
Stevens said by reelecting him, the voters sent a message that they like the path the city is on.
“They want stability, and they want a government that works for them and not against them,” Stevens said.
Stevens said priorities on which he wants the city to focus include collaborating with the pet stores in the city to develop an adoption program for stray dogs, improving pay to keep high-quality police officers in the city, and finding a way to reduce crime in the city, especially at the apartment complexes. Also, he wants to obtain funding for a dog park in the city, and speed up the replacement of some of the city’s older sewer and water mains.