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The city of New Braunfels officially has a new mayor.
Michael French was sworn in as the city's new mayor following the canvassing of the June runoff election during a June 22 meeting.
Approximately 9,899 votes were cast in the New Braunfels mayoral runoff election. French received 6,176 votes, or 62.39% of votes. Incumbent Neal Linnartz received 3,723 votes, or 37.6% votes, City Secretary Gayle Wilkinson said.
What they're saying
French said he was honored.
"I know that this is a big responsibility and I'm gonna do it the best that I can," French said.
Former New Braunfels Mayor Neal Linnartz said he believes in leaving something in a better place than where you found it.
"Over the last three years, our tax rate is down 14%, our sales tax collections are up 9%, our median income is up 11%, new construction permits are down almost 70% and crime is down 6%," Linnartz said. "So I'm glad to walk away leaving New Braunfels a little better than I found it."
How we got here
There were initially four candidates—French, Linnartz, Angela Allen and Jonathon Frazier—vying for the mayoral seat during the May election. Although Frazier told Community Impact he was endorsing Linnartz, he still appeared on the ballot.
French received 49.18% and Linnartz received 38.25% of the vote. Frazier received 1.64% of the vote and Allen received 10.93% of the vote, according to unofficial results. Following the May 2 election, city officials reviewed the city charter, which states that the mayoral election is decided by the candidate who receives the most votes, or a plurality of votes, regardless of whether a candidates receives a majority.
However, the city attorney’s office received notification from legal counsel that there was a conflict between the city charter and the Texas Constitution—which states that when a term of office exceeds two years, members of a municipality’s governing body must be elected by a majority vote, according to a news release. Because the New Braunfels mayor position is three years, a runoff had to be held, as previously reported by Community Impact.
