A former Navy pilot and a research consultant/business owner are vying in the Nov. 8 election for a Bexar County Commissioners Court seat.
Voters in county Precinct 3, which covers much of north Bexar County, will choose Grant Moody or Susan Korbel to replace Trish DeBerry, who left Commissioners Court one year into her first term as the Precinct 3 representative to run for Bexar County judge.
Commissioners appointed former appeals court judge Marialyn Barnard to serve as Precinct 3 commissioner through this year.
Barnard and Moody were among nine Republicans who in July sought the GOP nomination from Precinct 3 Republican chairs. Moody outlasted Barnard in the final round of voting by a tally of 74-28.
Other Precinct 3 hopefuls for the GOP nomination had included former San Antonio District 10 City Council Member Carlton Soules; former Hollywood Park Mayor David Ortega; previous San Antonio council candidates Patty Gibbons and Patrick Von Dohlen; and Nathan Buchanan, who lost to DeBerry in the March Republican primary for county judge.
Korbel was the lone Democrat to apply for her party’s nomination by a Jan. 15 deadline set by the Bexar County Democratic Party.
The winner of the general election will serve out the remainder of DeBerry’s term, which ends at the end of 2024.
A Castle Hills resident, Korbel has owned and operated Core Research since 1989. Prior to launching her own venture, Korbel worked in various positions for television stations such as KENS and KWEX.
Possessing a doctorate in public administration from the University of Michigan, Korbel has been an elected official, having been tapped by voters in 2000 to serve on the Alamo Colleges District board. She also has been active with the Bexar Democratic Party for years.
Korbel said she was driven to run for Commissioners Court by the county’s efforts to shore up secure elections,
“Election integrity is on the line, and I want to assure every voter that our votes will count by increasing funding for technology and staff, protect our elections department and find a strong replacement should [Elections Administrator] Jacque Callanan retire,” Korbel said.
Korbel said Bexar County’s growth was another factor behind her decision to run for commissioner.
“Our beautiful community is growing too fast and needs a mature leader in county government to help chart the way toward sustainable, comprehensive planning,” she said.
Additionally, Korbel said having been a small-business owner, a North East ISD parent, and a member of a college district board and other civic boards and committees, she has the experience and capacity to serve as a full-time county commissioner.
“It’s time to give back and step up,” she said.
Korbel’s top priority issues are improving the county’s public safety programs, jail and court system, enhancing election department functions and voter registration and education activities, and identifying housing shortage solutions, including a focus on workforce housing and alternatives for seniors and veterans.
Community Impact tried to directly reach Moody through his campaign manager, Gary Teal. Despite multiple communications with Teal, Moody did not answer a request for comments and additional campaign information by Oct. 21, the time of this article’s publication.
According to Moody’s campaign website, Moody attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where played football for the Midshipmen and was honored as a second-team academic All-American.
Moody graduated with distinction as the top economics major in his class, and was a state finalist for the Rhodes scholarship. He was chosen for naval flight training post-graduation and became a Marine F-18 fighter pilot.
Moody was deployed on combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he received several awards and commendations.
Moody earned a master’s degree in statistics and business analytics from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in business administration at Wharton School.
Moody worked for consulting firm McKinsey and Co. and for USAA before heading to Valero Energy Corp., where he is the current innovation director.
On his campaign website, Moody is making law enforcement, transportation, property taxes and spending all priority issues.
In a meet-the-candidates event that the Northeast Neighborhood Alliance held Oct. 17 at the Northeast Service Center, Moody cited Bexar County’s originally proposed fiscal year 2023 budget, which initially contained no additional sheriff’s deputies.
Commissioners later agreed to fund 12 deputy officer positions and two sheriff’s deputy sergeant positions, far short of 76 positions that Sheriff Javier Salazar proposed to boost his agency’s efforts to improve emergency response times.
“We have to have a safe community to raise a family and grow a business, so that has to be priority No. 1,” Moody said at the candidate forum.
At the forum, Moody said if elected commissioner, he would focus on decreasing property taxes, which he said is becoming more burdensome for taxpayers coping with skyrocketing property appraisals.
“We have to drop that tax rate to ‘no new revenue raised [level],’ and then we can actually talk about what we’re spending and what’s in the budget,” Moody said.
Moody also pledged to concentrate on helping to find solutions toward improving transportation.
“There’s a lot of pools of money out there that we can pull from, and we need to leverage those as much as possible, so there’s a less of a burden on our taxes in Bexar County,” Moody said.
Early voting will be held Oct. 24-Nov. 4. Nov. 8 is Election Day. Early voting polling times are: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 24-28; 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 29 and Oct. 31-Nov. 4; noon-6 p.m. Oct. 30.
Area early voting locations include: Brookhollow Branch Library, 530 Heimer Road; Castle Hills City Hall community room, 209 Lemonwood Drive; Cody Branch Library, 11441 Vance Jackson Road; Encino Branch Library, 2515 E. Evans Road; Parman Branch Library at Stone Oak, 20735 Wilderness Oak; Precinct 3 Satellite Office, 320 Interpark Blvd; Shavano Park City Hall lobby, 900 Saddletree Court; and University of Texas at San Antonio Bexar Room, 1 UTSA Circle.
