The San Antonio City Council has a pool of four candidates to pick as a temporary replacement to former Councilwoman Ana Sandoval this week. The Council will pick from a list of eligible people that range from a local civil rights activist to a former county commissioner from Florida. The council members are expected to select someone on Thursday, March 2.
The City Council will interview each candidate during a B session meeting on Wednesday, March 1 at 1 p.m. before making their selection Thursday. Here’s a quick a look at who will be considered to fill Sandoval’s District 7 seat after she left in the middle of her third term in January.
Rosie Castro speaks at Plaza Guadalupe when her son Julian announced his run for president in 2020.
Billy Calzada/Staff Photographer
Rosie Castro
Rosie Castro announced her intent to fill in for the last few months of Sandoval’s term in January. She filed her application for the temporary position on February 22, according to the documents MySA received from the city clerk’s office. The longtime civil rights activist is also the mother of former San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and current Congressman Joaquin Castro.
In a letter submitted with her application, Castro said that Sandoval “has done an impressive job” as the District 7 council member and that she looks forward to continuing Sandoval’s work.
She said her experience as a former city employee, lifelong San Antonian, and 35-year resident of District 7, she understands the needs of the district and how to meet the needs of the district’s citizens. She served as a liaison to San Antonio’s personnel director from 1982 to 1988 and was the director of the Mexican American Equal Rights Council in 1976.
She is currently self-employed as a consultant on public and nonprofit issues and was the Interim Dean of Student Success at Palo Alto College from 2008 to 2013.
David Avila
Retired Army veteran David Avila has lived in District 7 for almost seven years, according to his application, and is currently a site coordinator for local nonprofit Soldier’s Angels, coordinating volunteer resources and building local relationships with community members.
He says in his letter that he wants to make sure District 7 citizens are heard.
“Keeping unity between [the San Antonio Police Department] and our neighbors will be a highlight of our meetings,” Avila says.
Delia Guajardo
Delia Guajardo is a longtime employee within San Antonio ISD working at multiple campuses including Jefferson High School as an administrative secretary from 1983 to 1995. She is now retired but has a long list of civic and community involvement, including the founder and president of the U.S. Military Veterans Parade Association.
Guajardo is also the host and producer of the public access program called “SA Community Pride.”
Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy is a former county commissioner from Taylor County, Florida who served from 2018 to 2020. He says in his letter that he has lived in San Antonio since July 2021. Murphy reportedly rode “a wave of ‘red’ voting” to win his county commissioner seat in 2018, according to the Perry News-Herald.
His resume says he was a water plant apprentice operator for Taylor Coastal Water and Sewer in Florida up until 2018 when he won the county commissioner seat. Murphy now says he is self-employed as a certified law enforcement armorer and gunsmith.
Once appointed, the candidate will serve until June after the May 6 general election.