Five vie for District 2 seat

SAN ANTONIO — Five candidates are traipsing across City Council District 2 on the East Side, asking for support from voters in the Nov. 4 special election.

Voters don't usually go to the polls in November for a municipal election, but a series of appointments and vacancies coupled with a charter amendment a few years ago have put local voters in unfamiliar territory.

Keith Toney is the current District 2 councilman. He was appointed Aug. 14 to the seat, which had been vacated the previous month by Ivy Taylor, who was appointed to fulfill the unexpired mayoral term created when Julián Castro left San Antonio to become secretary of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department.

But because Taylor's departure from the District 2 seat came more than nine months before the end of the 2013-15 council term, the city must hold a special election to fill the seat. Toney, 62, emerged from a pool of 12 candidates for the summer appointment. A school liaison officer, Toney ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2007. He served 15 years on a local school board, two-thirds of that as president.

Norris Tyrone Darden, a 34-year-old educator, and Alan Warrick, a 33-year-old CEO of a local nonprofit, also sought the appointment. They're both hoping to knock Toney out of the seat and better position themselves for the next general election — in May.

Ntando McIntosh, 38, and Elmo Aycock, 37, round out the ballot.

McIntosh listed his occupation on his application for a place on the ballot as “politician.” He said he's committed to campaigning for the seat full time and will likely appear on May's ballot as well.

Formerly in the Air Force, McIntosh has an unrivaled academic resume. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, and master's degrees from New York City's prestigious Columbia University and from the University of the Incarnate Word.

His perspective, he said, is what sets him apart from the rest of the field. McIntosh has been in San Antonio since 2004. He said he's neither a newcomer nor an “entrenched” longtime resident.

“In terms of my service to the Air Force, and to the nation, and also my academic background — it lends itself to someone who can get up there and get things done,” he said.

Darden, who earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas State University, works in education at the George Gervin Academy. He challenged Taylor for the seat in 2013 and plans on running again in 2015.

A product of Sam Houston High School, Darden said the race includes all the typical District 2 topics: high crime, drainage issues, a lack of sidewalks and housing issues.

“District 2 is a high-need area,” he said. “We still have streets that flood with a quarter-inch of rain.”

But solutions to those issues, Darden said, can't happen without getting more East Side residents involved. Single-digit voter turnout hurts the district, he said.

“We have to be more engaged than that,” he said, “especially if we want to make sure we see projects through.”

Warrick said he would strive to bring more funding to the East Side “because of the many years of underfunding” it has endured. He paid homage to Castro's plan to make this the “Decade of Downtown” and wants to carry that to the East Side as well.

“The mayor coined that term, and I think it's appropriate,” he said. “This is the Decade of Downtown, and I want to make it the Decade of District 2, too.”

But that's not possible if the perception of the East Side doesn't change, said Warrick, who has a bachelor's degree from Florida A&M University. He said he wants to attract more people to the area with infill projects and drive economic development, and create jobs and opportunity through changing the perception of the district.