Boerne Mayor Tim Handren speaks during a City Council meeting on April 11.
Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Express-News
Ricardo Delgado, San Antonio Express-News
Mayor Tim Handren has a message for residents who miss the days when Boerne was just a quiet little Hill Country town.
He's glad that version of Boerne no longer exists.
“If you want to get in a corner and you want to cry about, oh, remember in the '70s... I'm glad that Boerne is gone forever. Because that's when it was boarded up," Handren said.
As he prepares to leave office after a four-year term, Handren is making no apologies for his policies and no concessions to his critics, some of whom accused him of encouraging development as Boerne has grown. Boerne’s population grew from 10,471 in 2010 to an estimated 19,109 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Growth- and transit-related issues have been hot-button topics for years, with some residents saying rapid development is ruining the town's Hill Country charm.
Handren said people who long for the good old days are ignoring the problems the town had before its growth in recent years.
“This was a ghost town. I don't want to go back there. I don't think anyone else does either. I think it's a pretty thriving community," Handren said. "So yeah, that part of Boerne is gone forever. I agree. And I'm glad it's gone forever.”
Handren, who is also CEO of San Antonio-based Santikos Entertainment, initially filed to seek a second term in the upcoming May 6 election, but then withdrew from the race. Two candidates have emerged to replace him: Nina Woolard, who has served on the Boerne City Council for over a decade, and Frank Ritchie, a local mechanic who has grassroots support from some residents who oppose development in Boerne.
The Boerne City Council has recently passed two growth and transportation-related measures. On March 28, City Council approved the Boerne Mobility Master Plan, which the city describes as “a long-range plan that seeks to create a safer, more accessible and more efficient transportation network.” This week, the council gave its OK to a new thoroughfare plan, aimed at guiding how developers connect and pave roads between and in the housing developments springing up all around the city.
The thoroughfare plan drew opposition from some city and county residents who said they are worried their land will be taken to build new roads. Some also accused the City Council of encouraging growth and development, which they say will detract from Boerne’s small-town character.
The day after the council approved the new thoroughfare plan, Handren spoke with the Express-News about his time as Boerne's mayor. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Express-News: What do you think the general consensus is among Boerne residents about the last four years? How has Boerne changed during your term?
“That's hard to say. When you look at (surveys of residents) people that have moved here in the last five to seven years, they love it here. They moved here for a reason, The ones who had been here longer than that are the ones that seem to be the most unhappy.
“My message would be if you're that miserable in Boerne, leave. There are a lot of people that want to be here. But we're not building to try to accommodate the demand.”
Handren said parents with children in Boerne schools are more representative of the community than the residents who regularly attend City Council meetings and criticize city leadership.
“People moved here for the school district, hands down,” Handren said. “Ask them what they think about what's going on. They love the schools. They don't like the traffic. But everything else is great.”
Do you think the Boerne City Council has tried to slow down development?
“I know it has. Not a single subdivision has been approved within our responsibility. If you look at what kind of construction is going on in and around Boerne, it's primarily the finishing out of the subdivisions that were approved more than 10 or 15 years ago.
“If you think about (it) from a developmental standpoint, (people say) ‘We got to stop all this development!’ In the four years that I've been in this mayoral role, what development has occurred?”
Handren said cities like New Braunfels aren’t apt comparisons for Boerne, saying it’s easier to develop on the Interstate 35 corridor due to the area’s terrain and more abundant natural resources.
“I just don't see us grow into that,” Handren said. “I mean, we can put demographic studies together that say, if history is an indicator of the future, yes, this is the pattern of growth that we see coming. But the natural resources are going to be the biggest inhibitor to some of that happening. Water is going to be the biggest problem.”
“There's no big developer, there's no big major thing that's come along that anybody can point to in the last four years. It's like, 'Aha, you had a secret Exxon going in over there! Or a secret Buc-ee's or a secret whatever.' None of that's happened. Everything has been completely open and completely public.”
The city of Boerne seems to get a lot of the blame for issues, rather than the Kendall County government. Why do you think that is?
“I don't know,” Handren said. He said supporters of current county officials make up some of the city government’s detractors.
Handren said many of Boerne's community activists have his phone number.
“It's not my responsibility to call all 20,000 people in Boerne and say, ‘What's your opinion?’” Handren said. “If you've got a question, you have my number. Contact me. I don't say no to anybody.”
Why did you decide not to seek re-election?
Handren said conversations with his family and Santikos Entertainment's goal to “double the size of the company in a certain timeframe” influenced his decision to not seek re-election.
“(The Santikos board) questioned me... did I really have time to continue to do both? They didn't direct me. I said, ‘Yeah, I've been doing it for the last four years, I think I can.’ And then I went home and talked to my wife. And then that was a different conversation.”
If Frank Ritchie were to win the mayoral election, do you think he’ll be subject to scrutiny?
“It doesn't matter who is in the role," Handren said. "(When he starts out) there'll be a honeymoon (period). He just wants things the way they were, and he wants to 'play' mayor. He put that on his Facebook post (discussing running for mayor). Well, if he wins then I guess we'll see what happens. I think he's in for a big surprise, frankly. You don't play mayor. It's a pretty serious role.”
What about City Council member Nina Woolard?
“I think it'd be cool if she's the first female mayor of Boerne,” Handren said. "She has given 10 years of her life to this community. And I think that she's responsible. I think that she'd be a great mayor.”
What should Boerne aspire to be?
“We should aspire toward more people getting engaged, who can (and) who are capable and qualified,” Handren said. “And not just a few that are unhappy. That's what I wish would happen. It's not going to happen. That's kind of a pipe dream.”
ricardo.delgado@express-news.net