Overview
Two candidates are competing for the open Place 3 seat. No incumbent is running for this position. The incumbent, Joe Herring, Jr., is running for mayor, leaving this seat open for the 2024 race. The two candidates are Kent McKinney and Brent Bates.
Age
Kent McKinney is 72 years of age. Brent Bates is 67.
Career
Kent McKinney is a retired banker with 45 years of experience in the industry. He chartered a bank in Kansas (Community First National Bank) and brought a branch to Kerrville. He was also an executive at the newly chartered Guadalupe National Bank in Kerrville.
Brent Bates is a real estate developer and property manager. He has been a Texas real estate broker since 1985. He also operated Bates Total Asset Management company, offering financial services. He developed properties in Kerrville including the River Guide Village and the Palacio del Guadalupe condominiums. Bates has a history of judgments against him following court battles, as reported in The Lead in 2022. He is also currently embroiled in a legal battle with the City of Kerrville regarding a building in the River Guide Village.
Higher Education
McKinney has a BS from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania.
Bates graduated with a BBA from Texas A&M University in 1980.
Previous Elected Offices
Neither candidate has experience as an elected official. McKinney has not run for public office previously. Bates failed in an attempt to run for Mayor against Judy Eychner in 2022.
City or Local Government Board Service
McKinney served on Kerrville’s Economic Improvement Corporation (EIC) which distributes approximately $4 million in 4B sales tax dollars annually.
We can find no record of Bates serving on any local government board or commission.
Nonprofit Experience/Volunteerism
McKinney has extensive nonprofit board service in Kerrville, including the boards of Upper Guadalupe River Center, Inc.; Kerrville Public School Foundation; Dietert Center; Hill Country Arts Foundation; Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce. McKinney also volunteered for the Schreiner University Hill Country College Fund and the Alamo Area Council Boy Scouts of America.
Bates was a board member of the Hill Country Youth Ranch and a founder and board member of Big Springs Charter School.
Kerrville Forward’s Endorsement
Brent Bates claims that he is qualified to serve on city council based on his business acumen. However, his history of doing business in Kerrville is problematic, at best, and his history of judgments and other litigation against him might be disqualifying in and of itself. However, since he is actively involved in a conflict and litigation with the city regarding a building he has contstructed along Water Street, we cannot consider any of his other qualifications. Someone engaged in a lawsuit against an entity cannot seriously be considered to lead/govern that entity.
The images below show a partial list of Bates as a party to various lawsuits.
Kent McKinney, in constrast, has a rich history of service to the community as well as an excellent reputation in the local business world. His past service on EIC and numerous local nonprofit boards prepares him well for leadership on city council, which controls a budget of roughly $100 million annually. Kent has shown himself to be a steady hand at the till of nonprofits and government bodies.
Kerrville Forward wholeheartedly endorses Kent McKinney for City Council Place 3.
Links
Kerrville man accused of embezzlement | Local News | dailytimes.com
Candidate who is suing Kerrville in federal court enters mayor’s race – The Kerr County Lead
Mayoral candidate Brent Bates fined by jury, says he’ll appeal | News | dailytimes.com
Mayoral candidate found guilty of city code violations | | hccommunityjournal.com