Staff report
This article was compiled with information from Kyle resident Lila Knight
Former Kyle City Council member Crescencio (Cris) Martinez, Sr. died last Tuesday in Kyle. He was 65.
He was one of 14 citizens on the City Charter Commission who helped craft the City Charter of Kyle in 2000, which established the framework for the city, taking it from a General Law City to a Home Rule City.
Other citizens who helped write the city charter were Janet Arsenault, Jean Bales, Bob Barton, Ken Burks, Ray Herrera, Esther Hicks, Debbie Jimenez, J. Pete Krug, Bill Neukam, Dan Ryan, D. J. “Red” Simon, Lon Taylor and Glenn Whitaker.
Martinez was then elected to and served as the District 3 council member from 2001 – 2004. During Martinez’s first year as a council member, Kyle hired Tom Mattis, its first ever city manager.
During his council tenure, Martinez served along with current mayor, then councilman, Todd Webster. Both served during a Kyle boom period, with numerous subdivisions springing up, including Spring Branch, Steeplechase, Prairie on the Creek, the Trails and Plum Creek.
As developments arose, water became an issue. The city eventually placed a moratorium on additional subdivisions until additional sources of water were secured.
Martinez was on the dais when council voted to issue $5.1 million in capital improvement bonds — the first since the construction of the wastewater plant years before. Those bonds helped construct the public swimming pool in Gregg-Clarke Park, the fire station to serve the east side (in case the tracks were blocked by a train), and a new city hall building.
Also during his service, council members attempted to recall Mayor Adkins in the summer of 2003.
“There were many, many hard, contentious votes and it was common for council meetings to last until midnight,” Knight wrote. “Cris was part of a council majority composed of himself, Webster, Lon Taylor, and Troy Bearden. They were fiscal conservatives, responsible with the taxpayers’ money, and asked many hard questions of the new city manager.”
Of the legislation passed, she said, “I can recall ordinances requiring developers to pay into a fund for parkland and our ethics ordinance. They also totally revamped our Subdivision Ordinance (passed in 2003). That was really huge and an incredible accomplishment that took several years. And – we found new sources of water!!!”
Funeral services for Crescencio Martinez, Sr. were held Monday in Austin.
