Your Vote Counts 2024: Bryan City Councilmember, Single Member District 5

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Incumbent Marca Ewers-Shurtleff and challenger Patrick Giammalva are vying for the District 5 seat on the Bryan City Council this November.

Ewers-Shurtleff is originally from the Panhandle area but came to the area to attend Texas A&M University.

"While I was at A&M, and even before then, got very interested in policy. So got to work in D.C. and Austin and the House and in the Senate, couldn't get rid of that bug," she said. "After I graduated A&M, I worked in the Department of Agriculture and the Legislative Affairs Division. [I] Really enjoyed that, moved back to my hometown, began farming again, got elected mayor, served that term, went to law school in Houston, worked in the City of Houston's legal, and did some other things with the city. Graduated from there and started a small law firm in Downtown Bryan, and I've been there about 10 years."

During that 10 years, Ewers-Shurtleff has served on the City of Bryan Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Planning and Zoning Commission. She's been a member of city council since 2022.

Patrick Giammalva has campaigned for several city offices in the past, running for mayor in 2019 and for the At Large Place 6 council seat in 2022. He has been outspoken about the city's Midtown Park Development.

"I started out about eight years ago. I bought a house over off of Fairway next to the old golf course, Travis B. Bryan, a municipal golf course. I fixed the house up, remodeled it, and that's what I do. I buy and sell property, fix it up, and sell it. I ended up staying there. I was going to clean up the neighborhood, clean up the lake and clean up the golf course and pick up trash and stuff like that. It was a long process," said Giammalva.

The candidates discussed issues including the city's growth and affordable housing.

Watch both interviews in the player above.