Gillespie County is at serious risk and must have a battle-tested leader who will vigilantly and openly protect all residents and their property. I, Esther Schneider, am that leader and have proven my ability by leading the charge against the battery storage facility in Harper and halting the unjustified proposed FY 2026 property tax increase.
Local officials claimed nothing could be done to stop the BESS, but I used 40 years of business, nonprofit and governmental work to rally Harper, explain code violations, raise funds, file suit and win a temporary injunction to stop construction.
I have successfully run an $820 million a year, highly regulated state agency and restored the public trust after a $1 million internal theft. I’m newer to Gillespie, but I am a property owner, Texas Tech grad and continually give back by volunteering and supporting local organizations that make our community stronger and safer.
We can’t afford a judge whose only focus is on 10% of the job duties, while the critical 90% of the daily duties go on auto pilot. This is why Gillespie County has been COUNTER SUED by Peregrine Energy.
Instead of enforcing the codes and ordinances that protect our land, public safety and our families, a dirty, toxic industrial development was given tacit approval by the county engineer to take root next to the Harper K-12 school and the headwaters of the Pedernales.
This litigation is going to cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars and based on the internal emails between Peregrine and county officials, a settlement may cost millions more of our taxpayer dollars.
As the chief budget officer, I will return Gillespie to zero-based budgeting and protect our rainy-day surplus from wasteful spending. We must have an accurate accounting of all assets, not outdated records. Some departments function better than others, but a serious review is required. We must be more accountable to the taxpayer.
Our county will continue to experience significant and potentially ugly growth that can endanger our rural lifestyle and diminish property values. We have a healthy cadre of experts and professionals, utilizing their knowledge.
I am a proven leader who can bring together residents, business owners (retail, hotel, ranching/farming), emergency services and other critical service providers to develop a longterm development plan that strongly protects our water, addresses the growing problem of wildfires, strives to prevent environmental harm and most importantly, protects personal property rights.
