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Amid a standing ovation, the San Antonio City Council confirmed the civil rights activist and mother of the city’s two most recognizable political figures, Maria del Rosario “Rosie” Castro, as the interim council member for District 7 on Thursday morning.
A day after choosing Castro as the lone finalist to temporarily fill Ana Sandoval’s vacated seat, the council voted 10-0 to confirm her to the spot. Castro was immediately sworn in and will finish out the remaining three months of Sandoval’s unexpired term.
“I promise I will be a team-builder and a team person with you. And if we differ, that it will be done in a respectful way,” Castro said during her remarks ahead of the vote.
Castro is not one of the five candidates running in the May 6 election, so a new council member will begin a two-year term beginning in June.
She is the mother of Julian Castro, a former San Antonio mayor and cabinet member of the Obama administration, and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.
Julian Castro joined his mother in council chambers for the vote and told the rest of the city council she is “somebody who has a passion for serving others, somebody who is giving, somebody who is very knowledgeable about all of the things that we do in local government and eager and willing, and has the time and energy to serve the community.”
Joaquin Castro recently underwent surgery to remove cancerous tumors from his gastrointestinal tract and was not present.
Rosie Castro ran unsuccessfully for an at-large city council position in 1971, when she said there was lacking representation for the city’s East, South, and West sides.
Sandoval left the District 7 council seat in late January because of family obligations and financial reasons. Council members receive an annual salary of $45,722.
Rosie Castro has said her priorities would include government transparency, infrastructure, ensuring plans made under Sandoval are continued, and following through on the 2017 and 2022 bond projects.
With the early stages of the city budget process beginning in April, Castro said she planned to get as much input as she could from residents.
David Avila, a site coordinator for a veterans nonprofit; Delia Guajardo, a retired school secretary who has been involved with numerous community groups; and Sean Murphy, an armorer and former county commissioner in Florida, also applied for the seat.