Miguel A. Zuniga for Kyle City Council – District 2 – 2026

Miguel A. Zuniga, PhD

How can voters contact you?

Campaign Email - zunigama30@aol.com
Social Media - Facebook
Phone - 512-787-3619

 

1. Tell us about your background, including your education, employment, leadership experience, and community involvement relevant to the position.

I grew up and lived in Kyle most of my life, I attended Hays CISD and graduated from Texas State completed a BS in Chemistry, followed by Virginia Commonwealth University where I earned my professional Doctorate in Organic Chemistry.  After that I completed Postdoctoral studies at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Radiological Sciences.

I use my skills to develop biomarker tests, biomaterials, signaling compounds, medical formulations for Private labs. Before this I worked for biotech startups and pharmaceutical private laboratories. As a first generation I worked to create opportunities for myself and mentored younger minorities in the sciences.  Being a scientist is natural for me because I can contribute to society and create jobs both inside and outside the laboratory. 

In the Kyle community, I have been active on PTA boards, city boards, nonprofits, school booster clubs, Citizens Police Academy, and active in Waterleaf as HOA supporter. I have previous council leadership experience and connections with project managers, transportation agencies, and county officials. I will use my partnerships to support Kyles infrastructure and long-term planning for job growth for Kyle. I was fortunate to serve on council with talented transportation and water directors where we planned 8 major roads and pipelines for ARWA water and wastewater. 

I have knowledge of city budgets, financing, 360 agreements, incentives, Public Private Partnerships, PIDS and TIRZ financing along with development agreements. In summary, my leadership style is hands on, cooperating with staff and elected officials to solve problems that directly affect communities, problems such as affordable housing, water storage and quality, reducing commuting outside of Kyle, keeping our tax dollars in Kyle, attracting employers to Kyle, and managing our growth without burdening taxpayers.

 

2. Imagine it’s 2030—you are wrapping up your three-year term as mayor/city council member. You feel you successfully achieved your priorities. What does Kyle look like? What has changed? What has stayed the same?

Kyle would be a prosperous city with high-paying skilled jobs from manufacturing to technology sectors keeping our workforce closer to home and less time on roadways. Kyle would also be green city with sustainable resources and walkability and connectivity throughout the city. There would be libraries, theatres, culture, art, and access to essential health care and resources for underserved areas.  

Our downtown would be thriving with small businesses and a place for families to celebrate our history and to focus on spending time together. Kyle would also have a VYBE trail system safe for pedestrians and bikers that everyone could use to walk their pets, or push baby strollers, and get to work.  Our baseball and soccer fields would have perfect grass to enjoy long after arriving home from work. 

Kyle would have a 20,000 sq ft indoor recreation center for people to exercise and enjoy playing indoor basketball, racquetball, and lift weights to stay healthy. What remains the same would be the feeling of strong towns, stronger communities, stronger schools. Kyle would have east west connectivity resulting in time better spent living a richer and fuller life and leaving the next generation better than when we started. 

 

3. The City of Kyle went into 2026 with a $14 million budget deficit. What is your budgeting mindset when it comes to city finances?

Last year’s shortfall was due to intense tariff-driven material costs, record inflation, and a temporary national economic slowdown.  Unfortunately, the current council’s reaction to cut essential staff, and abruptly halting vital road projects is incredibly short-sighted. Delaying infrastructure only makes it more expensive to build later, and losing our skilled workforce means future projects will suffer from higher outsourcing costs.

From my perspective, housing, retail, traffic, and taxes, are one growth problem. If we build thousands of homes without enough nearby jobs, people will commute. If we build neighborhoods without nearby retail, people drive somewhere else to spend money. And if we do not diversify our commercial tax base, homeowners shoulder more of the cost of providing city services.  

Kyle is going to grow. That’s why our goal should be to build a city where more people can afford to live, work, shop, eat and spend their time without having to leave town to do it. That is how you build a stronger tax base. That is how you reduce unnecessary trips on already crowded roads. And that’s how you turn a fast-growing city into a complete community. Unfortunately, too much of the current leadership has adopted a philosophy that saying “no” is somehow the same thing as governing.  Kyle needs leadership willing to govern and solve the problem? How do we diversify our tax base? And attract the businesses residents want and build a city that can financially sustain its own growth. This is what I am prepared to do for Kyle.

 

4. Texas law requires local law enforcement to cooperate with federal ICE officers. City government can limit the extent of that cooperation. Please explain where you believe appropriate limits should be.

The city should ensure constitutional rights for both citizens and noncitizens are never violated and demand enforcement is humane and with dignity. There is no reason why escalation resulting in shootings or brutal tactics should come into our city. Federal agents should remove masks and have proper identification on vehicles. Citizens should not fear their government or be arrested for merely asking questions and looking out for the safety of community members. We need local control of devices that cause severe harm. Devices such as chemical irritants should not be used on children, electric shock gloves, and lethal choke holds should be banned from use in our city. 

Kyle needs a body cam and video policy requiring all video to be released within 24 hours following any death or shooting. And someone should be contacted immediately to ensure kids or pets are not left at home unattended. It is one thing to enforce immigration laws, but it is completely another to violate anyone’s civil rights and judicial process. We have seen cases of American citizens deported this should not happen in Kyle. While the city requires local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE, city leaders must be willing to demand transparency and accountability as to how ICE operates in Kyle and who has been arrested by ICE.

 

5. Do you support the use of surveillance cameras like Flock in your city? Why or why not?

My position has changed on Flock surveillance given recent cases where surveillance was used to monitor or cause harm to people by those with access to the data. With fundamental questions about who is selling and profiting from Flock and undisclosed fees used to pay for these cameras. Some cities have ended contracts with Flock because there is not enough trust in the data centers keeping the information confidential and from being shared with third parties. 

Flock has created pilot programs to work with ICE and other federal agencies and then later stated that it wasn’t sharing information, this raises questions about how reliable the safeguards really are.  When I speak with residents about FLOCK, they voice concerns about safety and privacy and uncomfortable knowing their tax dollars are spent on mass surveillance.  Some have concerns that families, friends, and neighbors could potentially be searched by ICE with local police cooperation. Residents don’t want our city to participate with Flock because of chaos in other cities from ICE deportations. I’ve listened to them and am no data centers and get the Flock out!

 

6. How will you ensure that underserved areas and populations receive the services they need?

Underserved areas need the strongest political voices because they have the greatest needs. When I speak with residents in District 2 about the disparity and poor amenities from lack of a grocery store to indoor facilities and poor roadways they are not surprised. Too many of the conversations begin with, we know we live on the east side, and the city and council only focus on the west of Kyle. 

Even though folks understand bonds help pay for roadways, they express a lack of trust in our city leadership for prioritizing their needs. Many have lived through experiences where they approve bonds, but the dollars do not reach the areas that need them the most.  Because I live and share my life in these communities it is essential for me to fight for services for underserved districts.  These residents deserve the same opportunity to have safe roads, local retail, and proper infrastructure. If elected I will make sure District 2 residents’ voices are heard because they can’t afford to be left behind again.

 

7. Kyle City Council recently approved a series of forensic audits. Kyle already performs annual audits to ensure council and staff are following all applicable rules. Do you support conducting these additional forensic audits?

I support transparency but not investigations that lack merit or evidence. Forensic audits related to bribes or illegal crime should be investigated but investigating hearsay is not an effective use of time or legal resources. Previous council expenses were budget items and any items outside of protocol required reimbursement.  This is not to say there are no areas for improvement such as financial disclosures, outside consulting, and statements swearing no conflict of interest.

Annual audits are a tool to see what budget expenses are made and ensure the budget is balanced at end of year.  However, debt can be placed in future years or paid out into different accounts or enterprise funds that are separate in accounting. And as we became aware last year’s shortfall isn’t something the annual audit would have revealed in real time.  One of the largest areas where tax dollars are spent is to vendor contracts to third parties and consultants. That is why having experience matters on council to help navigate economic slowdowns, so you don’t end up spending more money redesigning projects.

 

8. Do you support a City of Kyle Pride Celebration?

Yes, because the Pride community has embraced diversity and inclusion and promotes a feeling of acceptance of love and community. Those are great ideals that we need in our society, we need to be more compassionate with understanding for each other.  Pride events help combat stigma and discrimination by advocating equal rights and celebrating being proud of their history, contributions, and identities. 

Life is hard enough with work, family, and school so the last thing we need in our community is more hate, anger, and division. As a member of a minority, I support Pride events because they challenge societal exclusion and prejudice so when we unite, we are not just celebrating our freedom we are also empowering others by showing resilience and solidarity in the face of adversity and in the spirit of humanity.