a fast growing fast moving
community with something new
happening almost every day.
That's why each week I go right
to the door with one of the
newsmakers who is driving this
train should.
Joining us.
Join us for the conversation a
lively discussion with the
reporters and community leaders
about the issues that matter.
Joining us now as we go to the
record and now Jim Forsyth
allowing them to record an
unrehearsed discussion of the
significant events and
challenges facing us here in San
Antonio and south Texas.
We are fortunate to be joined
today by San Antonio Mayor Ron
Nierenberg.
Mayor welcome to ON THE RECORD.
Good to be with you.
Mayor the city is facing what I
have heard from business groups
from political groups from
neighborhood associations as
being a genuine existential
threat to the city we live in
and that is what happened last
week at City Hall and that was
the certification of the three
petition signature initiatives
gathered by the firefighters
union.
That will be on the ballot in
November.
What is it about these
initiatives that bothers you so
much.
Well it's not just me it's
because the whole community
citizens from around the city
have recognized the threat of
these which would end our whole
democratic system of governance
and that has devastating effects
on the way people are
represented would create
political gridlock on simple
things like creating a city
budget it paves your streets and
takes care of your parks.
But more than that we've gotten
objective economic impact
analysis and warnings from our
rating agencies that the mere
passage of these charter
proposals put forward by a fire
union would impact taxpayers to
the point where we're spending
hundreds of millions of dollars
on interest payments because our
ratings go down because of the
uncertainty it creates.
These are devastating for the
future of the city.
It creates divisiveness and
political gridlock at a time
when we need collective action
on bold ideas to move our city
forward.
Now you told the Hispanic
Chamber last week that you are
quote 100 percent certain that
these will be defeated by the
citizens in November.
Now I'm hearing a lot of
populist rhetoric out there
about how City Hall doesn't
listen.
It's time for payback.
They need to start listening to
us.
How do the arguments you just
made overcome.
What in politics recently have
turned out to be very very
powerful populist arguments.
Because this is a city of
teamwork.
It's a city where people work
together to find common ground
amidst our great diversity which
is a strength of our city.
This is a city that's 300 years
old and throughout our our
heritage we have learned to work
together.
And I know and I have seen when
people become informed about
these petitions which were only
signed by about 20000 people
they they know that these will
have devastating impacts and
they believe the truth.
They believe the facts and
they're not persuaded by
petition peddlers who are trying
to upend the system of
governance that we've had for
for decades to suit their own
private self-interest.
Now you mentioned petition
peddlers and that's an
interesting phrase considering
that City Hall in the last month
have had to deal with two
separate petitions this group of
three petitions plus the
petition asking the city to
approve mandatory sick leave for
private employees.
Even though that seems like it
is certain to be thrown out
either in the courts or by the
legislature.
These are two issues that were
foisted on it largely by out of
town petition forums.
What impact might that have on
the city moving forward.
And what's your feeling about
maybe ways to end this petition
madness.
So I would disagree with one of
those things the petitions that
came forward through basically a
proposal were actually generated
from citizens here in the city
and there was about 140000 of
them that signed the petition.
The petition drive that we know
that the charter proposals were
performed by the fire union were
done by hired guns from out of
town in Butte.
In fact it's likely what I'm
hearing illegally hired from
Butere to do this.
And those were about 20000 for
each of those proposals.
So the way we go about
governance in the city of San
Antonio in our American
democracy is that we elect
leaders to find to find
compromise between all the
different opinions that are in
our community and that's what
San Antonio has done so well
during our history.
And so the threat of these
charter proposals driven by the
fire and union that wants to
leverage themselves against
taxpayers is that it's trying to
change the rules of the road to
make it easier for them to get
their ways and to hold leverage
over the taxpayers by lowering
lowering the threshold for
petitions and making these
situations more commonplace the
kind of California style
referendum process that drives
governance there and that
creates gridlock is what they
want to bring to San Antonio and
that's wrong.
One of the things that has been
your recent priority.
Everybody knows that housing is
an issue in San Antonio whether
you see your property tax bill
are your property appraisal.
Whether you live in an area
where you being gentrified out
of the community even in the
larger number of homeless we see
on the streets.
Talk a little bit about your
long term housing initiative and
how that might affect people
across all strata of this of the
community.
Someone's home whether they
rented or they own it is the
basic building block of a strong
economy.
And right now in San Antonio we
are facing what has become a
crisis in other cities.
We're starting to see trends in
that direction where the average
San Antonio can no longer afford
the average home here in the
last decade.
Homeownership rates have dropped
dramatically while eviction
rates within the last seven
years are up double.
So housing affordability is
becoming an issue.
And it is largely a result of a
supply demand imbalance.
Some of that has to do with red
tape and the difficulty it is to
develop affordable homes.
And I'm not talking about
subsidized homes I'm talking
about homes that people can
afford.
And so I developed I appointed a
task force with different
experts and involved hundreds of
experts and city citizens from
around the city and they have
put together a report that
addresses these issues in a
comprehensive way and helps us
to create a sustainable housing
market an affordable housing
market so that more families can
enjoy living under a roof and
being able to afford it and
being able to therefore afford
their home and participate in
the local economy by buy food
for their family buy medicine
for their children so they're
not so cost burden here in the
city of San Antonio.
Our participation as a
government is very minimal
concerning the fact that we have
a 2.8 billion dollar budget in
this million and a half people
to serve a million and a half
people.
The budget for housing is seven
million dollars additional in
the general fund.
So it's a very minimal amount
but the housing report indicates
that those funds can help can
help spur the market to be more
affordable to be more
sustainable and to be healthier.
Whether you're a homeowner or
renter a housing developer it
all is much more healthy for us
and help and helps us to
maintain a healthier economy.
Now the 7 million will come from
the city budget and it will
presumably be added to by
federal money by funding by the
rappers.
The total budget is 35 million
out of again a 2.8 billion
dollar budget.
In comparison we spend 700
million dollars on public safety
services so that you can get a
sense of the priority and scale.
But yes most of the funds come
through grants and federal
funding.
It's a very small portion comes
directly from the city of San
Antonio.
Something else probably right up
there with housing is
transportation and you and the
judge Wolf have indicated plans
to put before the voters in 2019
could act as say a wide ranging
transportation proposal.
Where do we stand with that now
and what can you tell us about
what that proposal will and will
not include.
Yeah it's a comprehensive
transportation plan for the city
of San Antonio and it's moving
forward quite well as you know
we have a tri chair organization
that includes hope Andrada Henry
Cisneros and Jane Macon they're
putting together the board and
also generating the community
input that we need to move
forward on a comprehensive
transportation plan.
The truth of the matter is we
need to have options here in San
Antonio.
We don't currently your commute
time has increased dramatically
I'm sure your weight and
congestion has.
So we need more options just
besides the roads that we have.
So the plan itself is helping us
to indicate where we need more
capacity on our roads.
But also where we need new
options like mass transit and so
over the next eight to 12 months
their work will be underway and
we will have a ballot initiative
likely in 2019 for citizens to
vote on a better transportation
future for the city.
You've talked about trackless
trains.
What is that.
And how would that work.
Well trackless trains are you
know basically mass transit
vehicles are simply a vehicle
that can move many people on its
own dedicated right of way
whether that's a track or an A
train or it's a bus or something
else.
That is the key to having mass
transit you need to be able to
move a high number of people on
its own dedicated right away.
Tracklist options are becoming
the most attractive option for
cities like ours because they're
cheaper they're more flexible
they can be scaled up for
ridership demand and they
function just like a train
except in a city like ours which
is developing rapidly.
When you put a line dedicated
right away for a trackless
vehicle it may not necessarily
have to be there in 100 years.
It can move because the tracks
aren't laid into the cement.
It's a much more flexible
option.
It is adaptable to the
technology it is here today and
and it's much more cost
efficient it allows us to allows
us to develop and implement a
mass transit system and a mass
transportation system much more
effectively for a city our size
which doesn't have current
currently any options.
Now something else is happening
next year as you know is that
San Antonio Missions a baseball
team has indicated that they
want to move up to Tripoli.
And they want a new stadium.
We haven't heard much about that
for a while.
Where do things stand as far as
a new baseball stadium.
Well I'm anxious to hear their
plans.
I know they're developing some
options.
And you know as I've stated
before the center the city of
San Antonio.
Our community loves the
missions.
It's one of the it is the oldest
professional sports franchise in
the city.
It's a very storied minor league
baseball team.
That being said the development
of a new stadium depends on
their action.
I do not support taxpayer
dollars being used for downtown
minor league stadium which has
been the conversation for a
couple of years now.
I believe they are as keen on
their future in play as we've
heard and they're focused on it
and everyone that I've talked to
and the media outside indicate
that San Antonio continues to be
one of the most attractive
places for the expansion of
professional sports.
So I expect the missions to make
their transition make it well
but the development of the
stadium proposal.
You know we're waiting and
seeing what they have to to put
forward.
You're now in the second year of
what we assume will be your
first term.
That's a story for another day.
What is it you're most proud of
so far.
What do you look back on the
last 14 months as mayor of San
Antonio the seventh largest city
in the country and say I'm glad
my name's on that because that's
pretty special.
You know I'm proud of the fact
that for the first time in our
city's history we've taken a
deep look at the community that
we are and we have decided that
we're going to allocate
resources in a way that allows
for us to keep our promises that
it shouldn't matter where you
are in the city what part of
town you live in what zip code
you have in use and have great
services and great
infrastructure from your city
used to have an opportunity to
thrive and to succeed in the
city of San Antonio.
We are using equity as a guide
to allocate our resources here
so that the child that's born on
the east side or the west side
or the north side or the south
side will have an equal
opportunity to succeed in the
city.
That is something that takes
teamwork political fortitude and
I'm glad that we have citizens
who support leaders that do
that.
And that's what we have here in
the city of San Antonio Mayor
Ron.
Thank you for joining us on the
record.
And stick around with us.
Next up is the conversation.
And welcome back to the
conversation.
Let me introduce our all star
panel for today starting out
with Brian Chazov metro
columnist for The San Antonio
Express News and Northwest Side
San Antonio City Councilman
Manny Elias.
Thank you both for joining us
and welcome to the conversation.
Thank you.
Councilman if we can start with
you.
You have raised a very very
important issue just recently
about some clear cutting of
forest lands by developers in
your district and just outside
your district at Bear County.
Right.
What are the issues that are
brought up by this and why is
this important in your opinion.
So let's be clear.
It's about 40 acres of beautiful
pristine land thousands of trees
a really important asset as far
as views and tree canopy goes.
And it's not developers it's a
developer who is not a San
Antonio developer who decided
that just a good idea.
You know drop a bomb and shave
off every tree on this hill.
But he did so with what appears
to be now you know using
documents that contain false
information.
He raised his right hand in
front of a notary and certified
that a lot of the information in
the documents he submitted in
order to get the permits to do
what he did he swore that they
were true and we've been looking
at and it looks like they
weren't.
And so I've got some very
serious concerns about of course
the trees and of course what it
means to endangered species and
all that but also what it means
to the military but also just
from a process point of view and
from a fairness and rule of law
point of view you know we ask
people to raise their right hand
and take an oath before signing
very important documents for a
reason because it's important.
And you know if you or I or you
were to file a false document
we'd be facing possibly third
degree felony charges which
include jail and fines.
And I'm asking for a very
thorough investigation by the
law enforcement agencies.
As you know it's long been
claimed the developer has
essentially run the city and to
have their way with many
neighborhoods because
development is obviously
something that members of city
council the leaders of the city
want to have happen in their
communities and across the city.
What tools does the city have to
deal with situations like this
and can this be settled without
a long protracted court fight.
I'll tell you that the
overwhelming majority of all the
developers in San Antonio live
in San Antonio.
And they've got a stake in San
Antonio doing well and I have
yet to come across one that has
done anything as egregious as
what has happened here.
Maybe it's a product of this
fella not living in San Antonio
or not caring.
But what we've got in place in
San Antonio is a very robust
system run by our Office of
Development Services where we do
code enforcement.
We do restrictions on the number
of trees you can cut down.
We do you know mitigate we
require mitigation for drainage
and we require them to really
think about the impact that they
have on traffic and on foot
traffic and transportation and
so the air quality we've got in
place a lot of restrictions.
I will tell you our friends in
the development community think
that there's too many of them.
There's friends on the other
side of the table who think
there's not enough but we do
work with them on a daily basis
to enforce these rules and make
sure that they're doing
development in a responsible way
with this gentleman did violates
the spirit of everything that
we're trying to accomplish at
the city which is trying to
create vibrant communities.
And that still respects our
natural assets.
Now what did this fellow do or
did he just show up with the
bulldozer at 2:00 a.m. and start
knocking down trees or did he
have as you put it falsely
worded official documentation
that allowed him to do this.
Well we started getting phone
calls at around the same time
just last up started getting Mr.
Chesnoff colleague Mr. Tedesco.
We're getting phone calls and
which is my gosh they're out
here chopping trees and then the
next morning we woke up and all
the trees were gone.
It was really really alarming.
What I've been saying and I'll
say it again to be absolutely
clear is that all signs are
pointing to there being a
violation of civil or criminal
law here.
And all I'm asking for is an
investigation either on the part
of our D.A. or the A.G. or U.S.
Fish and Wildlife.
And if there is a determination
that these laws were broken will
there be consequences.
I would expect someone you know
that law enforcement side to
think that that's a reasonable
request and sure we'll open an
investigation.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife has
indicated that they will in fact
investigate and he wants to put
an up apartment complex.
Yeah it would be 500 plus
apartment units and you know
people have objections about you
know apartments and all that.
But I think it's important to
have a conversation with all of
San Antonio about it's not just
about apartments and it's not
just about chopping down trees
and it's not just about
protecting wildlife right.
Like the golden warbler.
This is a really important point
that I think is being missed.
This is a jobs and economic
development.
Bad mark on our record.
You know the military talks to
us often in the city council we
need you guys to make sure that
encroachment around our military
bases is slowed down and it's
not just encroachment on
buildings and people.
They're very worried that every
single time we chop down a tree
and remove habitat for the
golden Sheik orbit for example
that warbler is going to choose
to fly on to Camp Bullis and
higher concentration of
endangered species on Camp
Bullis threatens the viability
of those missions and we depend
on those jobs.
And so we do everything we can
to defend the military's ability
to continue those missions and
the least we can do is hold
developers feet to the fire when
they break very simple rules
which is how about you tell the
truth on documents Bryan if I
could turn to you.
You have done outstanding
journalism on some dysfunction
in the Bear County Democratic
and Republican parties that have
both been really eye opening
pieces.
Could you start out with the
Republican Party which seems to
have its own unique share of
challenges as we head into the
November election.
Sure yeah it's internal war.
Basically you have a faction a
large faction in the Republican
Party who are very upset with
the new chair.
Cynthia brand and the reason for
this is that her husband who
she's been married to for 22
years some time ago couple of
decades ago he was prosecuted by
the army for some heinous crimes
that include acquitted indecency
with a child and we've since
learned molestation of children
in this case his own relatives
from a very young age.
And this all has kind of
dribbled out over time.
One reason why this faction in
the Republican Party of precinct
chairs are very upset with the
chair is that the chair Cynthia
Barron has not been was not
forthcoming about the extent of
the situation.
She tried to downplay it at
first she she only gave as much
information as she needed to
based on this plea deal that her
husband was given by the army
extremely lenient Predeal
considering that he had fully
confessed.
We've since learned to these
heinous crimes.
And so you have major
dysfunction in the Republican
Party because of this dynamic
and obviously the chief job of
the party chair is to raise
money.
I assume that this is not
helping the Republican Party
raise money moving into
November.
Oh no.
And if you can't even agree on
her position there's that
there's a majority of Precinct
Chairs who think that she should
resign.
They can't force her to resign.
She has to step down on her own.
But yeah it makes organization
virtually impossible.
Now the Democratic Party is on a
roll of Bear County obviously.
Ten years ago we had a
Republican district attorney we
had a Republican sheriff.
Now all three top countywide
offices are held by Democrats.
So should we think Manuel Medina
for that.
What is the situation in the
Democratic Party obviously
that's been happening a lot of
Republicans have been having
good luck in the race in
statewide races.
What is happening in the
Democratic Party and how does
that affect their ability to
continue that streak.
Well I mentioned manman Medina
because he was the previous
chair of the Democratic Party.
He was defeated soundly by
Monica Alcantara in this last
primary.
She is new.
And what we've learned since
she's taken office is that there
are there is a large faction of
Democrats who don't want her
there who are extremely loyal to
them well and they're causing a
lot of trouble for Monica.
They are showing up to meetings
and introducing resolutions that
weren't on the agenda for
example at this past meeting
day.
They introduced a resolution to
support the fire unions charter
amendments and something that
Monica disagrees with as chair.
But they're much like the
Republican Party.
There is a majority of precinct
chairs who are able to overrule
the new chair of the Democratic
Party but they can't remove the
chairs.
How does that work.
That's a good question.
From what my understanding is
you cannot you can't just vote
to remove the chair if she has
to step down.
Wow.
Ok.
It seems though that the
problems facing the Democrats
are a lot less serious than the
problems facing the Republicans
from what you've explained it to
us in a way I mean when you
think about the actual
allegations that that Cynthia's
husband has faced.
Yes I mean not much more serious
than that these allegations.
Yes.
He's currently in Afghanistan I
believe working as a contractor.
So he's not even here in the
United States.
But again people feel that
because of the bad judgment that
has been demonstrated by Cynthia
in choosing to remain with her
husband who has been accused and
who has confessed to these
crimes in addition to her just a
lack of just a lack of trust in
her for not being fully
forthcoming in the extent of
this scandal just to make it
clear she herself is not facing
any charges.
Her concerns are now that she
has chosen to remain with a
husband who has definitely been
found guilty or has pled guilty
to I think some people.
Some people are given pause by
the moral dimensions of that.
Yes but I think an overriding
issue is simply she was not
honest and in her and how she
chose to explain the situation
to two fellow Republicans when
this started when this news
first broke.
And again when it first broke
the full extent of it was not
clear and she tried to downplay
it and she tried to hide the
truth.
Wow.
Councilman if I could turn back
to you.
You have a unique perspective on
the whole mandatory paid sick
leave issue that is now broiling
at city hall.
You're an attorney and one of
your practices I understand is
in wage and hour law.
That's what I do.
So what is your summation as to
this measure that was approved
by the City Council last week to
mandate private employers pay
sick leave to their full time
employees.
What are the chances that this
will survive scrutiny.
So for those that don't remember
you know we've got 140000
signatures attached to a
petition with a proposed
ordinance that ordinance very
detailed would apply to every
single employer in San Antonio
obligating employers to pay
mandatory paid sick leave and
that that would be enforced by
the city.
I expressed very serious
concerns whether you believe in
paid sick leave or not mandatory
municipal paid sick leave seems
to be preempted by state state
ordinance I'm sorry state
statute and the Constitution.
I raised that concern when we
were at city council and was
like Look I would love to live
in a world where everybody has
paid sick leave but the vehicle
by which we were trying to get
there which is a municipal
ordinance doesn't seem to be
enforceable.
Take my word for it.
I do this for a living.
And this week the third quarter
of Appeals seems to have been
affirming exactly seems to have
affirmed exactly what I'm
warning and that is that state
law preempts us from doing this
now.
What does this mean.
We're going to keep our eyes on
this.
You know the San Antonio
ordinance doesn't really kick in
until August 2019 when that's
when you know employers have to
start paying but I will tell you
if I had to bet money on it I'd
bet that either somebody will
file suit sometime in the next
few weeks here in San Antonio
seeking a restraining order and
some injunctive relief or let
you know before that happens the
legislature will end up getting
this and I believe it's dead on
arrival in Aust.
Is far from the end of this
story.
Sure the city councilman Manny
Elias San Antonio Express News
metro columnist Brian Chesnoff
fascinating discussion and join
us again next time for on the
record.