With less than three months remaining before the city election, San Antonio’s three major mayoral candidates began defining their positions on a host of local issues, with distinct differences emerging.
Mayor Ivy Taylor, District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg, and Bexar County Democratic Chairman Manuel Medina took the stage at the Pearl Stable Tuesday night for a town hall-style forum organized by the Rivard Report.
After the candidates made brief opening statements, Rivard Report Director Robert Rivard invited members of civic groups to ask questions about issues ranging from transportation to police-community relations to support of Pre-K 4SA to how the candidates will work with – or in spite of – the Trump administration.
Several questions dealt with the community’s growing frustration over transportation challenges: sprawl and congestion, the lack of light rail, poor pedestrian and cycling options, worsening air quality from vehicle traffic, and limited nonstop flight choices. While Taylor defended her record on planning for the future and touted the comprehensive SA Tomorrow plan, Nirenberg said the plan needs strong action behind it.
“SA Tomorrow clearly outlines [solutions], but this is why we need leadership to provide the vision for San Antonio,” he said. “Not to just have a plan on paper, but to actually implement it with vision.”
Medina accused SA Tomorrow and his opponents of leaving behind the city’s current residents, especially senior citizens, in favor of those estimated 1 million moving here over the next two decades.
“If [SA Tomorrow] was so great, how is it that the person in charge of writing it [Nirenberg] is running against the person that’s touting it [Taylor]?” he asked.
Mayor Taylor initiated the planning process in 2014 after she was appointed mayor by City Council. Public engagement, which officially launched in April 2015, formulated much of the plan. Nirenberg was not SA Tomorrow’s author, but he was a tri-chair of the committee that produced it.
“Many of our inner-city neighborhoods have been wanting to see new housing and access to jobs and retail amenities that have been lacking for many years, it’s just that we have to be sensitive in how we go about it,” Taylor said in response to a question about growth and development around the Spanish-colonial Missions.
The most loudly applauded questions came towards the end of the evening from Ashley Smith, an architect, parent, and transgender woman, and from Sakib Shaikh of the Muslim Children Education and Civic Center.
Smith asked the candidates about their view of the State Senate’s proposed “bathroom bill,” which would make it illegal for transgender people to use restrooms that match their gender identity. The conversation soon turned to the non-discrimination ordinance (NDO) that adds protections for sexual orientation and gender identity to San Antonio’s city code. It passed with an 8-3 vote in 2013.
“It is true, the Council member [Nirenberg] voted for the NDO, but we had to twist his arm and almost had to break it off for him to do that,” Medina said. “That’s a fact.”
“That’s an alternative fact,” someone from the crowd yelled, using a term coined by an advisor to President Donald Trump that has essentially become synonymous with a lie.
Nirenberg has long supported the rights of the LGBTQIA community. Back in 2013, he initially held off on telling media how he would vote on the NDO because he wanted to encourage dialogue between both sides.
“The Council member talks a good game, and at the end of the day, he might vote with us. But we’re going to have to twist his arm and sometimes we’re going to have to break it off,” Medina continued.
The full video of the town hall, sponsored by the Pearl, is available on our Facebook page here and can be viewed below. (We apologize for some technical difficulties in the beginning – skip to 10:30.)
In the wake of President Trump’s rapid-fire executive orders, national politics have played a larger-than-usual role in the local, election that is ostensibly nonpartisan. All candidates have committed to keeping partisan politics out of the race, but whether that’s possible remains to be seen.
Taylor, who was the District 2 Councilwoman in 2013, voted against the NDO.
“San Antonio certainly is a welcoming, diverse, and compassionate city, and I will do everything in my power … to maintain that reputation,” she said in response to Smith’s question. “We embrace every person in San Antonio regardless of their religious, ethnic, or whatever affiliation, and certainly I am not in favor of any actions or policies that would … discriminate against any particular member of our community.”
Taylor did not use the terms “sexual orientation” or “gender identity,” something that did not go unnoticed by audience members or those following the discussion on social media.
#satownhall2017 I’m a “whatever” inside. In my heart.
— Bill B (@ProfBillB) February 8, 2017
Taylor said she opposes the Senate Bill 6.
“It’s needless,” she said. “It would be very difficult to actually implement. I don’t believe there’s going to be a budget for bathroom monitors or folks checking birth certificates.”
She added that she wasn’t aware of any data that suggests there is a widespread problem with transgender individuals using the bathroom they feel matches their sexual identity.
“This is a solution in search of a problem,” Nirenberg agreed. “The last thing San Antonio needs is another unenforceable dictate coming down from the city of Austin.”
In an earlier question, Shaikh asked the candidates their opinions on the Trump administration’s efforts to halt immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.
“What do you plan to do, if anything, to protect your Muslim-American San Antonians?”
“We are a nation of immigrants. We’re also a city of immigrants, and until we recognize that that is the fabric of our community, we’re going to continue to spin our wheels on this,” Nirenberg said.
Medina told the crowd that his staff is already working on immigration issues, including moves by the state legislature to withhold funding from so-called “sanctuary cities.”
“[We are a] city that recognizes that 99.9% of people, immigrants, are good people,” he said. “And we need to protect them so that they can maintain and strengthen our local economy and raise their kids here in our city. The .001% of immigrants that are committing crimes, deport them.”
Medina took a strong stance against several projects included in the 2017 Municipal Bond, which will also go before voters on May 6. Taylor and Nirenberg touted the $850 million package, which was unanimously approved by City Council, as a good balance between badly needed infrastructure and transformative, citywide projects.
Medina characterized the bond as “maxing out our city’s credit card.”
The bond will become general obligation bond debt. The City has borrowed approximately 15% of its tax ceiling of $10.5 billion, well within a comfortable range. Taylor cited population and tax growth, the City’s strong fiscal management, and its Triple-A bond rating to justify the size of the bond, arguing that San Antonio can afford and complete the bond.
“Our previous bond programs have all been delivered on time and on budget as we expect this one will as well,” Taylor said. “And again, it touches, without a property tax rate increase, every single part of our community in a significant way.”
Medina has never held an elected government office, which he touts as an advantage. He called his opponents “establishment politicians backed by powerful special interests … and they both emanate from the corrupt political structure that we have at City Hall today.”
“I find it highly ironic that a party boss is talking to us about the establishment,” Nirenberg responded.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the City’s online campaign finance reporting system showed that Taylor had raised $447,378 for her re-election campaign. Out of 970 total contributions, dozens have come in at the maximum $1,000 level.
Meanwhile, Nirenberg has raised $258,065 from 823 contributions so far. As of Tuesday afternoon.*
Medina’s 536 contributions have almost entirely come in below the $15 mark. His wife, Janeth Soto Ayoub, has made the only $1,000 donation to his campaign thus far. Medina told reporters last month that he will be using $250,000 of his own money to fund his campaign.
A total of nine citizens registered as mayoral candidates. The deadline to file is Friday, Feb. 17, at 5 p.m.
Antonio “Tony” Diaz, who listed his occupation as a “self-employed independent contractor” when he filed to be on the May ballot, briefly interrupted the discussion Tuesday night. He is an advocate for indigenous rights. As the election season evolves and unfolds, the Rivard Report will likely reach out to other viable candidates and organize another forum.
Medina’s comments opposing the 2017 bond issue have lost him my vote. I understand that he has to distinguish himself from his opponents somehow, but coming out against these critical investments in San Antonio’s future are short sighted. The platform that he is running on, in which he claims to be for the under-served citizens of SA, is exactly the kind of thinking that got us into the infrastructure hole we find ourselves in. Previous administrations have not invested in things like sidewalks and street repairs and we are paying the price for it now.
San Antonio needs a strong progressive leader, but unfortunately Manuel Medina is not that leader.
Manuel is the candidate who stands apart from the other two, San Antonio will, no doubt, get a lot of the same if Ivy or Ron are elected. How can anyone in the city deny that the current mayor and council have done ANYTHING about crime? How can they warrant a bond package that favors a multi-million dollar land bridge while other city parks go without lighting? Legacy projects in public spaces with living elected officials names on them should not be funded by tax payers! I do not trust a sitting mayor or council member to do the job they are supposed to be doing AFTER they get re-elected, what are they doing now?
It’s pretty clear Medina is nothing more than a political hack. He clearly isn’t familiar with what he’s talking about when it comes to city initiatives, planning, growth, etc. He’s in this for his own gain.
I also find it pretty ironic that a guy who claims is running for the “under-served” and the “forgotten” people of the inner-city lives in the Dominion, an exclusive neighborhood reserved for the elite and well to do of San Antonio. At least Mayor Taylor still lives in the heart of the east side, surrounded by the kinds of families that Medina claims to represent…
What’s the point that Taylor lives in the east side if she is not willing to participate and be active in her community such as local marches and rallies. Even worse when Trump was attacking our communities she never bothered to say a single thing in response to Trump! If she really is for the community why wont she support the issues that are important to us. She’s too busy acting self-righteous and pretending to be a conservative Christian woman when she’s just out for herself!
Lee,
They say that; “Ignorance is Bliss…” “Fact Checker!”
FYI: Manuel Medina know much more then most of us about poverty.
He actually imigrated from Mexico to the United States as a boy. He worked his way up from escaping Poverty and corruption, to earned himself a Master Degree in Electronic Engineering.
He is actually living proof that; “The American Dream” is still alive!
Don’t Hate him for his self made success? Congratulate him!
Exodus 20.17 – American King James Version
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his mule, nor any thing that is your neighbor’s.
Just bc someone grew up poor 30 years ago doesn’t mean they have any understanding of the challenges that face the poor TODAY. Yes, he has a cool story that I’m glad you shared, and it probably has shaped who he is today, but that doesn’t make him an expert on the poor TODAY… That’s like me saying I worked as a secretary 30 years ago, so I am the best person to represent secretarial interests today, and also now I’m rich and live in a private enclave for other rich people like me. Running a campaign as the “political outsider” when he’s probably the most politically savvy and cozy over all the candidates COMBINED is pretty ridiculous.
Ron Nirenberg stood out as the only electable candidate on the stage last night. Mayor Taylor appeared unenthusiastic, and unsure of her platform, other than her singular commitment to corporate interests. I was a sympathetic ear when I entered, willing to give her a chance, but Taylor does not have the vision or the passion to lead San Antonio forward. Manuel Medina cemented his reputation as a charlatan and political hack. His performance last night revealed a man who is wholly unprepared to be mayor of this city. By contrast, Ron Nirenberg candidly and unequivocally answered the questions he was asked. Nirenberg showcased an intense optimism about San Antonio’s future, but did not shy away from the work that needs doing. He underscored his staunch opposition to President Trump’s EO banning refugees from seven predominantly Muslim countries. And, he made clear that as Mayor he would provide significant push back against representatives in the state legislature who are pushing Senate Bill 6 which would require bathrooms in schools and government buildings to be reserved for people whose “biological sex” matches the gender referenced in the graphic image on the bathroom door. As impressed as I am with Councilman Nirenberg, I left this particular forum feeling equally if not more unimpressed with our incumbent Mayor Taylor and the not-ready-for prime time candidate, Manuel Medina. I applaud the Rivard Report and Bob Rivard for hosting this forum, and I look forward to actively campaigning on behalf of Mr. Nirenberg
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Manuel Medina showed that he is not afraid to call things by their name and is willing to call out the elected officials to their face. That is what we need, to stop sugar coating things and call things by their name. He is energetic, passionate, smart, articulate and is wanting to stand up against the injustice and inequality that we have in our city. He is not scared to stand up to Trump. I will definitely be supporting and helping Manuel Medina to get elected.
“Taylor did not use the terms “sexual orientation” or “gender identity,” something that did not go unnoticed by audience members or those following the discussion on social media.” Did anyone bring up the fact that that nearly 200 mayors from across the country, including Dallas, Austin and Houston, have joined a coalition named MAYORS AGAINST LGBT DISCRIMINATION – and prominently missing from this list is our own Mayor Ivy R. Taylor of San Antonio?! Here’s the deal – I think it’s wonderful Ivy has a warm and cozy relationship with the church of her CHOICE. But her CHOICE of a religious dogma has absolutely ZERO to do with treating ALL tax-paying citizens EQUALLY UNDER THE LAW – the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution. From an AFRICAN AMERICAN (!?) leader who called our Nondiscrimination Ordinance a “political stunt” it’s obvious she still doesn’t get the impact of her continuing blind and hurtful rebuffing of our GLBT citizens and GLBT rights advocates.
San Antonio needs a Mayor like Medina that will represent all the citizens of San Antonio unlike Ivy and Ron who will only fight for special interest groups. Medina has always rallied for citizen’s rights. Ivy voted against NDO and both Ivy and Ron voted for displacing families at Mission Trails.
Medina really confused me. He campaigned against “establishment” politicians – but he is the definition of an establishment politician. He is an elected leader of a major political party here in San Antonio. His connection to the Democrat Party throws a wrench in the non-partisan nature of the election.
I was also bothered by the fact that he implied anyone note rich enough to fund their own political campaign must be ‘owned’ by special interest. That is the kind of thing only a rich, out of touch, politician would think. Cities should be led by a variety of individuals – including individuals from every level of wealth. Raising money from individuals and companies that agree with your vision of the city doesn’t make you beholden to any special interest. In fact, without these kinds of donations we would only have super rich, out of touch political operatives like Medina running our city.
I am interested in keeping track of the major differences between Ron and Ivy. At this point my choice is between the two.
Ivy Taylor has given the Eastside no attention and even outright denied having rented her properties to SAHA while Mayor. Clearly we cant forget that she had herself Pardon for her 15 motn ethics violation (www.mysanantonio.com/…/Council-gives-Mayor-Taylor-pass-on-ethics-6758949.ph…). Ron who has questioned the wisdom of the Bond neglects to mention he chaired the board. its appears that political alzhiemers has taken hold of the two incumbants. this isnt something new as their history has shown that they’ve forgotten our communities from day one. Medina is the only option that gives San Antonio communities a fighting chance to have a voice at City hall, where are concerns and needs far outway the dollars Ivy and Ron receive to shut us out.
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