Bexar County leaders voted Tuesday to post retiring County Manager David Smith’s role by the end of the week — with the application period closing before their next county judge takes office in 2027.
The move was widely been viewed as a way to promote an internal candidate, Deputy County Manager Thomas Guevara, to a position that only Smith has held since it was created in 2011.
It was supported by Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, who lost his primary to former Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Nirenberg faces Republican Patrick Von Dohlen in November, and the winner will be sworn in Jan. 1.
“I don’t support binding a future administration with a process or decision made at the final hour,” Nirenberg said Tuesday. “I also can’t imagine the residents of Bexar County supporting that. The public should be part of the process. That’s not possible if the process is rushed.”
The decision to post the job ahead of time was approved unanimously by county commissioners, and the application period is supposed to close in mid-November.
It’s unclear whether they’ll make a selection before the end of the year.
“The only thing that was decided was that the position will be posted starting this Friday, for 30 days. Nothing else,” Sakai’s spokesman Victor Landa said in a statement.
Decisions before new leadership
With a new generation of county leaders on their way in — Bexar County is electing both a county judge and district attorney next month — this is the second major staffing move that’s ruffled feathers with potential incoming officials.
County commissioners also recently reprogrammed staff and funding from the DA’s office to create their own general counsel, who will report directly to commissioners.
That position was intended to promote a chief lieutenant of retiring District Attorney Joe Gonzales, who could be among many division leaders tossed out by a new administration in the DA’s office.
Gonzales endorsed a successor to fill his role as DA, but that candidate lost to one of Gonzales’ biggest critics, Luz Elena Chapa, in a Democratic primary runoff.
She faces Republican Ashley Foster and independent Jason Wolff on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Chapa and Foster both condemned the change as “a power grab” on the part of county leaders, and Chapa said she’s been discussing possible resolutions with Nirenberg.
The San Antonio City Council made similar moves to strip power from an incoming mayor last year, amending the city code to move their policy proposals without the mayor’s approval.
This year, two longtime Bexar County Commissioners are up for reelection, Commissioner Justin Rodriguez (Pct. 2) and Commissioner Tommy Calvert (Pct. 4).
If both earn another term on Nov. 3, the next county judge would be the court’s lone newcomer.
Calvert, who was first elected in 2014, would be the longest-serving commissioner at 12 years. Commissioner Grant Moody (Pct. 3), who won an unexpired term in 2022, would be the newest, at four years.
The five-member body struggled to gel after longtime Judge Nelson Wolff’s retirement, and repeatedly kicked the can on some major spending decisions they’ll now have to tackle under new leadership.
In one of their last meetings before the Nov. 3 election, commissioners also took the unusual step of approving $40,000 for Sakai and Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores (Pct. 1) to travel to Japan on an economic development trip.
