Appearing together a week out from the Nov. 5 presidential election, four former San Antonio mayors and current Mayor Ron Nirenberg each laid out very different perspectives on the partisan divisions at the state and federal level.
The mayors past and present gathered Tuesday at the Witte Museum for the San Antonio Report’s 2024 CityFest keynote luncheon, moderated by San Antonio Report Editor in Chief Leigh Munsil.
While former mayors Henry Cisneros, Phil Hardberger, Ivy Taylor and Nelson Wolff were eager to share some wisdom about the role with future mayoral contenders in the audience, much of the discussion centered around politics of the day, and the challenge nonpartisan city leaders face dealing with disunity in state and federal politics.
“I thought we were coming here to bask in our accomplishments,” Wolff joked. “Instead you’re asking really hard questions.”
Nirenberg introduced the panel with a heavy emphasis on next Tuesday’s election, describing how his experience as mayor led him from an apolitical start to becoming a campaign surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris in his final year.
“The importance of having a good partner at the highest office can’t be overstated in terms of the impact it has in the local community like ours,” said Nirenberg, who urged the audience to make their voices heard in the Nov. 5 election.
That approach was quickly rebuffed by former Taylor, who served from 2014 to 2017, and said that the city’s nonpartisan leaders should steer clear of partisan politics.
“I just don’t think that we should be talking about our personal opinions about who’s running,” said Taylor, who recently took a new job at UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Government. “I think it’s very important for us to focus on what benefits the local community that we’re in, regardless of what’s happening at the national stage.”
Hardberger said recent elections with former President Donald Trump on the ballot have changed the game for local leaders who in the past were able to stay politically neutral.
“If you have an authoritative figure that is sowing dissention, that is an extremely dangerous situation,” Hardberger said, referring to Trump. ” … In fact, doing nothing is the worst thing you can do right now, because others are doing things.”
Wolff, who has arguably been one of the group’s most outspoken partisans, agreed that politics have changed since his and Hardberger’s political careers began. But he said there’s still much to be accomplished by maintaining working relationships with people you disagree with, pointing to collaboration with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on the Alamo redevelopment as an example.
“It’s been my take that, although I don’t agree with probably 80% to 90% of what some of the Republican leadership has done, you look for that 10% where you can agree, and you try to work toward a consensus to do that,” Wolff said.
2025 mayoral race
San Antonio is about elect a new mayor next year for the first time since 2017, when Nirenberg, who is term-limited from seeking reelection, unseated Taylor.
Several candidates vying for the job were in the audience: Tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4), Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8) and Councilman John Courage (D9).
Wolff said the next mayor of San Antonio needs strong leadership skills to bring the council along with their vision, and that “character” is the quality he looks for in a candidate.
Taylor said she believes San Antonio needs a next mayor who is “focused on inclusivity.”
“Although there has been quite a bit of progress, I still see that personally as an undercurrent where we have a weakness as a city,” she said.
Hardberger, who counts the park named after him in 2010 as one of his proudest accomplishments, said he wants a next mayor who will prioritize conservation.
“I’m looking myself for somebody that wants to have more green space in San Antonio,” said Hardberger. “We’re growing concrete is being poured. Trees are being cut down. We’re out of whack now, and we’re going to get more so.”
Cisneros say the next mayor will have to balance a large number of competing interests, but need to be a “humble” listener who can formulate that feedback into a strategy for the city.
“This is a complicated city with a lot of different factions, and the person needs to listen and hear what people are saying, and then have the ability to translate that… into a framework that people can work from,” he said.
The San Antonio Report’s 2024 CityFest continues Wednesday with an arts and culture-themed happy hour at Elsewhere, then on Thursday with an election-focused politics panel. RSVP to attend.
