The weekly City Council meeting was notable for the way it began and the way it ended, with a relatively light agenda that gave officeholders a rare mid-morning recess.
The meeting began, as it always does, with the Invocation, a few moments of ecumenical prayer. Each Thursday a different Council member is given the privilege of introducing a clergy member from his or her district who then comes to the dais and offers a prayer.
Mayor Ivy Taylor had the privilege Thursday and she introduced Imam Omar Adib Shakir, resident imam of Masjid Bilal Ibn Ra’bah, a Muslim community in San Antonio notable for its embrace of the larger community. I first met the Imam in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Imam Shakir is a native-born American from Ohio, and he is an African-American, one who converted from the Baptist faith to the Muslim faith at the tender age of 14. This is a brave man who knows what he believes.
Imam Shakir is also a full-time prison chaplain with the Texas Department of Corrections. He is warm, soft-spoken, personable and eloquent in prayer. Over the years, I have seen him alongside priests, ministers and rabbis at San Fernando Cathedral, and I have seen him deliver the Invocation at the Blessing of the City Officials at the cathedral’s annual Interfaith Initiative.
As I stood with the others in chambers for Imam Shakir’s prayer to our “Almighty Benefactor,” I couldn’t help but feel pride to live in a city where diversity is in our civic DNA and, even in times of ignorance, hysteria and fear across the land, our Mayor and City Council welcomed a black Muslim man to lead people of all faiths in prayer.
And then there was the end of the unusually short City Council session. Mayor Taylor has a way of saying “There’s one more thing,” which I’ve learned is code for a birthday or anniversary or retirement. Not this time.
Thursday morning, the mayor and her colleagues bid farewell to District 7 Councilmember Mari Aguirre-Rodriguez. It was evident that her colleagues didn’t want to see her go.
“I just want to say on behalf of all citizens how much we appreciate your service,” Mayor Taylor said. “You’re obviously very bright and committed. We wish you luck in whatever the future holds for you…and for your baby.”
That last reference to Aguirre-Rodriguez’s growing pregnancy brought laughs and many tender words.
District 2 Councilmember Keith Toney, also an appointee, joked that while he and Aguirre-Rodriguez were the “two rookies” who came into office on the same day, he outranked her ever so slightly because he finished his oath of office first.
“I will miss you. Hopefully, we’ll see you again at some point,” Toney said.
That seemed code for what many Council members implied in their remarks: Run, Mari, Run.
“I’m sure I’m not just speaking for myself – there’s a tremendous amount of respect for somebody who made such an enormous impact in such a short time,” said District 4 Councilmember Rey Saldaña. “It’s going to be strange not seeing you coming into the office on the fourth floor, because we loved seeing you.”
One by one, other Council members praised Aguirre-Rodriguez: District 3’s Rebecca Viagran, District 5’s Shirley Gonzalez, District 1’s Diego Bernal, District 10’s Mike Gallagher, District 8’s Ron Nirenberg.
“I learned a ton,” Aguirre-Rodriguez said. “The city is incredibly well run by Sheryl (Sculley) and her team … this is a great city.”
Embattled Councilmember Cris Medina returns next week from a 60-day leave to attend military reserve training. If he hoped the landscape would improve in his absence, he was wrong. Two things happened while he was gone:
One, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus revealed to the Express-News that Medina was the subject of a FBI and SAPD investigation into allegations of financial misconduct. That was both a bombshell and confirmation of what everyone around City Hall suspected after a July email sent anonymously to a wide circle alleged a catalog of unethical and probably illegal financial shenanigans by Medina.
Two, people fell in love with the person the temp agency sent to replace Medina. Aguirre-Rodriguez was such a breath of fresh air, people began to think of her as the Council member, not a stand-in. No one wanted her to leave, except Medina and his inner circle.
Medina has told the Express-News he is coming back to pick up where he left off. He certainly enjoys the presumption of innocence. Medina and his constituents would be better served, however, if he would fight to clear his name out of the limelight. His presence on the Council will be awkward and he will be ineffective. His returning staff, who worked overtime to undermine Aguirre-Rodriguez, and then portrayed themselves as victims when she suspended them, will find themselves equally unwelcome.
If Medina & team truly care about the district and their constituents, they will step aside.
Aguirre-Rodriguez, meanwhile, is about as attractive a Council candidate as you can get. She is a mother about to have a baby. She is young, energetic, smart, entrepreneurial, tech-savvy, and focused on the district and its needs. She didn’t spend one minute of her 60 days acting like a caretaker.
A former Racker, her appreciation of technology was particularly welcome on a Council that has been slow to embrace the opportunities technology offers local government to better engage its citizens. San Antonio is still a paper-driven culture.
Aguirre-Rodriguez surely hoped, privately, that Medina would resign his office, and clear the way to let her seek a more permanent opportunity. If it’s any consolation, the warm words of farewell from Mayor Taylor and a Council majority suggest everyone else joined her in that unfulfilled wish.
San Antonio’s City Council has enjoyed a long run of public confidence that goes back to the election of Mayor Phil Hardberger and a new era ushered in with his hiring of City Manager Sheryl Sculley.
That goodwill is now threatened by events surrounding Medina. If for no other reason, I hope Medina is cleared to avoid a return to the days when citizens lacked confidence in elected officials and actually seemed to enjoy not paying them for their work.
Even if Medina is cleared, I hope Aguirre-Rodriguez seeks to unseat him in the May city elections. Medina, of course, has been absent these last 60 days. Were he present with the rest of us, he would have seen firsthand how important and refreshing it is to have a strong Council member representing District 7.
*Featured/top image: Outgoing District 7 Councilmember Mari Aguirre-Rodriguez cuts her farewell (but not goodbye) cake with Mayor Ivy Taylor. Photo by Robert Rivard.
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A well written article that clearly describes what we all know- that true leadership brings people together and Ms. Aguirre-Rodriguez has proven her abilities to lead. Well done
What a disappointing hack job. You’ve been in the bag for her since day one. To say she had a positive impact on the district is woefully ignorant of basic facts. You’re certainly entitled to your own opinion, but to state things as fact that are demonstrably false is irresponsible.
temp agency?
Written in humor because Mari Aguirre-Rodriguez was not Councilman Medina’s choice to stand in for him. Sorry if my humor missed the target. –RR
Nice story.
Looking forward to Cris Medina’s return as he has proven in the past to be a responsive district representative -at least, taking the time (unlike Aguirre-Rodriguez ) to address various unfiltered neighborhood-and district-specific queries, concerns and opinions shared more or less in ‘real time’ a by a range of constituents via neighborhood Facebook groups within the district.
Under Aguirre-Rodriguez’s watch, Woodlawn Lake Pool closed a month earlier than expected and despite apparent (at the Pool and on Facebook) neighborhood interest in maintaining operations through at least the end of October as in previous years (It is 94F in San Antonio currently). Requests from residents for Aguirre-Rodriguez’s assistance or at least an update on the matter of a potentially shortened Pool season posted to Facebook were not responded to and the Pool has been drained (but we now have a new wifi room at Woodlawn Lake Park?).
There has also been apparent confusion and frustration expressed within neighborhood Facebook groups in recent weeks about the steps that can be taken to address district-wide issues including a perceived spike in property crime (break-ins), speeding in residential areas, and completing the sidewalk improvements, construction and other ‘priority’ pedestrian amenity and safety works outlined with the long-range Near Northwest Community Plan and MOU (needs that have intensified with the introduction of the VIA Primo service along Fredericksburg Rd) – concerns and planning which should have informed recent budget decisions.
Like decreasing the use of plastic bags in San Antonio (which Medina has championed – posting photos to Facebook of stray plastic bags spotted in neighborhood trees, etc), these aren’t ‘cool’ issues or necessarily Council’s priorities . . . but they are what residents of San Antonio and the district are actually concerned about and expect local government and their representatives to respond to or at least acknowledge.
I understand and respect your opinion, but it seems to represented as a presentation of facts. She hasn’t attended neighborhood meetings and accomplished absolutely zero more than what would have happened with anyone else in that slot. Furthermore, her acts of sabotage on the operations related to constituent services should set off red flags with someone who has long stood against political shenanigans in San Antonio, as you have. The reassignment of city hall roles was done 2.5 weeks before suspensions. They served no purpose beyond sabotaging our constituent services to set her up for May. My contrary point of view is based on facts.
@ Colin & Tirpakma: What is your opinion on the fact that over a year ago, Medina was caught lying/falsifying his Personal Financial Statements, pretending and making up a business that never ever existed, making up a master’s degree that he didn’t have, illegally converting thousands of city lobby campaign contributions for personal use, accepting a contribution that was not written by the person who’s name is on the check, failing to have an appropriate campaign treasurer in place, failing to report in-kind contributions, accepting corporate contributions, having 4 Texas Ethics Commission complaints with over 720 questionable campaign expenditures? Please don’t tell us that these serious issues that Medina and friends have conducted themselves by are politically motivated, because they are not. As an elected representative, Medina is subject to public scrutiny for complete transparency and accountability, and by far he doesn’t pass the smell test. Medina needs to step down and spare the Constituents and the City his very dirty laundry.
Dillard: as stated, I respect how Medina has addressed and responded to the interests of constituents as expressed through neighborhood Facebook groups.
In this regard, Medina has proven to be much more tech-savvy and responsive to constituents than the appointed Aguirre-Rodriguez . . . who appears to have served primarily as a proxy for various City departments and interests during her days ‘representing’ the district, including during annual budgeting.
Do constituents of District 7 deserve better – including spending on desired public improvements (a Woodlawn Lake pool season through at least October as in previous years vs. having meetings and allocating $25k in budget to encourage use of a ‘wifi room’) and in some cases agreed to over a decade ago (sidewalks)? Absolutely.
In the meantime, I guess I’ll join the City in gazing at a prematurely drained pool from the Park ‘wifi room’ this sunny weekend and avoiding making eye contact with the folks in wheelchairs I see making their way across and down residential streets and lanes of Fredericksburg Road (where there are no sidewalks) to VIA bus stations, stores, the Park, etc.
I dealt directly with the handicap for over three decades having owned a business for over three decades and know the importance of those sidewalks you refer to. With respect to being tech-savvy, Aguirre Rodriguez worked for Rack space and in my opinion it’s unfair to say Medina has any experience in that field, but my point was not about that, but that Medina has falsified his personal financials under oath and penalty of perjury several times. He also made up a business that he claimed to be the CEO and President of. Diligent Specialty Mechanical is what he called the fake business listed on his financials and on the official City web site, but the truth was that it was never registered as a business. It did not have a tax number, and had no licenses.. It simply never existed, and the City eventually forced him to remove the bogus information from his bio. After he worked for Justin Rodriguez, he didn’t have a job. How has he payed his bills? What kind of favors was he doing? How much of his city lobby campaign contributions did he illegally convert for personal use? Why did he not report in-kind contributions in the thousands provided by his political benefactor and Dist 7 landlord? Why did he accept a check written in the name of an individual who did not write it with his Dist 7 landlords address? He’s not only under investigation by the Police & FBI, but also the Texas Ethics Commission. Medina is not the person he claims to be, but one thing for sure is that he’s lied consistently about how he makes his living. Is he beholden to favors for the contributions/money? Perhaps that’s why a portion of Fredericksburg doesn’t have sidewalks/handicap access. Let’s see what these investigations bring, but meanwhile, constituents need to be asking why Medina falsified information under Oath? Feel free to ask him when you see him, but beware of any transparency or accountability to the constituents or the District.