Salinas was president of the Dellview Area Neighborhood Association from 2017 until resigning this year in order to run for City Council. He is retired after more than 30 years at USAA, where he worked in community relations. He also sits on the city’s Code Enforcement Task Force.
Hear from the candidate
The following questions were asked of all City Council candidates.
Please tell voters about yourself.
I am a native San Antonian. Born in the South Side of San Antonio, I attended Catholic and public school and graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word with a BBA in IS (Information Systems). Growing up I quickly learned the value of hard work and education. My summer job, while in grade school and high school was to help my grandfather with rehabbing rental homes for a Realtor. After high school I was a warehouse supervisor for Solo Serve department store until 1983. My next job of 31 years fine tuned my world class service skills. A former USAA employee of 31 years and former president of the Dellview Area Neighborhood Association, I know what it means to serve.
List any previous experience in government or participation on local boards, commissions, or neighborhood associations.
I have held board positions at Holy Name Catholic School and St. Gregory Catholic School. ROTC vice president of supply parent at Central Catholic High School, Central Catholic event chair, golf coach parent at Incarnate Word High School. I have worked in USAA Claims, Fleet Administration, Fortune 500 event manager, Life Company, served as D Building Emergency Evacuation Chief and Community Affairs while at USAA. For fun I have served as Boy Scout Troop 450 assistant scout master. Most recently, I am the former president of the Dellview Area Neighborhood Association. I resigned this position in order to campaign for San Antonio District 1 Councilman. This is my first ever campaign for District 1 service. Service to others first, before self.
What three issues do you consider to be most pressing for your district and how would you address them?
The most pressing issues in District 1 are crime, drugs and vagrancy. This issue has been at the forefront for many years. This is the main reason I got involved with the neighborhood association. We created a neighborhood watch group. Quickly we managed to bring attention to issues and made sure our SAPD SAFFE Officers were on board. Sadly, our SAPD has fewer officers per capita than most other Texas cities. I will push hard to get more officers to be proactive in our communities. I have worked and will continue to work with SAPD and the sheriff’s office to tackle crime issues in the Dellview area. I will continue this practice for District 1 when elected. I will request for audits of all 501(c)(3) organizations aligned with the city, to be sure our tax dollars are not getting misspent. This is a practice that must be done so taxpayers know their tax dollars are being spent effectively. Finally, I would max out the homestead exemption to 20% to bring some relief to homeowners.
Do you support the proposed city charter amendment, known as Proposition A or the Justice Charter, that would bar certain policing tactics, decriminalize abortion and low-level marijuana possession and create a city justice director to oversee criminal justice policy? Why or why not?
I do not support any part of the justice policy. I have read the entire 13 pages and suggest everyone do the same. I was approached twice and both times I was asked if I wanted to legalize marijuana. Hello, the city does not do that. Just call it what it truly is: Defund the Police, part 2. When was the last time an officer arrested any doctor or person for abortion? Back in the day a 4-ounce bag of marijuana was called a five-finger bag that you bought from a dealer. When was the last time you heard of an honest criminal? Cite and release? If you give a criminal a pass do you think they will ever turn themselves in? Police officers will not even be able to positively ID the criminal because a state ID will not be required. Oversight of this policy would be handled by a newly created city position known as the Justice Director, however, if you have a law enforcement background you do not qualify for this job.
How do you feel the city has done at balancing the needs of downtown and the neighborhoods, from bond projects to budget priorities?
We must get more citizens engaged and involved in city committees and keep these bond projects flowing. Time is money, so we must push this along. My concern is that we have too many projects at the same time taking place. Lots of construction downtown. Additionally, we must get neighborhood projects started and going.
If elected, how do you plan to solicit input and feedback from residents in your district?
If elected, my plan is to bring together District 1. I plan to reach out to every corner of D1 and encourage participation in our local city government. My plan is to also get our youth involved to become young leaders. We must get them involved in service to our seniors, veterans and our communities. We need to be creative and push fun and educational programs so there is no shortage in the future leadership for District 1.
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