Rolando Pablos, a former Texas secretary of state under Gov. Greg Abbott, is preparing to join a growing field of San Antonio mayoral hopefuls.
Before he launches a formal campaign, however, he’s working to stand up a think tank that he hopes will add a layer of accountability to municipal policy in a city that owns its own energy and water utilities.
In May, Pablos launched the organization Future First, which he’s currently self-funding. It recently hired Varun Rai as its first research staffer, whose background in energy and climate science offers some hints at the policy areas Pablos is most interested in digging into.
“I’ve been very transparent with my friends and family about my intentions to run [for mayor] and I will make an announcement when the time is right,” he told the San Antonio Report. “But right now, I’m focused on Future First.”
After receiving his law degree from St. Mary’s University, Pablos started his legal career at a company that made lottery tickets. That experience launched him to a series of positions on state boards and commissions under Abbott’s administration, starting with the Texas Racing Commission.
He later served on the Public Utility Commission, which oversees the state’s electric, telecommunication, and water utilities, and then as secretary of state, whose department oversees elections, from 2017 to 2019.
“In all my public service, I’ve always relied on think tanks to help me with policy decisions,” said Pablos, who pointed to the right-leaning Texas Public Policy Foundation and the nonpartisan group Texas 2036 as examples.
“What I want to offer [San Antonio] is an outside source of information and research that is nonpartisan, non-ideological, that [policymakers] can trust,” he said. “It’s an accountability tool that we need in this city.”
Future First
The idea of creating a think tank to keep city staff honest isn’t exactly new.
Former Mayor Ivy Taylor considered such a plan, and then-Councilman Ron Nirenberg even pitched the idea to city staff at one point, said public affairs consultant Eddie Aldrete, who is not working for any of the mayoral candidates.
But the idea of a group that could function as a watchdog hasn’t been well-received by city management staff, he said, including former City Manager Sheryl Sculley.
“It’s not meant to make people scared,” Pablos said. “We’re bringing in top talent to propose data-driven policy recommendations.”
San Antonio’s mayor and City Council have some limited authority of the municipally owned utilities. In their official capacity, the city’s mayor sits on the San Antonio Water System and CPS Energy boards.
In a statement about Future First’s policy fellow, Pablos said that Rai, a former associate dean for research at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and director of the University of Texas Energy Institute, is expected to focus on “developing sustainable energy policies that not only address today’s environmental issues but also prepare CPS Energy for future challenges.”
Other areas of potential focus for the group include public safety, infrastructure, economic development and education, according to its website.
Pablos plans to raise money to get the organization off the ground but envisions stepping away from that model at some point so it can be independent from politics and donor interests.
“This is something that’s for the long term that every mayor and every council person, every policymaker in San Antonio, can use,” he said. “So there’s going to be a point in time where I’m going to stop funding it and the public will be asked to fund it.”
A mayoral bid
In a crowded mayor’s race, Pablos likely has a long way to go in getting his name out there. He’s lived primarily in San Antonio for the past 40 years but moved around intermittently for various public service roles.
Most recently, he lived in Austin for the secretary of state role from 2017 to 2019, then moved back to San Antonio after that appointment and now lives in the Stone Oak neighborhood.
Still, Pablos believes his broad resume of experience makes him among the most qualified candidates for the role.
He has several businesses, including solar and renewable energy projects, but his primary focus is a consulting company called Cross-National Advisory Partners, which helps international businesses set up shop in the U.S.
He chairs the international committee of the state’s chamber of commerce, the Texas Association of Business, and started a regional economic development group on the U.S-Mexico border called the Borderplex Alliance.
“If our next mayor doesn’t have international business experience or experience dealing with Mexican businesses or with Mexico, then that person is not going to be effective,” Pablos said.
Correction: This story has been updated to correctly refer to Pablos’ tenure as Texas secretary of state under Gov. Greg Abbott.
