San Antonio blogger Randy Bear caused quite a stir when the Rivard Report republished his Concerned Citizens posting, San Antonio Isn’t Ready for a Streetcar System. Bear, a familiar voice for progressive issues in the urban core, compared the different approaches being taken by the cities of Austin and San Antonio and concluded that “they” are doing it right and “we” are doing it all wrong.
I think Bear’s voice is an important one to have in the public conversation. He’s one of several writers who contributed regularly to Plaza de Armas before it went on hiatus, someone whose work I followed then and still follow now. We republished him because we believe he merits wider readership.
We published Bear even though I respectfully disagree with him and believe San Antonio will benefit enormously from a streetcar system, assuming we can put together the mix of federal and local funds, and get some of our city’s best thinkers to bless the final routing and future expansion plans. As with any major change, there will be winners and losers along the routes chosen and abandoned, but San Antonio is decades behind the rest of the country when it comes to mass transit, and the sooner we begin to address our problems, with valuable federal assistance, the better.
To do nothing would be a failure in leadership.
Part of the problem is the leadership at VIA. Everyone who knows and has worked with VIA’s president and CEO Jeffrey Arndt sings his praises, but he’s only held the job officially since July. He seems to be the right person for the job long-term, but he could use a little help. The November 2012 departure of his predecessor, Keith Parker, to head up the transit agency in Atlanta — and the months of public speculation that preceded his departure — created a leadership vacuum at VIA, not an ideal environment for pushing a controversial and major new project that carries a $280 million price tag and a budget shortfall of $70 million or more.
Even when Parker was here, he was overshadowed by VIA Chairman Henry Muñoz, whose name is synonymous with controversy and whose resume is rich with both accomplishment and failure. People either love him or loathe him, which makes him the wrong guy to be bringing together a divided community on a complex, multi-year endeavor where public confidence in civic leadership is an essential building block.
The disclosure by the Express-News that Muñoz had acquired property along one of the proposed streetcar lines that could, therefore, appreciate in value, further undermined the chairman’s credibility. The building itself is valued in the $300,000-plus range, which is a lot of money to a lot of people, but it isn’t much in terms of downtown real estate.
Its potential for appreciation is small and thus of no great import to Muñoz. But perception is reality in the world we live, and for Muñoz, it was yet another political setback in his public service record. He has since recused himself from the process, and will not vote on the route. In effect, VIA is without a chairman on the most important project in its contemporary history.
The disclosure embarrassed the streetcar’s driving force and Muñoz’s biggest advocate, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. I’ve never heard Wolff privately utter a critical word about Muñoz and I’ve often heard him defend him, but Wolff’s remarks to the Express-News following the real estate disclosure come as close to a woodshed session as I’ve seen for Muñoz.
I don’t consider myself a member of the “love Muñoz” or “loathe Muñoz” camp. On the up side, he’s charming, personable, urbane, cultured and worldly, and he is second to none as a Democratic Party fundraiser, whether he’s working for a local elected official or the President of the United States. Those skills buy a lot of loyalty, and his intellect and personality make most of those friendships genuine, not merely convenient.
On the downside, Muñoz is an influence peddler, someone who works the margins of the rule book to get the job done. He always seems to be angling behind the scenes when the job calls for transparency, and people are left to believe that he wins work because of his political connections and his appreciation of the quid pro quo rather than the bona fides of his firm and its work. That’s unfortunate, if for no other reason than because he has some excellent professionals in his firm whose work goes unappreciated because of the political filter through which it is assessed.
He has built Kell-Muñoz Architects into a powerhouse firm and its has made him a wealthy man, even though he isn’t an architect. He recently renamed the company Muñoz & Co., a measure of how completely he has consolidated control and ownership there. He has done all this in a city and region where few Hispanics can match his success in competing successfully against bigger, more established Anglo-owned enterprises. Many, however, think Muñoz has done so by playing by his own set of rules.
However much he is appreciated by Wolff, other officeholders and party regulars, Muñoz does not enjoy a high level of public confidence. His troubles date back to scandal from the time he was a state transportation appointee under Gov. Ann Richards, and more recently, in his selection to manage construction projects and bond spending for the San Antonio Independent School District. Then there was the debacle of the short-lived Museo Alameda, where he also overreached as board chair.
Muñoz might get his phone calls to the White House returned, and he might be able to write big checks himself now, but he isn’t the guy to lead the public forward. That’s why he should cut short his final term as VIA chairman by graciously stepping down now. The street car project is too important to let languish. Wolff could thank Muñoz for his service, and then he, Mayor Julián Castro and others would be free to work with the board to appoint a new chairman who can restore public confidence and project momentum.
Coming up, I’ll take a look at the proposed route, and San Antonio’s mistaken “locals versus visitors” mindset. We need both constituencies downtown if San Antonio is going to maintain its momentum and reach its full potential, and we need them all to ride the streetcar.
Follow Robert Rivard on Twitter @rivardreport or on Facebook.
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San Antonio Isn’t Ready for a Streetcar System
The Case for the Chavez Streetcar Route
Take Your Pick: The Latest Alternative Streetcar Routes
Another Turn of the Wheel for VIA’s Proposed Streetcar Project
A RR Primer: VIA’s Modern Streetcar Plans
Transportation and Public Health: An Urbanist Conundrum
Out Of Town Attack on Streetcars
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Bravo Bob! Have you asked how VIA justified using taxpayer dollars at the politically charged People en Espanol event? Would it have been ok if the tea party spoke at the event and encouraged activism?
HRM3..who else has a art piece to symbolize his first Mercedes purchase in his early career
Yes! Agree with both you and Randy. We will need the street car and/or light rail in the future, yet not sure SA is ready to support it and which route will work the best. Questioning the decision process and finances. Munoz adds a lot of noise to the discussion and SA would be better served with his exodus.
I have been on the fence on the streetcar question. Like you, I believe that San Antonio will benefit enormously from a streetcar system. Yet, the recent E-N articles and Mr. Bear’s blog do raise the very real issue that the timing may not be right (as yet) given the lack of “ownership” and buy-in among potential private sector investors. Without it, a back of the envelope calculation shows that the numbers look bad. $270 million + X% contingency + $8.5 million/yr O&M versus “guaranteed” income of $1.20 x 1.4 million estimated riders/yr. Using the numbers we are given, assuming a discount rate (yes, remember Econ 101?) that is equal to the one the feds use for 30 year investments, the net present value (uh-oh…more econ 101) of the system, including O&M costs over 25 years and minus estimated income from ridership, is about $335 million (or $360 million if there is a 10% construction cost overrun). That is the amount you would need to have in your pocket now to cover all the costs. Where will that come from? I don’t think that federal grants are going to be enough to change the equation…nor is that a sustainable source of financing. The system shortfalls will have to come out of property taxes. Has anybody looked at what the trajectory of development (with its increased property tax income) would have to be to cover these costs without their becoming a fiscal drag? Is that a reasonable expectation? And, if it is a reasonable expectation, then we are assuming that the development community/private sector is going to be crowding in to benefit from the enhanced values created by the streetcar line. Wouldn’t it be nice to test that hypothesis by seeing if the current $70 million “shortfall” could be raised from among private investors? I would be a whole lot more comfortable about moving ahead on this if doing so was contingent on getting that $70 million from private sources (and not as a loan).
Jim I think you hit at a lot of what I was driving towards, albeit in more detailed financial terms. While we may differ on timing, I think Bob also agrees with you and I about financing for this project. I’m not opposed to streetcar as a need for the city. I just don’t think this project, the approach being taken, and the impetus for making VIA more viable in the future are being considered. In other words, if your house is slowly degrading, adding another room or wing doesn’t solve the problem. It just adds to it.
But Munoz has never had long-term sustainability in any of his projects. He left Museo Alameda in such a bad shape the city and TAMU-SAT had to bail it out. The Alameda Theater? Don’t get me started. With regards to VIA and not only this project, but BRT before it, Munoz is building monuments to himself at the expense of the citizens of Bexar County.
The decent thing for Mr. Munoz to do is to want to spend more
time with his family and focus on his architect firm and resign from
VIA.
I hope this Bear character reads this.
He couldn’t be any more wrong with regards to his way of thinking.
The mentality he expresses with regard to streetcar is the same mentality that has plagued the far north side.
They left the infrastructure along while growth occurred. They made minor upgrades here and there but nothing that really benefited the suburban growth bomb set off 13 or so years ago.
Now roads are jammed packed, commutes are longer.
Great thing, not expanding the roads before the anticipated development arrived.
Castro faces a difficult decision: Force Munoz out, and risk offending powerful Democrat donors/leaders or suffer the consequences of his leadership.
Hundreds of millions are going out the door. I want to see exactly how San Antonio obtains residents as riders on this new streetcar system. As Bob stated, without both (visitors and residents) this will fail. To me, that is key outside of the private business/route/etc arguments. Otherwise, economically, this will be a future sinkhole!