Proposition A
Tired of unresponsive, out-of-control leadership with no transparency and your money being spent recklessly? How do we get City Hall’s attention and a debate/vote on issues? Referendum is a “common sense” reform needed to question the mayor and council when they support and fund controversial and costly projects for power brokers and developers over basic needs, such as relocation of the Cenotaph, the Alamo Plaza expansion, the land bridge in Hardberger Park, and the Vista Ridge Pipeline.
Voting Yes would require 20,000 signatures to put an issue on the ballot, the same number required for charter amendments as set by the Texas State Constitution. Voting yes would also allow 180 days to collect them. The existing requirement to collect signatures from 10 percent of registered voters (about 70,000) in just 40 days is an unreasonable hardship with established “free speech zones” under threat of arrest.
Why is the City on the side of the “moneyed interests” trying to silence the voice of the people? Are they an exclusive club into power and control? Isn’t it the “vote of the people” that elects the council and mayor? Isn’t it our money and our city where we make our living and raise our children? Thirteen years of Sheryl Sculley has taken its toll, and City leadership – both elected and unelected – needs to put the people first. Citizens don’t hire lobbyists but rely on elected representatives to protect them, while exercising fiduciary care. How is that working for us? What is the motive behind power brokers contributing huge sums of money for a campaign to confuse, mislead, and scare us into voting their way? Why have personal attacks replaced facts?
City Hall belongs to you. It’s not a piggy bank for selfish interests. Vote yes on Proposition A to protect your family, money, and voice.
Proposition B
This is about the failure of council to “manage the manager” whose compensation is more than the governor and president combined – she could earn up to $575,000 in 2018. Our city manager’s compensation is among the highest in the nation. So why, according to Wallet Hub, does San Antonio rank only 99th out of 150 best run cities and only 48th in quality of city services? What kind of management is this?
Sculley has been in power so long, it has become more of a city for her and power brokers than one for the people. She names her price and gets it. And why not? Council has had no metric by which to evaluate her performance.
Voting yes will not jeopardize our bond rating. A bond rating and bond elections are about debt that affects our taxes. Promoters of bond debt are giving money to oppose these amendments. While increasing our taxes, they develop at no risk to themselves. Meanwhile, citizens lack EMS vehicles, police personnel, street repairs, and sidewalks. Vote yes on Proposition B for accountability to the taxpayers.
Proposition C
This proposition is needed to break the four-year stalemate that exists between the City manager and the firefighters. City Council would rather litigate than negotiate, making it look like the firefighters’ fault. The City has wasted more than $1.5 million in tax dollars suing the firefighters repeatedly over the evergreen clause, and each time the lawsuits were thrown out of court. Though the City lost its appeal for summary judgment, it still has not dropped the lawsuit and could change the arguments and file it again at any time.
As a last resort, the firefighters proposed binding arbitration to stop the waste of tax dollars they want spent on the people’s needs. Arbitrators would be chosen by both sides to consider what other cities pay firefighters, the consumer price index, the revenue available, and the impact any arbitration ruling would have on taxpayers. Let’s treat our first responders fairly. Vote yes on Proposition C for a fair resolution.
