In an effort to inform our readers for the upcoming May 4 election, we asked all candidates running for mayor of San Antonio how they feel about some of our city’s most pressing issues.
Below are the responses we received from the candidates, the order of which was randomly chosen. The answers have been edited for punctuation, style and egregious grammatical errors.
As a reminder, early voting begins April 22, Monday, and ends April 30, Tuesday. Visit the city’s election page for more info.
Juan Carlos Castanuela
What is your job, or how do you earn a living?
Working at Toyota
What is your age?
45
Where were you born?
San Antonio, Texas
Do you live in the district? If so, what neighborhood?
District 4, Southside
What qualifies you to hold this position?
On paper, doesn’t show leadership skills. But I have the skills and common sense that this city needs to move forward …
What is your background in politics?
Don’t have any.
What is the biggest issue facing San Antonio, and how do you plan to address it? What’s one issue you feel San Antonio City Council isn’t paying attention to?
Infrastructure. That’s my top agenda—only using tax dollars to fix them. City Council not pay attention to the people of S.A.
What do you think of the Alamo master plan that was approved in October 2018? What parts of the plan to you agree with? What parts of the plan to you disagree with?
I disagree with whole. I think their are better ways to waste our taxpayer money. Their always are better ways to improve S.A. city besides closing streets downtown.
What is your opinion of the Center City Housing Incentive Policy? What role do you believe San Antonio should play in incentivizing affordable housing?
CCHIP needs to be strip down and reconstructed. I think S.A could play a better role in this.
What do you think of the city’s current regulations on scooters?
More regulations on scooters.
What do you think of the City Council’s decision to not bid for the 2020 Republican National Convention?
They probably got bad information from the mayor.
What is one thing the city can do to increase transparency in local government or to better engage its citizens?
Do more communication with local government and its citizens of S.A.
Ron Nirenberg
What is your job, or how do you earn a living?
I am the Mayor of San Antonio
What is your age?
41 years old
Where were you born?
Boston, MA
Do you live in the district? If so, what neighborhood?
I live in the Summerfield neighborhood in District 8.
What qualifies you to hold this position?
I bring years of experience in business and policy to the office of Mayor, where I’ve served for the past two years. I also bring a governing style and perspective unique among America’s big city mayors. I hold an advanced Ivy League degree. I’m a former competitive athlete, served as a program director for the Annenberg Public Policy Center, managed Trinity University’s KRTU-FM and founded two small businesses.
What is your background in politics?
I was elected to the City Council from District 8 in 2013 and re-elected in 2015. I was elected Mayor of San Antonio in June of 2017.
What do you think of the Alamo master plan that was approved in October 2018? What parts of the plan to you agree with? What parts of the plan to you disagree with?
I am supportive of the Alamo master plan overall. It is long past time to do the right thing to honor Texas history and I believe the new Alamo Master Plan, developed with citizen input from over 200 public meetings, does that. Before I signed a resolution of support and advanced the plan to the City Council, I worked with the tri-parties to increase historic preservation and public access considerations in the final lease documents. I will continue to advocate for these considerations during the next phases of the plan.
What is your opinion of the Center City Housing Incentive Policy? What role do you believe San Antonio should play in incentivizing affordable housing?
I led efforts to revamp the CCHIP program and I am supportive of the plan in its current iteration. I believe the city should remove costly barriers to infill redevelopment so we can have more affordable housing in the center city. Additionally, I support incentives for projects that include a mix of affordable and market-rate housing in the center city.
What do you think of the city’s current regulations on scooters?
The city’s scooter regulations are a work-in-progress, which is why they were adopted as a pilot program. It is vitally important that we continue to seek public input and integrate it into a final set of regulations. I am pleased that the city took a thoughtful approach by regulating serious pedestrian/rider/driver safety and clutter issues, but the city did not overreach and discourage innovation. This is markedly different than the approach that drove rideshare away in 2015.
What do you think of the City Council’s decision to not bid for the 2020 Republican National Convention?
There was no consensus among the Council to guarantee the $65 million the RNC was looking for from the host city. Every other potential host city the country had similar misgivings save for Charlotte, which was the only city to submit a bid to host the convention.
What is one thing the city can do to increase transparency in local government or to better engage its citizens?
First and foremost, I will continue to push for the development and adoption of the public participation protocol that we initiated in 2018, which will improve access, transparency and engagement. As a council member and mayor, I worked to introduce live streaming and posting videos of meetings online where they are more accessible to citizens. Additionally, I led the successful effort to stiffen contribution limits and strengthen disclosure requirements for political contributions. I will also continue to push for charter reform that institutes a truly independent ethics review board that has jurisdiction over official conduct.
Bert Cecconi
What is your job, or how do you earn a living?
Col. USAF (retired)
Owner Dentistry
What is your age?
4 score and 3 clicks
Where were you born?
Donora, PA (a steel mill town 22 miles south Pittsburgh)
Do you live in the district? If so, what neighborhood?
Chart Oaks
What qualifies you to hold this position?
Registered voter 14 years. Resident of the city.
What is your background in politics?
A candidate for council a number of times. Native in neighborhood 11 years.
What is the biggest issue facing San Antonio, and how do you plan to address it? What’s one issue you feel San Antonio City Council isn’t paying attention to?
Workforce development. Tuition free junior college with no increase in property taxes.
What do you think of the Alamo master plan that was approved in October 2018? What parts of the plan to you agree with? What parts of the plan to you disagree with?
I’m glad (after) the 25 years of discussion something is being done—I think?
What is your opinion of the Center City Housing Incentive Policy? What role do you believe San Antonio should play in incentivizing affordable housing?
Incentives work.
What do you think of the city’s current regulations on scooters?
Scooters were poorly planned to say the least.C.V.
What do you think of the City Council’s decision to not bid for the 2020 Republican National Convention?
Mistake!
What is one thing the city can do to increase transparency in local government or to better engage its citizens?
Am not certain about the city, but I am making CV (No narrative. Just fact.). Last physical exam results. And three years IRS forms available to the press.
Editor’s notes: We decided to omit Michael “Commander” Idrogo’s response because it was full of incendiary accusations, which we did not have the time to verify, as well as falsehoods.
Mayoral candidates John Velasquez, Matt Piña, District 6 Councilman Greg Brockhouse, Tim Atwood and Antonio “Tony” Diaz did not respond to our questionnaire.
I didn’t think it was your job to verify Michael Idrogo’s statements. If they were incendiary than so be it. If it was full of curse words or something ok I get it blank out the bad words. You would still be letting him speak. People should be allowed to speak no matter how ridiculous it is. Especially if you are the one asking them to speak. Censoring speech and silencing people always concerns me. To bad Brockhouse didn’t answer he is the one I am interested in.
Are you familiar with Matt Piña? He’s a fiscal conservative and have been fighting the Alamo Plans for some time. http://www.MattPina.com