Having recently begun his final two-year term as San Antonio’s mayor, Ron Nirenberg addressed an audience of businesspeople Aug. 22 that the city continues momentum in terms of business growth, property tax relief, workforce development, public safety, affordable housing and long-range transportation planning.

But Nirenberg said there are lingering challenges, such as political conflicts with state government and a potential city charter review.

Nirenberg presented the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s CityVision program at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio River Walk.

The overview

Nirenberg covered a range of topics, including local economic development. He said San Antonio’s gross domestic product increased 46% from 2017 to 2023, and that the local median wage has risen in each of those six years.

Nirenberg also praised larger employers, such as Toyota Motor Corp., Boeing Co. and Standard Aero, each of whom expanded their San Antonio activities within the past two years.

He also lauded The University of Texas of San Antonio’s launch of its School of Data Science and National Security Collaboration Center downtown, both of which he said will boost the city’s growing number of cybersecurity and high technology assets.

Nirenberg briefed the audience on the city’s proposed 2023-24 budget, a $3.7 billion total document that features a homestead property tax exemption increase to 20%, a slight drop in the city’s property tax rate, the addition of 105 police officer positions, and a 26% hike in the animal care services budget, the latter two items he said were meant to enhance community safety.

Nirenberg said the city continues to work with public agencies and private developers toward rolling out affordable housing projects supported by the city’s 2022 bond and the local Strategic Housing Implementation Plan.

“While the pandemic exacerbated the nation’s housing affordability woes, we saw the housing crisis coming well before COVID-19 struck,” Nirenberg said. “Now, thousands of affordable housing units are on the way -- in addition to our enhanced housing policy structure that nurtures the construction and preservation of affordable housing in our community.

Nirenberg noted the recent groundbreaking for the Vista at Silver Oaks, a bond-funded 76-unit multifamily affordable housing complex between Shavano Park and Castle Hills. He added that more than 20 projects overall are in the pipeline.

Nirenberg also said of the 100 U.S. cities that joined the Biden administration’s House America effort to reduce homelessness nationwide, San Antonio was the first to meet its goal of rehousing 1,500 residents between November 2021 and December 2022.

“In fact, we were able to exceed our original goal by re-housing 1,880 people by the end of 2022,” he said. He added the 2022 bond contains $25 million included to help people exit homelessness, in different ways, and the proposed Fiscal Year 2024 budget adds $1.4 million to provide low-barrier shelters for up to 400 homeless individuals.

Dig deeper

Nirenberg said strides are being made in local air and bus transportation. He cited the city this past spring unveiling preliminary designs for a $2.5 billion improvement and expansion of the San Antonio International Airport, an initiative he said is designed to meet the needs of a growing regional population and demands of passengers.

“The expanded, enhanced SAT will be a welcoming airport that demonstrates our community’s cultural attributes, and the expansion will be the biggest - and arguably the most significant - capital project in San Antonio history,” Nirenberg said.

Nirenberg referenced the Federal Transportation Administration including $144 million to help develop VIA Metropolitan Transit’s East-West Advanced Rapid Transit corridor as part of FTA’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget. That is in addition to VIA receiving $158 million through the federal government’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget to develop its North-South ART line – now known as the Green Line.

Nirenberg briefed the audience on the status of Ready to Work, a workforce development program approved by voters in 2020. More than 7,000 applicants have interviewed for the program, which presently enrolls about 3,800 residents and has seen more than 180 employers hire program graduates.

Some political observers have criticized Ready to Work where enrollment numbers have been lower than city officials envisioned, but Nirenberg said the program growing partnerships with the likes of the San Antonio Housing Trust will make Ready to Work more accessible especially to people whose livelihoods were disrupted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We aren’t going to be discouraged by a few bumps in the road, because we aren’t counting widgets, we’re changing lives,” he said.

Nirenberg also talked about CPS Energy board voting earlier this year to phase out the use of coal for energy generation, eliminating the use of coal by 2028. This action, he added, includes a scheduled closure of the Spruce I coal plant in south San Antonio by 2028 and transitioning Spruce II plant to natural gas by 2027.

Additionally, Nirenberg said CPS Energy recently announced it had weatherized 30,000 homes under the Casa Verde program, which was designed to help low-income households reduce power consumption and save money on their energy bills.

Collectively, these and other steps will help CPS Energy customers to save money and help the city to reduce its carbon footprint and air pollution levels in the long run, Nirenberg said.

What's next

Nirenberg also pointed concerns expressed by the city government, such as San Antonio joining the city of Houston in a lawsuit challenging House Bill 2127, a bill that state lawmakers passed earlier this year in order to rein in what state legislators called local ordinances and regulations that supersede state laws and adversely affect businesses.

But Nirenberg said he and fellow city leaders, and those in other major and medium-sized Texas cities, believe HB 2127 is designed to strip ordinance-making powers from local elected officials.

“Don’t be fooled. As much as some may want you to believe, HB 2127 is not a fight waged by the state for business-friendly regulation,” Nirenberg said. “It is the centralization of government authority and the nullification of whole sections of city charters.

Continuing on the theme of local control, Nirenberg said he looks forward to convening a Charter Review Commission to examine possible changes and updates to the city’s 72-year-old constitution.

Nirenberg said he may ask the CRC to consider topics such as potentially increasing the number of City Council seats, length of council terms, and any changes to council or city manager pay. He added a public charter election would be needed to consider any recommendations approved by council.

“Piecemeal changes have been made over the decades, but a comprehensive examination of the charter is overdue,” he added.

Overall, Nirenberg said he feels the city is headed in the right trajectory.

“As I enter my final term as mayor, I am proud of San Antonio’s momentum. Our city is moving in the right direction,” he said. “As one of the fastest growing cities in the nation, it is imperative for us to prepare for rapid change.”