Mayor puts his faith in Straus

Two days after railing at the Legislature in Austin, and on the heels of a spate of horrific crimes in San Antonio, Mayor Ron Nirenberg on Thursday condemned the violence and said he trusts at least some of the special session agenda will be “watered down, if not killed” in the Texas House.

In front of a friendly town hall audience of about 250 in the Buena Vista Theater at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Downtown Campus, Nirenberg answered a range of questions submitted by San Antonio Express-News readers and presented by moderator Francine S. Romero, associate dean for the university’s college of public policy.

Nirenberg repeated his criticisms of the state Legislature in the latter half of the forum, addressing a number of special session proposals that would limit local control, including bills to limit the amount of property taxes municipalities can raise without a rollback election and the ability of municipalities and school districts to set bathroom policies for transgender people.

“What we’re going to continue to do is speak out on these issues and get the public engaged,” Nirenberg said. “I have hope that a number of them will be watered down, if not killed, because we do have some strong members in the House. We all know one of the best examples of a statesman in Texas is our speaker, Joe Straus,” he said, drawing applause for the local legislator who has opposed much of the special session agenda.

Nirenberg said he hoped there would be a compromise on a bill that would allow residents of an area to vote on whether it could be annexed. A similar bill failed in the regular session after local legislators raised concerns about encroachment on military bases.

Other questions centered on crime, referencing a recent drive-by shooting that killed a 4-year-old on the East Side and the fatal shooting of a police officer in Tobin Hill.

Nirenberg called the increasing violent crime rate unacceptable.

“The community is outraged,” he said. “We want to bring focus to that anger.”

His strategies for fighting crime included investing in the lowest-income neighborhoods, supporting efforts to turn around low-performing schools and strengthening community policing to improve residents’ trust in their police.

“There are politicians who want to destroy that trust,” Nirenberg said, referring to a law passed in the regular session giving law enforcement officers the right to ask about the immigration status of people they detain.

During a portion of the forum dealing with income inequality, Nirenberg said his strategy for improvements in one of the country’s most unequal cities includes working to prevent teen pregnancy, recidivism and the crime rate while improving education attainment rates and maintaining affordability as the urban core develops.

“We have a public that’s demanding it,” Nirenberg said. “There were great changes in the council electorally because the people that are on the council were giving a message of restoring equity in the community.”

Romero, a member of the city’s Charter Review Commission, asked questions about City Charter revisions, prompting Nirenberg to explain his support for four-year terms and November municipal elections.

He also argued for mass transit, saying without upgrades commute times will increase 75 percent and time spent at certain bottlenecks will increase 900 percent in the next three decades as the population grows by 1.5 million.

A two-term city councilman representing District 8, Nirenberg defeated former Mayor Ivy Taylor in a runoff last month to win his first term as mayor.

Near the end of Thursday’s forum, Romero asked for Nirenberg’s reaction to the “Liberal Ron” attack ads that Taylor ran during the campaign.

“When I saw Liberal Ron, the website, it was so ridiculous that I knew at that point we would win the election,” he said to laughter. “You don’t resort to those measures unless you’re truly desperate.” amalik@express-news.net