Our Record

Our record

In less than four years, we've come together as a community to accomplish some incredible feats. While there is more to be done, it's certainly worth taking a look back at past accomplishments.

Protecting our water

The Edwards Aquifer is the City of San Antonio's most precious resource. It's continued protection, maintenance, and upkeep continues to remain a vital part of my platform. I have worked closely with the mayor's office to ensure that it remains a top priority for the city.

This is why we fought to establish a new and reliable funding path to continue the protection of the Aquifer, our primary source of drinking water.

I am also proud to say I have taken a strong stance and said NO to any SAWS rate increases, especially in the face of this global pandemic.

Savings for our seniors

Though property taxes in the city have remained at the same rate for several decades in San Antonio, rising property values and cost of living have made affordable housing for our seniors a vital issue. That's why our office authored and passed the City's first Homestead Tax Exemption saving San Antonio Homeowner's, and seniors, more than $12 million since 2019 on their property taxes.

We also secured an additional $1.2 million in funding to build the new D9 Senior Center breaking ground in early 2021, the first of its kind in the district.

Responsible Development

Our neighbors told us they were tired of missing sleep and waking up in the middle of the night due to late night construction work. So we authored a new ordinance request to establish quiet hours for construction sites adjacent to residential homes in 2019.

We also successfully shot down eminent domain attempts from an out of county water pipeline company wanting to destroy a residential neighborhood and took a stand against our City's short-term rental ordinance to protect our neighborhoods from commercial encroachment. We have also consistently sided with neighborhoods over special interests in rezoning cases that would have led to negative community impacts.

Speeding remains a top concern for the community and we realized that we cannot wait for city bureaucracy to act on these issues. To this day, we are the only City Council Office to implement an "on demand" radar feedback sign that tracks how often speeding occurs in an area and works to slow down speeders with its presence while also informing our office on what actions should be taken next to permanently address the issue.

Standing up for what's right

Increases to our SAWS rates? I voted against.

Restrict Alamo Plaza's entry points, close down surrounding streets, and move the Cenotaph? I voted against.

03/21/2019 Chick-fil-A at the San Antonio International Airport: I voted to keep Chick-fil-A in the San Antonio International Airport.

Renovate City Hall to the tune of $38,000,000 without public input? I voted for a Public Vote.

Support a $75,000 bonus for our City Manager without any metrics to justify it? I could not support that.

I took a stand against our City's short-term rental ordinance, to protect our neighborhoods from commercial encroachment.

Whenever I make what some might view as a controversial decision, it's because I have listened to the community.

Pioneering policies

My office has created the District 9 People's Budget (D9PB), the largest community-oriented budgeting project in Texas. Since its establishment, District 9 residents have had a direct say in how up to $2,250,000 of our tax dollars have been spent. Some chosen projects from the D9PB have already been completed, including sidewalk and street projects on Larkspur Drive, W. Bitters Road, and Huebner Road. Other districts around the City took note of our success and are considering participatory budgeting initiatives of their own. For more information on D9PB, click here.

Since taking office, I have authored two separate ordinances to enhance transparency in our municipal elections. The first requires two separate forms of proof of residency from Council and Mayoral candidates, and the second requires enhanced disclosure requirements for any contribution in excess of $100 during a campaign contribution cycle.

Our office has also authored a new ordinance request to establish quiet hours for construction sites adjacent to residential homes.

As chair of the Audit & Accountability committee, I requested that our municipal courts begin reporting all domestic violence convictions to the Department of Public Safety. San Antonio is now the first city in Texas to report such convictions to state authorities.

When it comes to our City's budget, I have continued to look at every dollar requested, allocated and spent to insure continued fiscal accountability. I serve as Chair of the City Audit and Accountability Committee and consider that committee the watchdog of the city's wallet.

In other fiscal matters, I have strongly supported allocating more funding toward public safety. This has ensured that police and emergency services vacancies are filled across the north side. Over the last year, I have also voted for an increased infrastructure budget, which has allowed District 9 to receive more funding for streets, sidewalks, and pedestrian safety. There is always room for improvement, but I'm confident we're headed in the right direction. In the FY2019 budget, I secured an additional $1,000,000 to go toward the land purchase of District 9's first senior center, to supplement the voter-approved bond funds to insure completion of the project.

Additionally, we authored and passed the City’s first Homestead Tax Exemption saving San Antonio Homeowners $12 Million since 2019 on their property taxes.

Beyond expectations

The following infrastructure projects were supported by my office outside of the City's scheduled infrastructure maintenance. While all projects listed have been funded, some have already been completed.

West Avenue Sidewalk Installation
Evans Road Rehabilitation (from Encino Rio east to Bulverde)
Starcrest Sidewalk Installation
Stone Oak Parkway Preservation
Larkspur Avenue Sidewalk Installation (D9PB Project)
W. Bitters & Blanco Sidewalk Installation (D9PB Project)
Dedicated right turn lane from northbound Huebner onto E. 1604 Access (D9PB Project)
Huebner Road Sidewalk Installation (D9PB Project)
Expansion of left turn lane from northbound Wilderness Oak onto Hardy Oak (D9PB Project)
Funded and currently designing a new playground for the Encino Branch Library
Upgraded port-a-potties to full permanent restroom facilities at Blossom and Walker Ranch Parks to provide a cleaner and safer experience for your family

Community engagement

I maintain a strict open-door policy and spend the majority of my time in our community. Whether it has been a Saturday morning at an area Whataburger, a weeknight at a neighborhood meeting, or a Friday lunch hour at one of our fantastic library branches, there are many opportunities each month to meet with me closer to home. Of course, the pandemic has changed many of these opportunities to meet to zoom meetings, but we hope to resume these in person meetings in 2021. In 2018 and 2019 we presented our Summer Movies in the Park and Fall Concert Series events, which brought hundreds of neighbors together for some free, family-oriented fun (we regret we were not able to do this in 2020, but look forward to doing it in 2021)!

I ensured a portion of my discretionary funds went toward providing traffic safety supplies to every NEISD elementary and middle school in District 9.

We've created several community committees to help address the needs of our district:

D9 General Advisory Council: Quarterly public forum comprised of the presidents of our area HOA / Neighborhood Association Presidents. And other concerned community members, that invites the public to share their concerns and learn more about pressing municipal issues.
D9 Senior Center Committee: Comprised of D9 residents who advise the City as we move closer to constructing the first senior center in District 9!
D9 Veterans & Military Affairs Committee: Comprised of area veterans and active duty service members residing in D9 to help engage the community on policy issues that affect their lives. The committee has already organized two public community forums!
D9 Boards and Commission leaders forum: we hold quarterly meetings of all the D9 residents I have appointed to various city boards and commissions, to come together to share information about their service on these boards and commissions representing their fellow District 9 neighbors.
I have also attended the District 9 neighborhood alliance, Northside Neighborhoods for Organization and Development (NNOD), Been a consistent attendee, listening to leaders and residents in the community as well as sharing information with those present.

I pride myself on our office's communication and responsiveness. In the last 4 years we've answered over 2,000 phone calls from residents, and responded to thousands of other email requests and comments. We've sent out hundreds of social media posts, and written nearly 200 online email blasts. Over the last the 3 years, twice a year, we've sent out a district wide newsletter. Although speaking directly with my neighbors is the easiest way to communicate what is going on at City Hall, because of COVID-19 health and safety practices we all have been following, I am extremely pleased at the success we have continued to have in communicating with constituents through online media such as ZOOM, Facebook and Nextdoor.

You can find me on social media by following the links below!

Goals to complete in the next term:

While we have accomplished so much, there is still much work to be done. As your City Councilman, these are some of the projects I plan to see through to completion:

Work with the community and the district 9 bond team to put together a significant package of improvements for the upcoming citywide 2022 bond program.
Working with a top fortune 500 company to bring a new facility and hundreds of jobs to the heart of the district
Expansion of Sonterra Blvd to connect to loop 1604
Completion of Classen-Steubing Ranch Park