SAN ANTONIO – After two decades of serving as president of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Joe Krier thought he just might retire, but life said, “Not so fast.”
He was president and CEO of the chamber from 1987 to 2007.
“I never woke up for 20 years not being happy to be going downtown and being president of the chamber of commerce,” Krier said.
After returning to work as an attorney, Krier was appointed to fill the District 9 vacancy on the San Antonio City Council. He was elected to keep that position in 2014.
School zone safety has been one of Krier’s biggest priorities as a council member. Two young girls have been hit and killed by cars in District 9 during his tenure. The two tragedies hit close to home for Krier after he suffered a similar accident at the age of 4 when he was living with his family in Wisconsin.
“I’m running across the street between two parked cars as another car is coming down the street. I get hit. I get thrown,” he recalled.
Krier broke one leg and ultimately doctors had to break the other.
"The only thing I remember from being a 4-year-old is lying on the street looking up and realizing that car was dripping oil,” Krier said.
After a long recovery, and following his family’s move to Texas, Krier enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, where he met his wife, Cindy.
"When I was president of the student body, she was a reporter for the Daily Texan newspaper,” he said.
They've been married 34 years and have two dogs.
"Harry Truman once said, ‘If you want to be loved in politics, get yourself a dog,” Krier said with a chuckle.
Outside of council, Krier describes himself as a book lover. During his travels as chamber president, instead of asking where the best restaurant was, he’d ask for the best bookstore.
"I now have a couple of hundred books that I have read four pages apiece in,” he joked.
And try as he might, Krier is a self-proclaimed frustrated gardener.
"I’ve always wanted to grow orchids,” he said. “People will say, 'Anybody can do that.' Well, anybody can do that, but I haven’t been able to.”