SAN ANTONIO – In his temporary office, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg can see City Hall being renovated. He also concedes his style of leadership may need some fine tuning.
“There was a wake-up call,” Nirenberg said.
They are lessons from what was way less than a landslide. Mayor Ron Nirenberg was re-elected by less than 3,000 votes, and as he gets ready to start his second term in office, the last few months will stay with him.
“I want people to see me more at their doorstep than on TV. And I think that as the years go by, you tend to lose focus on that, but that is certainly something you'll see more of in terms of my presence out in the community,” Nirenberg said.
The goal, the mayor said, is to be more of a “people's mayor” and less of a bureaucrat.
Nirenberg also acknowledged just how divisive an election it was, as both his and opponent Greg Brockhouse's characters were called into question.
“We talked that night, obviously, when he called to concede, and I did tell him, 'Look, you're a resident of the city, or a citizen, just like everyone else we serve and (someone) who has an important place and seat at the table. So, you know, we'll see where that takes us,” Nirenberg said.
As for the new term, Nirenberg calls it a balance between short-term and long-term goals, from things like streets, sidewalks and crime to transportation, protecting housing affordability and even some type of tax relief. He said he'll try to bring together San Antonians, no matter how they voted.
“The truth of the matter is San Antonio is a rapidly growing city, and if we don't plan for that growth, not only where are we going to suffer today — the people who live here already — but we're also going to be in worse shape off when when our city grows," Nirenberg said.