San Antonio, TX

If you have been in San Antonio or at least South Texas for a few years, you likely know the name Cisneros. Of course, you probably know of Henry Cisneros, former Mayor who became the first Hispanic man to lead a major city when he was elected in 1981.

If you know about Mary Alice Cisneros, it’s probably because you have heard of the scandal that ensued when it was found that Henry had an affair, or perhaps you remember the drama surrounding her difficult pregnancy with son John Paul and the heart problems that are now fixed on the young man, a college freshman.

What you may not know yet (but what you will learn) is that Mary Alice Cisneros will be sworn in next month as District 1 representative, the same seat her husband held before he become mayor. Though she is mum on what else the future could hold, there is talk that we may see another Cisneros in the mayor’s seat soon enough. For the full election results and tally, go here to the official SA government site.

Well, the elections are over and though there will be some runoffs, most of the big categories were well taken care of by the votes. Phil Hardberger got reelected in a landslide, and all five of the proposed bonds were handily voted in as well.

This got us thinking about how little some know about their current officials. So let’s introduce you, one by one, shall we?

Since Hardberger is obviously the big favorite (or was it just lack of viable competition?), we will start with him. He WILL be the mayor for the next two years, after all. You can go to his official page on the San Antonio City Council website.

Or you can also go to that grand piece of internet info, wikipedia, and see his page there

We will go into a bit more detail about all of your newly elected officials, and maybe have a word or two for those who will be leaving us next month. A moment of silence for the soon, departing, please. OK, not really but when you are talking straight politics for a few weeks, a little humor never hurt.

There are several things to consider on the ballot for May 12th. We already discussed the huge bond issue that will take us all the way to 2012 in terms of money and well beyond that in terms of impact on the city, you and your families.

We also discussed (just yesterday) the mayoral candidates and what they had to say at the candidate’s debate. Well, everyone except Mayor Hardberger, because he didn’t show up.

Now, we touch on some of the districts. Since the election is in two days, there is no way to be thorough on every candidate, but we can offer you at least a little bit of insight when it comes to two of the larger and more populous districts: districts seven and five.

For a primer on the candidates and issues affecting these two districts, we turn towards the San Antonio Current, who always do a great job covering the local political landscape. Say what you want about their other articles, but they do uncover some great stuff when it comes to politics.

Here is a recent article in the Current that reflects what they know about the districts and helps break down what you should know. We also highly suggest doing a little bit of digging around their site while you are there to see what else they have to say about what they have dubbed ‘Sabado Gigante.’

There are officially seven candidates running for Mayor of San Antonio, and we the people have to decide who should be leading the city for the next few years. Of the seven, only five seem to be doing any active campaigning, and most think that the majority have no chance to beat Phil Hardberger, who is running for reelection. Nevertheless, we are listing all of the candidates that will be on the ballot:
1. Phil Hardberger (Incumbent)
2. Patrick McCurdy
3. Eiginio Rodriguez
4. Michael Idrogo
5. R.G. Griffing
6. Julie Iris Oldham
7. Rhett Smith
If you are interested, you can find the mandatory campaign finance reports for each candidate here.

You can also watch the recent debate to see where each candidate stands on the issues that will impact the city the most. It is long and broken down into several segments, but well worth the watch if you want to make informed decisions. Hardberger was unfortunately not present but it’s not like you don’t know what he stands for, if you have been paying attention. This will help you instead to find out about the names on the list that perhaps you do not recognize.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

If you wanted to vote early instead of waiting until the May 12th General Election, you should have requested a ballot by last Friday, May 4th. If you did, then this is a gentle reminder that today (Tuesday, May 8th) is the final day to send in your ballot.

As an interesting note, you can go to this web page to find out how many early votes have already been cast at different locations across the city. Yesterday, San Antonians cast 6, 790 early voting ballots at one of over 50 early voting ballot drop locations. The grand total of early ballots cast is now 35, 271, with the last day’s worth of ballots yet to be cast or counted. It is estimated that the final tally will be over 40,000.

Though it is very encouraging to see so many people taking part in the election process early, it is still imperative that if you are a registered voter who did not vote early, that you do so on May 12th.

If you are waiting instead until next Tuesday to vote along with the rest of the city, then you hopefully know all you need to know about the issues, particularly the bond issues that we posted about in yesterday’s blog entry.

$550 million in bond issue decisions need to be made, and the big day to do it is May 12, 2007. This is general election day (though early voting is still available till May 8th) and it seems like as much as 60% of registered SA voters are not paying attention or seem disinterested. Do not let ennui cause you to miss out on voting for these five very important proposals:

1. Streets, Bridges and Sidewalks Improvements
2. Drainage Improvements
3. Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and Athletics Improvements
4. Library Improvements
5. Public Health Facilities Improvements

The details of each type of project can be found HERE. This is SA government website that will give you all the specs on each proposal and why they are so important to the future of our fair city, including a FAQs. If you don’t find what you are looking for through the links on the website, you can also call 207-7080 or 311 for additional information about the bond program or the election itself.

This bond program that is being voted on extends through the year 2012. That is five whole years of projects and issues that will affect you, your children and the rest of the city well beyond 2012. That is why it is imperative to educate yourself, then go out and make your voice heard.

San Antonio is already home to some pretty well-known Universities. St. Mary’s is well-renowned for its law program, Incarnate Word for its nursing program. Now, San Antonio will be known for its A&M campus as well.

According to this article in the San Antonio Business Journal, A&M has accepted a generous donation of 696 acres of land on the Southside to build a campus that is scheduled to be opened in 2011. This is contingent upon getting a projected enrollment of 1,500 students in order to accept a 2003 Texas State Legislature ruling that they be given $40 million in tuition revenue bonds that would help fund the new campus.

There are steps in place to help meet this enrollment goal. Called the A&M San Antonio Foundation, it is meant to raise money (goal: $8 million) to offer scholarships to students in order to encourage them to enroll. The students won’t have to wait until 2011, either – the school will start temporarily holding classes on a South San Antonio Independent School District property beginning in 2009 until the new campus is finished.
The donation was made by Triple L Management Company, which also gave a $1 million donation to get things going for A&M.

Though election day is actually May 12th, San Antonians wishing to express themselves through the electoral process can vote now. Early voting started May 1st and ends May 8th, giving you six more days (as of the date of this post) to get out and make your voice heard early.

A few things to know about the early voting process:

- The last day to request a mail ballot is Friday, May 4th
- Local (City Council and Mayor), county, Secretary of State and bond issues are all on the ballot
- You must be registered to vote. If you are not sure about your voter registration status, call 210-335-VOTE to find out

If you are not sure where to go to vote, visit this website: http://www.bexar.org/webapps/html/elstrinq01.asp

It is a very helpful tool that gives you a list of polling places by zip code. It also has a sample ballot available so you can familiarize yourself with what you will see on election day.

This blog will be updated regularly with all the latest election news, including breakdowns of each major race and where the candidates stand on the issues that matter most to San Antonians.