SAN ANTONIO – As Ron Nirenberg wraps up eight years as San Antonio’s mayor, not all his plans will be able to wrap up within his tenure.
Speaking Tuesday at his final State of the City event hosted by the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce — an on-stage conversation with San Antonio Express News Publisher Mark Medici — Nirenberg said, in the public sector, “we take the baton from someone and we pass it on to someone else.”
First elected in 2017 after four years as the District 8 councilman, Nirenberg will be forced out by term limits in June. When he leaves, the baton he passes to the next mayor will include ongoing projects that were either started or advanced under his administration.
One of the biggest will be his signature job training program, Ready to Work, which voters approved in November 2020.
Estimates for the sales tax-funded program ahead of the 2020 election focused on 10,000 people getting training every year of the four-year program, for a total of “up to 40,000″ people served.
But after voters had approved the plan, the city presented a different picture: 39,000 people interviewed, 28,000 enrolled in approved training and 15,600 placed in quality jobs.
Enrollment then got off to a slower start than anticipated, though officials said the long-term goals remained the same.
As of Tuesday, a little under three years after the city announced enrollment was open, a little under 11,100 people had been signed up - most of whom are still in the training pipeline.
Of the 3,481 who completed their training program, 2,076 had been placed in an approved job, and the city is still far below its 80% target for placing graduates in “quality jobs” within six months — currently about 56%.
But Nirenberg defended the program, in which he says he believes.
“And I believe the voters of San Antonio, who approved this program by 76%, didn’t do it because they thought it was going to be a slam dunk right off the bat,” Nirenberg said. “They believed in the importance of investing in the potential of our neighbors.”
“So, you know, I know this will evolve. I welcome feedback and improvements. There will have to be, as the economy evolves. But let’s stop talking about poverty if we’re not willing to do something about it.”
Though he won’t be around to cut any ribbons on it, Nirenberg believes the city’s plan for a downtown sports and entertainment district, known as “Project Marvel,” is a chance to also address expectations for development around the San Antonio Spurs’ current East Side home, the Frost Bank Center.
“If we work together as a city and a county and the Spurs, we can develop a plan that works,“ the mayor said. ”And I believe we’re doing that. The opportunity that it presents is quality of life for residents and, again, to make good on those expectations that were laid many, many years ago."
Nirenberg will also leave with a new airport terminal under construction, a pair of VIA “advanced rapid transit” lines in the works, but also questions about how the effects of Trump administration actions will be felt in San Antonio.
“So there’s a lot of things on the punch list, but, you know, my goal — as it has been for the last year — is to get as far down the field as possible to hand it off with as much momentum as possible to the next mayor,” he told reporters after the luncheon.
Nirenberg does not plan to endorse any of the 27 people running to replace him — at least not until the race is narrowed down to a two-way runoff election — as many expect.
“I want to make sure that I’m in a strong position to help the next mayor regardless of who that is,” he told reporters after the event.
As for his own next steps, Nirenberg won’t say, claiming he’s still formulating plans.
“I don’t think I’m done with politics, but...we’ll talk about that when the time comes,” Nirenberg told reporters.
