The Moral Dilemma of San Antonio

by Sonja Harris on May 1, 2015 at 5:19 PM

San Antonio with its rich historic Catholic roots and a population of over 1.4 million is presently embarking in electing its next mayor and city council on Saturday, May 9, with early voting until Tuesday, May 5. What contributes to San Antonio’s uniqueness is the friendly, relaxed atmosphere it portrays and its ever present Hispanic culture. The food, music and its people are a reminder of the distinctiveness it embodies.

Not too long ago this was a place for conservatives to find refuge from the fast paced world that revolves around this passive utopia. They say that perception is everything, but in San Antonio it’s what you don’t see that is disturbing. Conservatism is fading into liberalism and Catholicism is emerging more as a cafeteria-style religion. The position of mayor so many times can lead to national presidential appointments as former Mayor Julian Castro is now HUD director and years ago Henry Cisneros also a mayor received the same appointment.

While San Antonio still ranks as being very conservative, its elected officials as a whole are anything but conservative. Progressive mayors are not new to America and we all know what has become of these cities, homosexuals rule San Francisco, evil flows from Washington DC, Washington state legalized physician-assisted suicides, Oakland has a high crime rate due to budget deficiencies affecting the police department, the Catholic churches in Buffalo have been closed down because of economic failure and the disappearance of parishioners, and of course there is Detroit and Baltimore, just to name a few.

The top candidates for mayor of San Antonio are totally progressive, i.e. they support massive government, are pro-abortion and same sex marriage. These candidates are Mike Villarreal, Leticia Van de Putte and Tommy Atkinson, leaving little hope for the city to slow its spending and abortion agenda.

Ivy Taylor the present mayor who voted against the Non Discrimination Ordinance, which in fact made sexual orientation and gender identity a protected class in San Antonio, is also credited for stopping the streetcar from becoming a reality. However, fair play on the zoning of 2104 Babcock, a future killing ground for the unborn, has not been resolved. Her views on Pro-Life are questionable. Taylor is feverishly trying to find a doable path to ensure her reelection.

There are 14 candidates vying for mayor with Cynthia Brown Brehm being the lone conservative. She has been the only strong conservative candidate with the values San Antonio needs but without funds, little support and virtually no name recognition, Brehm will find it extremely difficult to succeed in her quest for mayor. Other contenders have not shown a reliable stance on any issue, negatively affecting San Antonio.

What is even worse is the confused state that the San Antonio conservative voters find themselves in. Feeling pressured and isolated to elect a mayor that will listen to their concerns, they now have to make problematic choices. This election has really set voters on fire and divided the Christian community. Imagine a Pro-Life conservative voting for either Villarreal or Van de Putte who have actually voted for abortion or casting their priceless vote on candidates that do not believe in the 1st or the 2nd Amendment. San Antonio conservatives deserve a voice in this election and without a clear choice their anxiety is understandable.

Electing a progressive will not only silence the voice of the conservatives, but will plunge the city into further moral deterioration. Please don’t think that the mayor and council members’ decisions don’t have an impact on all Texans, because they do. How many San Antonians have moved beyond Bexar County to escape to a more settling location, how many have moved to other states to escape the low economic wages and less than favorable technical jobs? And lastly, just look at the major cities that have fallen to ‘equality’, Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. All have allowed a strong LGBT presence which will lead to same sex marriage and the destruction of the traditional family.

So where is San Antonio heading if a progressive mayor is elected? More debt, more favor to its LGBT community, dictating what is best for San Antonio? It is a shame that in a city of this size and its Catholic and Christian history that there isn’t more support for a conservative candidate or that more conservatives are not willing to give their time and treasure to save their precious city. Or could it be that the high dollar Republican donors play games with businesses to ensure their own livelihood. Surely in the city of St. Anthony there has to be someone willing to sacrifice for the good of the people!

I have included opinions on this race from two activists, Brad Wheeler an attorney and Pro-Life Activist and Jeff Judson a political activist and State Republican Executive Committee member from Senate District 25. I have also included two voter guides for your viewing. Remember this is an opportunity to make a difference in San Antonio because the progressive outcome will only make it harder for a strong conservative to ever become mayor. Van de Putte, Villarreal, and Adkisson are wrong for San Antonio! Time to re-Awaken the Sleeping Giant! Christians UNITE! VOTE your Christian conscience!

RED SONJA 2015©
Pray, Fight, NEVER GIVE UP!

BRAD WHEELER

Mayoral candidates’ views on abortion are relevant, as the city designates funding for birth control measures. For example in 2014 the City Council voted to fund Depo Provera for teens. Depo Provera is an abortifacient. It causes abortion prior to implantation. Depo Provera also causes permanent bone density loss and raises the risk of breast cancer by 80%. A person’s view on abortion is relevant for the mayor and the City Council. Further the office of mayor is often a stepping stone to higher political office. To support on the local level, a candidate who is pro-choice can result in that candidate being elected to higher office where such views are even more relevant.

JEFF JUDSON

Governor Greg Abbott is the first Governor, or any statewide official for that matter, to point out the need for the state to restrict local cities’ pursuit of laws that restrict the liberties of the people. He singled out burdensome tree ordinances and plastic bag bans as examples but there are many more.
In San Antonio, in the municipal elections currently underway, voters will vote on several charter amendments which reflect this problem. One is to amend the city charter to require a public vote before any light rail project can be built in city streets. This amendment was added after grassroots citizens collected 27,000 petitions and filed lawsuits against VIA transit agency which was building a light rail project in defiance of the law. But the origin of VIA’s action was one of those bipartisan bills (I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine) that exempted VIA from going to the voters for approval of bonds.
Another city charter amendment is to increase city council pay, currently at $20 per meeting. The new pay level will be $45,722.
There is no question that city council members in San Antonio work long hours. However, what is not discussed is whether they are working for a government that is too big and is doing too much. City Council is supposed to be a policy-making body, with the city manager in charge of running the city. However, council members’ micromanage every zoning decision, which at times takes up 50% of the time allotted for each council meeting. As a result, it now takes a year to get approval for a fast food restaurant when that same process only took three months 20 years ago. And involvement in zoning decisions invites graft and corruption, and keeps everyone in the development community afraid to ever criticize an overreaching government, lest their projects be sidelined even longer.
Despite a strong showing by statewide Republicans who all beat Democrats in Bexar county (with the exception of Dan Patrick who lost Bexar County to Letitia Van de Putte in her home town by 4 points) in the November elections, conservative candidates generally are not taken seriously by the business community in running for mayor. Or maybe viable conservative candidates don’t run so as not to subject themselves to the drudgery of sharing power with a supermajority of liberals on city council.
The front runners in the election for mayor are the current mayor Ivy Taylor (who stopped the streetcar from being built), former senator Letitia Van de Putte, former state representative Mike Villareal, and former county commissioner Tommy Adkisson. All are left-of-center Democrats of one shade or another who will continue the big-government policies of their predecessors.
As big city governments become larger, with many of their policies designed to stop urban sprawl, they actually push people out of the city to escape the taxes, crime, traffic congestion and land use regulation. Ironically, this accelerates urban sprawl.
But to any liberty loving conservative, urban sprawl is just the pejorative term given to people choosing to live how and where they want. I predict that Boerne and New Braunfels, and points in-between, will continue to benefit as people flee big government in San Antonio in pursuit of the bucolic lifestyle in the suburbs.