Charter Amendment Forum and Tele-Town Hall educate and inform voters about Props A, B, & C

On Monday, October 15, your Chamber’s President and CEO Richard Perez urged San Antonio voters to Go Vote No when he participated in a Charter Amendment Forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area. The event was moderated by Francine Romero, Ph. D., Associate Dean of the College of Public Policy at UTSA, and joining Richard in arguing against Propositions A, B, and C was District 9 Councilman John Courage. Arguing in favor of the propositions was District 6 Councilman Greg Brockhouse. During the forum, Richard summarized in three words – taxes, talent, and trouble – the reasons why we should all GO VOTE NO. Because of the instability Proposition A (which would expand the referendum process) will cause if passed, the City will lose its AAA Bond rating, and we will see an increase in taxes along with a decrease in city services. If Proposition B (which would establish term limits and a salary cap for the city manager) passes, it will limit our ability to hire the best and brightest talent to run our growing city. Proposition C is trouble, because it will give the Fire Union carte blanche to choose when they are at an impasse and when to go to binding arbitration, and that hurts all of us. Click here to see more of the League of Women Voters Charter Amendment Forum. On Wednesday, October 17, a panel of six non-partisan representatives participated in a tele-town hall, which was broadcast on Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s Facebook Page and the GoVoteNo website, to explain their opposition for the proposed charter amendments that will appear on the upcoming November ballot. Approximately 10,000 San Antonio citizens watched or listened to the panel, which was moderated by Trish DeBerry, President and CEO of the DeBerry Group, and included:

• Mayor Ron Nirenberg
• Henry Cisneros, former San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Chairman, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Mayor
• Gordon Hartman, Philanthropist and Founder of the Gordon Hartman Family Foundation
• Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, San Antonio Economic Development Foundation President and CEO
• Brian Dillard, former Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association President Brian Dillard

The primary goals of the town hall were to educate San Antonio voters and to correct any falsified information that had been spread across the city by Chris Steel and the San Antonio First campaign. Since their conception, the propositions have created a controversy across San Antonio. The members of the panel stressed the detrimental impacts these propositions would have if they are passed in November and stressed the extreme importance of voting NO. As we have mentioned before, if these propositions pass, the citizens of San Antonio will be the ones who suffer the most. These propositions will raise taxes and greatly reduce the number of city services available. We urge you to learn the facts and the consequences these propositions will have on our city, join us in the upcoming election, and GO VOTE NO. If you were unable to watch the panel, it is still available on Mayor Nirenberg’s Facebook Page. Resources and more information on the propositions and the GO VOTE NO campaign can be found at: https://govoteno.com/.