University Students Unsatisfied with Mayoral Election Town Hall

Manuel Medina (left), Ron Nirenberg and Mayor Ivy Taylor at the town hall
Photo by Andrea Acevedo

By Andrea Acevedo

Better public transportation, lower homelessness rates, and representing the interests of the San Antonio people were promised Tuesday night at a mayoral town hall debate. Yet for college students, the event left much to be desired.

The town hall was hosted by the Rivard Report, a local nonprofit online news organization. San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor and her mayoral election challengers, city councilman Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Manuel Medina, participated in the debate.

A handful of college students joined about 150 community members in the low lit Pearl Stable, hoping to get better insight on the city politics. Zabdi Salazar, sophomore business major at Trinity University, is from Austin. “While this does not have a direct effect on me right now, if I ever choose to stay in San Antonio, it will be important to be informed,” she said. “I think that undergraduates need to be involved in these sorts of events because right now it is the older populations that mostly come to these events.”

The town hall allowed selected members of the audience to speak but there were no university student voices heard. Their concerns were not up for debate either.

“A lot of our representatives are actually afraid of interacting with young people. I know this on a personal level because of the work I do with MOVE San Antonio,” said Chiara Pride, a freshman anthropology and political science major at Trinity, who volunteers for MOVE San Antonio. “Local politicians don’t understand the problems of young people, but more than that, they do not know how to interact with us.”

Public transportation and homelessness were the main issues discussed at the meeting. “I would love to be able to take fast public transportation to my work which is about 2 miles away, but that ride is probably way longer than it needs to be,” said Trinity Alumni and Rivard Report staff member Mason Stark.

Medina supported the idea of building a bullet train from San Antonio to Austin. Nirenberg promised to continue working on a $10 Million project for the VIA bus system. Mayor Taylor acknowledged that VIA is severely underfunded and said that she was interested in pursuing ideas to help fund the company.

Each candidate also had plenty to say about what was next for caring the city's homeless populations. Medina was in favor of creating jobs and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Mayor Taylor was proud to say that San Antonio could claim a functional zero in veteran homelessness. She plans to continue working with the local non profits that have made this possible, and wants to implement programs that provide help with mental health.

Nirenberg wants to tackle the issues that lead to homelessness in the first place, such as family violence and lack of mental health resources.

The San Antonio mayoral election will be held on May 6.