MAYOR’S MONTHLY SEPTEMBER 2020, SA: READY TO WORK
We weathered COVID-19’s summer surge, but we have a long road ahead of us before we’re able to access a viable cure or vaccine. Thank you for continuing to do your part to prevent the spread of this disease. The current hospitalization and case rate has provided some respite for our community and shows that we’re doing a great job of adhering to the safety protocols outlined by our public health experts.
This pandemic has wreaked havoc across San Antonio. More than 150,000 residents have filed for unemployment since March. The San Antonio Food Bank began serving 120,000 people per week — double their typical efforts.
If you think about that for just a moment, that means that the San Antonio Food Bank was serving 60,000 people per week before any of us had even heard of COVID-19. If you take a closer look at the recent unemployment claimants, nearly half were earning less than $22,000 a year. 1 in 5 San Antonio adults don’t have their high school diploma.
Under no circumstances should that be acceptable.
So, we can’t go back to the way things were. The past was simply unsustainable for tens of thousands of San Antonio families.
Building upon our COVID-19 Recovery & Resiliency Plan, we can utilize an existing sliver of our local sales tax to help educate and train up to 40,000 San Antonio residents for higher-wage, in-demand jobs and accelerate our trajectory out of this recession.
Tens of thousands of new careers. Job training. Education. Higher wages. No tax increase. I’m asking you to join me in voting YES for Prop B — SA: Ready to Work.
“Chokeholds and no-knock warrants have been banned by Chief McManus, and SAPD has implemented a new escalated mental health call protocol.”
Mayor Ron Nirenberg
The current use of the sales tax for Prop B funds the Edwards Aquifer Protection Program and Greenway Trails System. Last Thursday, Council voted to bring the aquifer program into the City’s general fund for at least 10 years. The program will be funded with revenues the City receives from SAWS. The move will not require a SAWS rate increase, local tax increase or administrative change to meet the program’s demands. Existing conservation easements will not be impacted.
The County recently voted to take on the next phase of the greenway trail construction as part of their flood improvement plan and the system will continue to be managed by the City of San Antonio. I remain committed to completing and enhancing our greenway trail system.
BUDGET
City staff worked tirelessly to ensure the FY2021 budget remained balanced despite the setbacks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
SAPD’s crisis response team was moved to Metro Health to better focus on the needs of our community.
Metro Health has received additional funding to create a Violence Prevention Division, which will include a focus on domestic and gun violence.
Another $24M will go to our emergency housing assistance fund, bringing the total amount that we’ve allocated to this program to nearly $75M. The emergency housing assistance fund is now one of the largest of its kind in the United States.
As we further our efforts to redefine public safety in San Antonio, I’m encouraged by the progress we’ve made in such a short period of time. Chokeholds and no-knock warrants have been banned by Chief McManus, and SAPD has implemented a new escalated mental health call protocol. I’m grateful for the voices guiding us toward a safer, healthier future and appreciate SAPD’s willingness to evaluate changes they can make now to accelerate our work. There is still so much to do, but I’m pleased we’re doing it together.
COVID-19 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS:
San Antonio COVID-19 Updates:
covid19.sanantonio.gov
Updates in American Sign Language:
http://sat.ahasalerts.com/ActiveAlerts.aspx?id=1334
Local COVID-19 Hotline: 210-207-5779 or 311
Text COSAGOV to 55000 for text alerts
We’re all in this together, so let’s continue to do our part.
Thank you for the privilege of serving you,
