A major boost today for 'outsider' candidate Manuel Medina's run for Mayor of San Antonio, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association, arguably the most influential organization in Bexar County politics, today endorsed Medina's bid. President Charles Steele said the Association considered current Mayor Ivy Taylor and Councilman Ron Nirenberg, but the members felt City Hall is more and more detatched from the things that matter.
"We have seen so much waste of tax dollars, a $100,000 toilet that they're paying for," he said.
He was referencing a high tech self-cleaning toilet that was installed last year at the corner of Market and Alamo Streets, near the Convention Center.
Steele says the City Council has been involved in 'a ton of ethical violations' and has allowed the City's fortunes to slide."San Antonio is in decline," he said. "There is crime through the roof. We know that everyone is going to be affected by crime in the next two years if they leave things as they are."
Two key leaders of the San Antonio Tea Party, Jeff Judson and George Rodriguez, also endorsed Medina, ironic because Medina is the Chairman of the Bexar County Democratic Party.
Judson says as a life long Republican, he never thought he would be endorsing a Democratic Party leader, but he pointed out that the Mayor's race is non partisan, and Medina is clearly the best person for the job.
He says the current council has been 'dazzled by the shiny object,' from the horribly unpopular downtown streetcar plan to the recent hyper-expensive Vista Ridge water project.
He says Council has neglected the things that most San Antonians want the most.
"We want our streets smooth, we want enough streets so we don't have congestion, we want our trash picked up, we want our sewers to work."
Judson says the current Council has been 'focused on the shiny object,' with expensive, dazzling projects, and has neglected the core services the citizens desire.