Airport Mismanagement

Chick-fil-A Airport Concession Ban, 2019: As mayor, Ron and City Council voted 6 to 4 to remove company from SAT terminal contract on faith-based grounds. The Texas Legislature responded with SB 1978, “Save Chick-fil-A” law, signed June 2019.

Lost Air Service: SAT lags behind Austin and Dallas in direct international and nonstop routes. Carriers cite leadership instability and slow terminal modernization.

Terminal Expansion Delays: SAT’s long-promised new terminal program slipped repeatedly during Ron’s tenure. He championed his vision in speeches, but the construction timeline kept moving.

Anti-Business Policies

Chick-fil-A Airport Concession Ban: Ron voted against Chick-fil-A in one of the most nationally covered city hostility to business stories of the decade. Texas Legislature had to pass law to stop it.

RNC Convention Bid, 2020: City’s bid collapsed under Ron’s weak leadership. Charlotte and Jacksonville split the convention. The lost economic impact estimate ran north of $200M.

Project Marvel: $1.5B-plus public financing framework for a downtown sports and entertainment district was pushed during Ron’s tenure. It was structured to lock in property tax exemptions and public bond exposure for decades. This is a tax.

Anti-Family Views

Chick-fil-A Concession Ban: Ron targeted a family-owned, faith-based company because it is closed on Sunday and because of their record of charitable giving.

CAAP “Equity Lens”: Ron prioritized ideological climate goals over working-family cost burdens. Ron’s signature on CAAP plan directly led to emissions testing mandate that hits families on Nov. 1, 2026.

Ron has a pattern of using city facilities and platforms to advance policy positions that bypass the values of the majority of SA families, while routinely dismissing or sidelining traditional family voices.

Cost of Living / Housing

Housing Strategy: Ron leaned on Public Facility Corporation deals that strip property off the tax rolls for up to 75 years. The Texas Legislature passed HB 2071 in 2023 specifically to rein in the abuse pattern those deals created.

The PFC structure shifts the cost of city services onto homeowners and small businesses still on the rolls. Result: Ron built tax-exempt apartments.

“Affordability” in SA declined during Ron’s tenure: Median rent rose, median home prices rose, property tax bills rose. His first act as Mayor was the Paris Climate Agreement. He never sponsored a single property tax relief measure.

Aquifer Betrayal

Bexar County voters approved Edwards Aquifer Protection Program four times: 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015. Over 20 years, the 1/8-cent sales tax collected $325M and protected 187,343 acres. State law shielded those funds from diversion.

In 2020, as Mayor, Ron and City Council structured the ballot without a renewal option. The choice given to voters: workforce development or nothing. No aquifer renewal. The 9-2 City Council vote redirected the same 1/8-cent to Ready to Work.

That rate now generates $48–50M per year — three times what it generated in 2020 — because SA’s economy grew. The aquifer replacement receives $10M per year in borrowed debt the City Council can cut with a vote. State law protection is gone.

The consequence: When Lennar’s 2,900-home Guajolote Ranch development threatened the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone in 2023–24, the City had nothing to negotiate with. A fully funded EAPP would have provided $48–50M per year for easements and acquisition leverage. The replacement mechanism only issues $6–12M per year. The City came to the negotiation table without a hand to play.

State GOP validation: The March 2026 SD-25 GOP Convention passed Resolution 25-2026-G calling for a stop to the Guajolote development, citing the threat to Helotes Creek and the Edwards Aquifer and stating that Texas taxpayers bear the costs of restricted water and pollution remediation. This is the official state GOP platform — not partisan environmentalism.

Costly Climate Change

On October 17, 2019, Ron promised “no mandates” and “no ordinances” and guaranteed every future climate action would come with a full cost-benefit analysis. The emissions testing mandate that begins Nov. 1, 2026 breaks both promises.

This mandate will result in $26 million in annual costs to Bexar County drivers from the inspection fee alone: 1.24M vehicles x $21. Average repair needed to pass inspection: $1,500+. Waiver will require $600 in documented expenditures after a failed inspection. Non-compliance could result in a fine and possible jail time.

78.3% of Bexar County ozone originates outside the region per AACOG’s own photochemical modeling. The mandate punishes Bexar County families for pollution they did not produce. Phoenix-Mesa won a federal exemption on similar grounds in March 2026, 91 FR 13777. Ron did not file for exemption.

COVID Tyranny

Stay-at-home order issued March 2020 ahead of and beyond state guidance, closing small businesses while big-box retailers stayed open. This had a disparate impact on Hispanic family-owned businesses on the South and West sides.

Mask mandate enforcement extended past the point of public health, with Ron publicly clashing with the Governor’s reopening orders and created regulatory whiplash for restaurants and retailers.

$389M in Federal COVID dollars flowed through City Hall during Ron’s tenure, with 91 permanent salaries added to the City payroll. Federal money has run out. Today, taxpayers still pay the salaries.

Financial Mismanagement

City received $389M in Federal COVID funds: 73.7% of it, or $286.7M, used as revenue replacement, padding the operating budget rather than targeted at COVID recovery. To date, there are 91 permanent salaries included in budget that taxpayers now pay forever.

CPS Energy rate increases approved under Ron’s oversight, while the climate plan he ratified guarantees more rate pressure in future. SA families pay twice.

City budget grew sharply across his eight years as mayor. Property tax revenue collected by the City rose every year of his tenure. Ron never sponsored a tax decrease.

Job Training Fiasco — Ready to Work

Ron promised 40,000 enrollments and a 28,000-job placement target, cut to 15,600 before launch, for his Ready to Work program. Actual placements as of April 2026: 4,455 jobs. That is roughly 28% of the reduced goal and 16% of the original.

$235M+ collected in sales tax through April 2026. Cost per job placement: a whopping $52,000/job. Bexar families paid sales tax to subsidize a job training program with the cost-per-job of an entry-level engineer’s salary.

An 8-year sales-tax extension was passed as Prop B in October 2020 on the strength of the original 40,000 number. Voters were sold a promise the program has never come close to delivering.

Public Safety Mistakes

SAPD staffing shortfall persisted across Ron’s tenure. Authorized officer counts were not met, and officers cited city leadership friction in exit interviews and union statements.

SA violent crime rates remained elevated relative to peer Texas cities during Ron’s tenure. The City’s own dashboards document the trend lines.

Police union contract conflicts and public clashes with the rank and file weakened recruitment and retention at the worst possible time, while neighboring jurisdictions out-recruited SAPD on pay and benefits.