🗳️ A quick note before we begin:
It’s not typical for Ensemble Texas to include candidate endorsements—mostly because the opportunity hasn’t come up. But I care deeply about this city, and when local voter turnout hovers around 15%—as it did in San Antonio’s 2023 mayoral race—I feel a responsibility to speak up.
I’ve always believed that the values behind Ensemble Texas—like sustainability, equity, and care for community—are inherently political (though not partisan). You can read more about that perspective here. So while this may feel a little different in form, it’s not a departure in spirit.
I’m sharing where I’ve landed in this mayoral race and why. I welcome thoughtful disagreement, and more than anything, I hope you’ll vote.
Early voting runs through April 29, and Election Day is May 3.
How I Got to My Decision
I had a difficult time deciding who to vote for. After meeting them and gaining a better understanding of their platforms, I was greatly impressed by our Councilmembers: Adriana Rocha Garcia of District 4, Melissa Cabello Havrda of District 6, and Manny Peleaz of District 8.
If my chosen candidate doesn’t advance from this crowded field, I sincerely hope one of those Councilmembers does—and I’ll happily cast my vote for any one of them in the likely event of a runoff in early June.
As for other serious contenders, I found the scale and source of outside money backing Rolando Pablos and Gina Ortiz Jones to be deeply concerning.
In an age when workarounds to local campaign contribution limits are increasingly common, I believe how a candidate funds their campaign—and who’s investing in them—is a reflection of their values and accountability. Political Action Committees (PACs) supporting Pablos and Ortiz Jones can raise unlimited sums, free from the $1,000 individual contribution cap set by San Antonio, giving major political players outside our city disproportionate influence in a local race.
To me, that’s a missed opportunity to lead with transparency and integrity. Beto Altamirano has also benefited from a wide personal and professional network, but his campaign has not been bolstered by these kinds of high-dollar national or partisan PACs. That distinction matters.
That isn’t to say that those two candidates (Pablos and Ortiz Jones) are the same. In some runoff scenarios, I could see myself happily casting my ballot for Ortiz Jones. She’s sharp, well-studied on San Antonio’s challenges, and has significant leadership experience. Funding sources aside, I just don’t believe Ortiz Jones’ heart is in this race. Of course, if her congressional campaigns had succeeded, she wouldn’t be here. But to me, that’s an important sticking point. This mayoral bid doesn’t feel like a natural next step in service to San Antonio; it feels more like a political consolation—or maybe even a layover—on the way to whatever might come next for her in Washington.
Rolando Pablos, however, seems to see San Antonio strictly as a product to be sold. Pablos has the view (a misguided one in my opinion) that Austin, Dallas, and Houston have “figured out the formula” for growth and development that San Antonio must mimic. I believe his approach to leading the city will all but certainly cash in on whatever San Antonio’s value is today, only to sell out our tomorrow. I don’t trust Pablos to take any meaningful action on climate or conservation, fight for more equitable growth and development in our city, and most importantly, given his political affiliations and campaign contributions, take a hard stance against state leadership when necessary to protect our city’s interests.
To be fair, in his bigcitysmalltown interview, Pablos cited his interest in supporting our education system, building more affordable housing, and tackling our city’s stubbornly high poverty rate, alongside his strong views on economic development that’s guided the other Texas major metros. But the problem with Pablos’ partisan affiliations is that I can’t view him as a serious, independently thinking candidate—especially when the party-aligned PAC supporting his run is tied to Governor Greg Abbott, whose actions, in my assessment, have done little to support—and in some cases have directly undermined—many of Pablos’ own stated goals.
I didn’t get the opportunity to meet Councilman John Courage in studio—he didn’t respond to our invitation for an interview. But at 73, and more importantly, after citing health concerns as the reason for bowing out of the mayoral race in December—only to re-enter a few months later—his candidacy was a nonstarter for me.
Regardless, as a young professional, a parent of two children under five, and a first-time homeowner, I can’t help but to embrace a generational changing of the guard in leadership.
Which brings me to why I’m excited to support Beto Altamirano in this upcoming mayoral election.
Why I’m in on Beto
San Antonio doesn’t need to change itself; we need a leader who appreciates the uniqueness of the city and this region, and will seek to protect and continue celebrating that uniqueness ferociously in the face of growth.
As Beto mentioned to Bob Rivard and me in studio, “the question is not whether we’re going to grow, it’s how we’re going to prepare for that growth…” I share that opinion, and like I’ve cited before, other generational leaders of San Antonio share that opinion, too. Former Mayor Henry Cisneros shared in a live podcast interview with Bob back in late 2023 that growth in San Antonio is “inevitable” and “unstoppable.”
So instead of chasing faster growth or prioritizing the relocation of corporate headquarters which, in my view, is the wrong focus, Beto made a compelling and unique case: what matters most first, is how we grow and development from within. He’s right to argue that we shouldn’t put the cart before the horse. Sequence is a strategy.
I believe San Antonio’s quality of life, its affordability, its hospitality, its culture, and its beauty will continue to speak for themselves. Clearly, there’s been great generational advocacy on behalf of ‘selling San Antonio,’ and I think the word has gotten out. As other cities become increasingly unlivable, the median home sale price in Austin is now over $500,000, compared to just $250,000 in San Antonio, our city will only become a more attractive place to live.
And so I appreciated Beto’s attention to identifying what will make San Antonio a place to stay.
Beto cites concerns about preparing our infrastructure, supporting young people in developing the skills and education needed for the world of tomorrow, and ensuring families have accessible and quality childcare.
Personally, I’m less concerned about what Texas and the rest of the country think about San Antonio, but more concerned that San Antonio continues to be a city that works harder to take care of its own.
We don’t need to be Dallas, Houston, or Austin.
We need to find our trajectory for growth and development that remains uniquely San Antonio. A smarter trajectory of growth that won’t sell out locals, price out the budding small business entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, teachers, and service industry professionals that make this city kind, creative, and compelling.
We need a leader who understands that it’s not just our economy, but our culture and our community that must be protected and invested in.
In fact, it’s our culture and community, our most lasting and precious resources, that will fuel a healthy economy, not the other way around.
We need a leader who sees that the culture of San Antonio and our part of Texas is valuable in and of itself, not for its potential to be commodified, packaged, and sold to the highest bidder.
And it’s my opinion that Beto can be that leader.
A core narrative of his campaign, as he told us on bigcitysmalltown, is choosing San Antonio first. He said, “ I chose this city because I fell in love with it and the possibilities and the opportunities of the city. And I want our children and grandchildren to choose San Antonio first…”
Before I continue, I must acknowledge that I saw and appreciated these qualities to varying degrees in the Councilmembers I mentioned before: Rocha Garcia, Cabello Havrda, and Peleaz, as well as in Beto.
However, for me, I broke through on a decision as I evaluated not just the level of empathy in each of the candidates, because those Councilmembers all share that quality in spades, but where I identified a candidate with the greatest sense of shared experience.
San Antonio’s Future is Still Unwritten
Beto represents a generational shift in leadership.
Now over a dozen years as a voter in this country, eight of those in this city, I’ve grown tired as I time and time again shuffle to my voting machine ‘hoping for’ older generations who occupy the lionshare of positions of power and influence in our city, state, and country’s politics to understand the gravity of our changing climate and environment.
The gravity of raising young children at a time when we’re grossly underfunding our public schools, child care providers, and putting the mental and emotional health of ourselves and our children in the hands of tech giants.
The gravity of investing in your own education, at the behest of many mentors and superiors, only to be surprised to be now paying down something the size of a mortgage as you simultaneously try to get approved for the mortgage that will actually put a roof over your head and your family’s.
The gravity of living in a diverse, multicultural, and mixed-status community in an era where that puts a target on our city’s back.
The gravity of living in an era where at each and every turn, cities are pressured to sell out their communities for another half-promise of a company that sees an opportunity.
Beto is a young father, recently welcoming his first child, and he's choosing to build his family here in San Antonio. He doesn't know what the next decades will look like, given the uncertainty, but he knows he wants his children to both be able to and want to choose San Antonio, too.
Beto is a Rio Grande Valley native, a son of immigrants, who, as a result of his father’s deportation during his teenage years, has had first-hand experience with the inhumanity of our immigration system. I believe he will act with courage and great empathy to protect the spine and soul of our community, that’s been put in a vulnerable position.
Beto is a small business owner who has seen the possibility in San Antonio to create something new and has succeeded–and it’s my assessment that he humbly acknowledges that’s not without a community of support behind him.
While not from the same hometown, I can’t help but find an incredible sense of alignment with Beto in what has not only brought me to this city but has also encouraged me to play an active role to serve it, celebrate it, and work to make it better.
As Beto reflected in our bigcitysmalltown interview,
“I’m passionate about San Antonio because, growing up in South Texas, San Antonio was the big city of South Texas. And as I mentioned, that heritage—that identity—that I fell in love with is something I wanted to be part of.
San Antonio makes you fall in love with the idea that you can shape its future, that the future’s still unwritten—and I wanted to be part of that.”
For me, while there are other strong candidates in this race, I’m excited about the prospect of a Mayor who not only offers us a vision of an even brighter future, but in fact authentically and genuinely invites us along to build it, together.
Our city, our moment – adelante, Beto!
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