Prop A advocates accuse Mayor Ron Nirenberg, the Express-News of spreading misinformation
Published: Thu, 05/04/23
Prop A advocates accuse Mayor Ron Nirenberg, the Express-News of spreading misinformation
Backers of the San Antonio Justice Charter said city's powerful have tried to mislead the public about what it actually does.
Ananda Tomas of police reform group Act 4 SA tells reporters Wednesday that Mayor Ron Nirenberg opposes Proposition A because it interferes with his own political agenda.
Michael Karlis
San Antonio Current
By Michael Karlis
on Wed, May 3, 2023 at 5:13 pm
Ananda Tomas of police reform group Act 4 SA tells reporters Wednesday that Mayor Ron Nirenberg opposes Proposition A because it interferes with his own political agenda.
Progressive groups backing Proposition A, which would decriminalize marijuana and abortion in San Antonio, on Wednesday called out Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the city's daily newspaper for spewing "disinformation" ahead Saturday's election.
During a City Hall news conference, Ananda Tomas — executive director of police reform group Act 4 SA, said Nirenberg's opposition to the ballot measure has more to do with his own political agenda than concern for average San Antonians. She also put the mayor on blast for his U-turn on policies he previously publicly supported, such as cite-and-release.
"On a phone call with Ron Nirenberg's chief of staff in late January, he expressed frustration that Proposition A would pass and stop Ron from passing his legacy charter amendments to raise council's to pay and extend the term of City Manager Erik Walsh," Tomas said to the crowd of around 15 reporters.
Tomas' statement echoes a similar claim District 8 Councilman Manny Peláez, a Prop A opponent, made to Axios San Antonio.
Peláez and unidentified sources told Axios in a Monday report that if voters reject Prop A, some business leaders will push for a charger change that would nix the salary cap and tenure limit for current City Manager Erik Walsh.
However, if Proposition A passes, Walsh's business-community backers would have to wait longer to get that proposal on the ballot, according to the report — and face doing so in a low-turnout election.
Walsh has been a strong ally to San Antonio's business elite, even though the city has grown more economically segregated during his tenure, Tomas said at the press conference.
In a statement texted to the Current, a Nirenberg representative said future charter proposals had no bearing on his decision not to support Prop A.
"The mayor stands by his previous statements on Proposition A," spokesman Bruce Davidson said. "He doesn't base his policy decisions on ulterior motives."
During the City Hall presser, Karen Muñoz, a representative from the National Lawyers Guild in San Antonio, also called out the Express-News for publishing what she called an inaccurate op-ed intended to mislead voters.
In addition to decriminalizing abortion and low-level pot possession, Prop A, would codify cite-and-release for Class C misdemeanors such as petty shoplifting and vandalism and codify SAPD's current ban on police choke holds and no-knock warrants.
However, in the Express-News' April op-ed, Marta Prada Peláez, CEO of Family Violence Prevention Service, insinuated that people accused of domestic battery would only be written a ticket for that offense of Prop A passes, according to Muñoz. Martha Prada Peláez is married to Councilman Peláez.
"I'm here representing the NLG San Antonio to specifically say that that's not true," Muñoz said. "The criminal legal system is already confusing, and it's just not fair that leaders in the community would present blatant lies which only serve to further confuse our community and just add to fear."
Class C assaults, including those involving family violence, are already citation-only offenses, meaning that the person will not be arrested unless there are other, more serious charges filed a the same time, according to Muñoz.
Martha Prada Peláez was unavailable for immediate comment.
The last-minute press conference by progressive organizers comes only three days before Saturday's citywide election, which will determine Prop A's fate. Early voting ended Tuesday.
Even though voters in other Texas municipalities have approved more limited cannabis cite-and-release initiatives, Prop A has faced an uphill battle due to opposition from local officials and aggressive spending by the city's police union.
Opponents to the ballot measure have outspent supporters 10-to-one ahead of the election, according to the San Antonio Report.