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Local and State

Government

Fighting for

Control

Mayor Ron Nirenberg underscored the need for local such as protecting our military installations, were under
control and pushed back against legislative encroachment attack,” Nirenberg said. “My faithfully anti-city Senator
during a combative live podcast recording with state Sen. Huffines … provided one of the most egregious bills of
Don Huffines, kicking off the Texas Tribune Festival. them all, which was trying to do away with home-rule
Nirenberg wasted no time with the verbal fisticuffs, cities altogether.”
leading off by attacking the GOP-controlled Legislature Senator Huffines, a real estate developer, responded
and Huffines, R-Dallas. The two debated a range of issues, that he governs “through the lens of the founding
including local control, stormwater management, tree fathers,” believes in “personal responsibility” and
preservation and sanctuary cities. “power of the individual.” The state senator also said
At one point, San Antonio’s mayor rattled off a series he’s not “anti-city.” But he then acknowledged that
of statistics about the benefits of immigrants in Texas there are times he believes cities should be reined in.
and supported the federal Deferred Action for Childhood “When a city gets out of the fairway, the main lane
Arrivals, or DACA. of traffic, and starts veering off into different things …
Huffines, meanwhile, said he didn’t know about the then there’s a reason for the Legislature to step up,” he
statistics Nirenberg provided and instead attempted to toss said.
some red meat to what appeared to be a liberal-leaning Huffines also suggested that his governing philosophy
crowd. The senator was jeered when he used the term was centered on “liberty” and that he saw local control
“anchor babies,” and then suggested that Dreamers had as “more control,” which is something he seeks to limit.
no right be be upset about their perilous status but instead The senator suggested that the U.S. Constitution was
should be angered that their parents smuggled them here. written to limit government control but also posited
After the panel, Nirenberg chided Huffines in an interview. that the states are the heart of governance, allowing for
Don Huffines wants to take our state back to a time when both the federal government and local governments
saying that was acceptable. We are not fooled,” Nirenberg to exist.
said. “There should be no quarter for that kind of racism.” Nirenberg quipped that the state doesn’t have a
The mayor also told the audience that local control was monopoly on liberty and suggested that the Legislature
clearly under attack during both the regular and special “stop passing laws that are unconstitutional.”
legislative sessions this year. The two also squared off over local control at last
“In particular, issues of tree preservation, of the ability for year’s Texas Tribune Festival, a three-day annual event
cities to grow revenue as their communities grow, issues that brings together hundreds of politicos across
of the authority of annexation and land-use controls, and scores of panels.
even the things that are beneficial on their face to the state, SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS SEPTEMBER 2017

10 NOVEMBER 2017 | GREATER SAN ANTONIO BUILDERS ASSOCIATION