"Proven Results for Our City's Future"

Creating Good Jobs

The most important issue facing our city is moving the economy forward. We must create good jobs for hard working families and as Mayor I will work to:

• Retain and expand existing businesses
• Grow the small business sector and make it easier to do business with the city of San Antonio
• Improve our skilled workforce by focusing on education and better job training programs 
• Compete in the global economy by reemphasizing international economic development and encouraging trade relations and promoting the Port of San Antonio

Making Government Fiscally Responsible-Cutting Taxes

On City Council, I fought for and secured two consecutive property tax cuts and helped eliminate over million dollars in wasteful government spending. I will continue working to make city government fiscally responsible by:

• Cutting property tax rates
• Eliminating wasteful spending
• Prioritizing essential functions and focusing on the most important city services
• Working to reform the appraisal process and provide accountability to taxpayers

Protecting Our Neighborhoods

During my term as Councilwoman I have worked to keep strip clubs and crime out of our neighborhoods and taken real action to make San Antonio the safest big-city in the nation:

• Hired 180 new police officers – The City has hired more police officers in the past three years than in the previous ten
• Reformed the dispatching process to improve response times
• Adding 60 new Firefighters and another EMS unit in 2009

As Mayor I will continue increasing the level of police, fire, and EMS protection needed for a city of our size.

Reducing Traffic Gridlock

Relieving traffic congestion is critical to the future of our city. As Mayor I will work to reduce everyday delays on our roadways by:

• Continue funding citywide traffic light synchronization
• Formulating a federal, state, and local strategy to eliminate congestion at 281 and 1604
• Fixing broken secondary traffic arteries
• Expanding road capacity
• Fast tracking deferred maintenance projects A

San Antonio must secure multifaceted transportation options that should include exploring light rail, bus rapid transit and expanding bike lanes.

Safeguarding Our Environment

Keeping San Antonio moving is also critical to protecting our environment. On City Council I led multiple efforts to safeguard our environment by:

• Creating San Antonio’s first citywide tree planting initiative which plants trees citywide at no cost to taxpayers, funding comes from the tree mitigation fund paid by developers
• Leading the effort to have San Antonio named a Solar America City by the federal government, positioning our city to be a national leader in solar energy

As Mayor I will lead the effort to secure a long-term water source that protects the Edwards Aquifer and its supply of high quality water.

Meeting Our Growing Energy Needs

Energy will be one of our city’s greatest challenges in the coming years. By 2018 San Antonio’s energy needs will require more than our current capacity. My energy policy will follow three principles:

• Develop an energy supply that meets the needs of our growing city
• Continue to keep energy costs affordable for residential and commercial ratepayers
• Maintain a diverse energy portfolio with large scale energy generation and renewable sources

I support Mayor Hardberger’s Mission Verde initiative to create a comprehensive energy sustainability plan and I am committed to seeing this effort through.

Defending Our Military Mission

Fort Sam Houston and the BRAC decision to locate the new Army Regional Medical Center in San Antonio will make our city the military medical center of our nation and Camp Bullis is a critical component to securing what is the single largest economic development project in our history.

On City Council I have worked hard to defend these interests. As the chair of the Camp Bullis Joint Land Use Study, I passed the first city ordinance protecting Camp Bullis and Fort Sam Houston, which represent 12,000 new jobs and a billion dollar investment in our city.

I will continue to defend against potential threats to these valuable community assets.