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San Antonio mayor delivers farewell address outlining housing, workforce and energy achievements
Summary
In a farewell speech, the mayor of San Antonio reflected on eight years in office and highlighted initiatives the mayor said reduced homelessness, expanded housing investment, grew workforce training, advanced airport expansion and moved the city toward solar power.
The mayor of San Antonio delivered a farewell address at a public event, saying, “This will be my last official speech as mayor,” and outlining what he described as the city’s achievements over his eight years in office.
The mayor emphasized housing and economic initiatives, saying voters approved measures in 2020 and 2022 that funded neighborhood projects, an infrastructure program and workforce training. “In 2020 and 2022 the voters supported a little less than $2 billion,” he said. He credited the investments and programs for increasing housing construction and for creating job-training opportunities.
On workforce development, the mayor highlighted the Ready to Work program and described a typical participant as “a person of color with children, single, earning about $14,000” before completing the program and “now earning $44,000 with benefits.” He said the program has helped participants move from multiple low-wage jobs to a single career and framed those changes as examples of the city’s broader efforts to reduce poverty.
The speech also touched on homelessness and public-safety indicators. The mayor said San Antonio “brought more people under safe roofs” and that violent crime rates and good jobs are improving. He did not provide citywide counts or independent data in the remarks; those figures were presented as assertions by the mayor.
The mayor said the city closed its last coal-fired power plant and described San Antonio as “the only fully solar city,” attributing the shift to investments in renewable energy during his tenure. He also said the city has expanded its airport facilities and that the airport’s size has doubled during his term.
The mayor named multiple city staff and officials in gratitude, including City Manager Eric Walsh and other staff members, and singled out department teams at the airport and city administration for their roles in major projects. He recounted personal stories about program participants — for example, a resident he called “Joe,” whose income rose after participating in Ready to Work — to illustrate the programs’ effects.
He concluded by thanking family, staff and residents and accepting a commemorative plaque. Remarks at the end of the event included presentation of the plaque to the mayor.
Details that the mayor stated in the speech — such as the funding totals, program outcome figures, claims about the city’s energy status and crime or homelessness trends — were presented as the mayor’s account; the city’s official records or independent data were not provided in the transcript excerpt.
