Big-city mayors still waiting to hear from Abbott

Houston, Austin, San Antonio want to have meeting to discuss concerns

Gov. Greg Abbott has targeted the power of Texas cities in the special legislative session he has called this month, but so far he has not responded to requests from the mayors of three of the state’s four largest municipalities seeking to discuss their concerns.

Abbott included more than 20 items on his call for a special session that started July 18, including measures aimed at reining in local governments and their regulations. Those targets include annexation rules, ordinances to protect trees, local government permitting regulations and limits on local government property tax collections.

A day after the governor launched the special session accusing regulation-happy cities of undermining the “Texas brand,” 18 mayors asked the governor for a meeting to discuss their concerns. Abbott scheduled meetings with 10 of the mayors, mostly from small cities, within a week and has since set a meeting next week with the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth, a spokeswoman for Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings said.

Abbott aides said Friday they are working to schedule meetings with all 18 mayors, but the leaders of staunchly Democratic Houston, San Antonio and Austin said they had heard nothing from the Republican governor’s office as of Friday afternoon.

Asked about his lack of a meeting invite after Wednesday’s council meeting, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner grinned and said he was sure he had been left out due to a lack of space in the governor’s office.

“We have a lot of work to do and, hopefully, the

decisions that are made during the special session will not unduly affect or negatively impact the cites in the state,” Turner said. “The cities represent the engine of this state. You cannot turn off the engines and still expect the state to flourish.”

Jason Stanford, spokesman for Austin Mayor Steve Adler, took a more direct stance.

“Austin and Texas’ biggest cities are where Texas’ economy is growing fastest and where most Texans live and work,” he said. “If you hurt these cities, Texas bleeds. If you help these cities thrive, Texas gets stronger. Refusing even to meet with these mayors is cutting off your nose to spite the state.”

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s spokesman Bruce Davidson said his city had not heard from Abbott’s office as of midday Friday.

“Mayor Nirenberg would still appreciate the opportunity to meet with the governor to discuss the city’s views,” Davidson said.

Abbott thus far has met with the mayors of Galveston, Corpus Christi, San Marcos, Amarillo, El Paso, Lubbock, Arlington, Frisco, Irving and McKinney.

Bennett Sandlin, director of the Texas Municipal League, expressed optimism about the intergovernmental talks.

“We were concerned that cities seemed to be the target of this special session call, and I’ve heard good reports from the mayors that have had these meetings so far, that the governor was knowledgeable about the differences between Texas cities and the role that cities play in economic development,” Sandlin said. “We hope to build on that.”