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The next Bexar County judge will help select the county’s next manager, county officials said Tuesday.
Longtime County Manager David Smith will leave the post at the end of the year, along with County Judge Peter Sakai, who lost the Democratic primary in March to former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
Nirenberg or Republican nominee Patrick Von Dohlen will serve as county judge-elect during the selection process. The two candidates face off Nov. 3.
County commissioners voted this month to open the county manager position to applicants. The application period runs through Nov. 17.
The review group will include any county commissioners who choose to participate, along with current County Manager David Smith and the county judge-elect, who will serve as nonvoting, ex officio members, according to the county.
Smith will help inform the review of the position’s responsibilities and qualifications, including recommendations on narrowing the candidate pool, according to the county. The county said the judge-elect’s participation would ensure “a voice for the future of Bexar County” is represented. Review group members may attend any or all candidate review meetings.
A series of candidate review meetings will be announced later to develop recommendations for the commissioners' court consideration. Each candidate review meeting will be posted and conducted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code.
Full details about the role and instructions on how to apply may be found here.
Smith began his county career as a budget intern in 1997 and became Bexar County’s first and only county manager in 2011. He will retire Dec. 31.
The county manager’s office oversees several internal departments and about 5,000 employees. The county’s budget for this year is $2.6 billion.
Smith has urged commissioners to consider putting a property tax increase before voters in 2027. A sharp decline in property tax revenue forced the county to draw on surplus funds and cut spending to avoid a budget deficit, though basic services were not affected.
Much of Bexar County’s recent growth has occurred in unincorporated areas outside San Antonio, where new subdivisions have expanded rapidly. Developers typically turn over responsibility for maintaining infrastructure, including streets, to the county.
More than 500,000 people live in unincorporated areas of Bexar County, which has a total population of about 2 million. It is the fourth-most populous county in Texas and the 16th-most populous in the nation, according to county officials.
