First elected in 2011 at the age of 24, San Antonio City Council member Rey Saldaña won 78 percent of the vote in May and was reelected to represent District 4 for a fourth and final term.
Saldaña's priorities for D4 – one of the largest San Antonio districts by geographical area – include transportation, health and education.
Saldaña is the new vice chair of the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and will head the revamped Transportation Committee in Mayor Ron Nirenberg's City Council. Key areas for improvement include providing the city's bus-riding community with an efficient and reliable bus network, and finding other long-term solutions for the city's transportation problems.
His educational efforts target truancy and accountability standards in the South San Antonio Independent School District.
Income segregation and opportunity gaps are major concerns in District 4. Saldaña notes that some of these issues are "self-perpetuating" in San Antonio.
"Ourdistricthasseentheneglectandlooksforwardtotakinganequitylenstoourworkthroughoutthecity,inordertoreversetheideathatDistrict4isacommunitytoescape,ratherthanstaytolive,workandraiseafamily," Saldaña says. "Theconventionalwisdomdefiningsuccessforthoseinmydistricthasbeenmeasuredbyhowfaryouhavemovedawayandhowquicklyyouleftthecommunity."
What does Saldaña hope to accomplish during his last term? What does the Council member have planned for San Antonio's Southwest side? What are his goals in District 4 and for the city?
Guest: Rey Saldaña, San Antonio City Council Representative for District 4
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