Veteran Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson blistered City Manager Sheryl Sculley as he announced his candidacy for Mayor on Sunday, declaring there is ‘something fundamentally wrong’ with the manager making a salary and benefits of $500,000 a year, while the ‘hard working families of San Antonio are struggling to make ends meet.’
Adkisson, who is an attorney, former state representative, and veteran County Commissioner, joined an increasingly crowded field seeking the mayor’s job. Adkisson is leaving Commissioners Court this week after unsuccessfully challenging County Judge Nelson Wolff in this spring’s Democratic Primary.
“One thing should be clear, the City Manager works for the Mayor and Council, not vice versa,” Adkisson declared.
Adkisson pointed to himself as a ‘challenger of the status quo,’ saying he was the first elected official to announce opposition to the downtown streetcar plan, has worked to make Bexar County’s Small, Minority, and Women and Veteran Owned Business Initiative among the most vigorous in the country, and cited his support for the new $900 million expansion to the University Health System facilities downtown and in the Medical Center.
He also stressed his support of ‘renewable, energy efficient and conservative measures’ that will save the county hundreds of millions of dollars.
And, in a jab at former Mayor Julian Castro, Adkisson said he will be a ‘stay at home mayor.’
“If the Mayor is absent from the City for extended periods of time, then our City Manager can take over and usurp the powers belonging to the Mayor and Council,” he said.
Other announced candidates for Mayor include State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte and State Rep. Mike Villarreal.