Dear Neighbors,
At last week’s Emergency Council Meeting to discuss the storm, I recommended the formation of a committee of council members and civilians to review the response to the winter storm; and I volunteered to form part of it. This week, the Mayor announced the formation of this committee and I have been asked to serve on it.
Our community deserves answers about what happened, why and how. We also deserve better preparation for our next storm.
Nearly a week after the storm, people are still dealing with its consequences. In addition to responding to your calls and emails, my team shared information via email, robocalls, text and social media. We have called hundreds of senior residents and apartment complexes to ensure they were safe and offered help. We delivered care packages to homebound seniors and water to several apartment complexes experiencing extended outages.
This storm is the latest in a series of severe weather events that are happening more frequently. In 2019 I led the adoption of our City’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. While COVID-19 may have paused many things, it did not pause climate change. The work outlined in the Climate Plan is as urgent as ever. Last week’s storm reminds us that severe weather is a certainty going forward and we need to be prepared.
I look forward to working with the Committee members: Councilmembers Rocha Garcia, Pelaez and Perry; Attorney and former chair of the Texas Bar Association Lisa Tatum; Retired U.S. Air Force General and former Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Commander Edward Rice; and former Councilman and Committee Chair Reed Williams, who is one of our best thinkers on the subject of utilities and reliability.
In the coming days and weeks, I will begin taking community input and suggestions regarding the storm preparation and response and personal experiences. Your experience and questions are as important as those of anyone on the Committee. I am also interested in speaking with those neighborhood heroes who stepped in to provide emergency help to those in need. Please stay tuned for announcements on how you can share your input.
Yours in public service,
