Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s announcement that SAWS would take over an existing Edwards Aquifer protection program to free up sales tax funding to improve the city’s bus service has exposed long-simmering tension with City Council members who don’t believe he fully briefs them before unveiling major initiatives.

The dispute puts on display the delicate balance of personalities and politics that any big city mayor must navigate. But in San Antonio, the problems are between a liberal mayor — he prefers “progressive” — and liberal council colleagues. They might share his policy views but frequently are surprised by steps he takes to achieve them, several said Wednesday.

“This lack of communication with the mayor is not a perception. It is real,” Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran said. “This is not the first time I and others on the council have found out about a major decision in the media before we heard from the mayor’s office.”

At issue is Nirenberg’s request that SAWS take over a widely supported program that has protected 160,000 acres from development over environmentally sensitive parts of the aquifer, the source of most of the city’s water.

The program, which also funds linear parks, now is managed by the city and funded by a voter-approved, 1/8-cent sales tax that has brought in about $40 million a year for 20 years.

Leaders of the city-owned utility signaled their willingness to adopt the program at a meeting Tuesday, though at what level of funding remains unclear. Nirenberg is on the SAWS board.

Upset council members said Nirenberg should have kept them in the loop about any policy matter this significant, especially if it might involve a SAWS rate increase — the mayor denies it will — which ignites their phones with constituent complaints.

“I’m friends with Ron and have an excellent relationship with him,” Councilman Manny Pelaez said. “But I was not prepared. The first I heard about it was in (the San Antonio Express-News on Tuesday). Ratepayers are calling us today. Some of them have bills that have been astronomically high, so now there is a trust crisis.”

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Councilman Roberto Treviño, also an ideological ally of Nirenberg but one who has feuded with him before, said: “This is not an isolated incident. It’s the way I’m treated. Knowing that others are treated the same way is really unfortunate.”

The council members recalled not being adequately briefed by the mayor or his staff on such issues as the announcement that the city would decline to pursue a new Amazon headquarters, the placement of future bike lanes on Broadway and the roll-out of ConnectSA, a transportation policy Nirenberg has championed that includes widening existing highways and devoting more buses to dedicated lanes.

Nirenberg said Wednesday that on each of those three issues, his staff had briefed the staff of council members and said he believed this week’s SAWS proposal had been handled similarly.

He and other civic leaders, including Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and former Mayor Henry Cisneros, have vowed to campaign hard to convince voters in November next year to switch the aquifer program’s portion of the city sales tax to more adequately fund VIA Metropolitan Transit.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio mayor: transit future hinges on sales tax shift

“With SAWS, I have a fiduciary responsibility to make sure (the utility’s board members) are not blindsided by a major policy,” Nirenberg said. “I also want to make sure that as we discuss very sensitive policy issues, that nothing is leaked out that detracts from the integrity of the process that takes place at SAWS.”

He continued, “I think it is unrealistic to think a leader would have to check with everyone before expressing his opinion. There is only one option for continuing the aquifer protection program if we’re going to leverage that 1/8 cent, and that is through SAWS. Anything else requires a law change.”

On just the policy front, leaving aside how it was communicated, some council members said the mayor erred in laying out the policy without all the funding research fully outlined.

“It’s too soon to say there is just this one solution,” Treviño said.

On ExpressNews.com: SAWS and city agree on new aquifer protection plan

“I do have alternatives for the funding,” Pelaez added. “That’s the problem. The mayor has announced that there is only one funding alternative. You’re seeing that the City Council believes they’re owed the courtesy of a healthy debate.”

Councilman Clayton Perry, who represents a heavily Republican part of town, said he would not critique Nirenberg’s communication policies.

“My issue is the policy,” Perry said. “Taking a tax that was voted on (aquifer protection) and moving it to an entity (SAWS) that will add it to their rate structure and doesn’t have to be voted on is bad policy. This isn’t the first time we haven’t been informed. There’s a long list like this one.”

Perry did concede that his chief of staff received a message from the mayor’s office on Monday about the SAWS proposal, but said no details were offered.

“I don’t know if SAWS can come up with this money,” Perry said. “I don’t sit on their board. But I would say absolutely that it looks like there would be a rate increase.”

Robert Puente, the CEO of SAWS, said no vote has been taken by the utility’s board on Nirenberg’s proposal.

“My board felt they did not have enough information about what the proposal was and what it would cost” after Tuesday’s meeting, he said. “I think it can be done without a rate increase in the short term, but whenever you’re asked to fund as much as $20 million a year, it will eventually have an effect.”

Asked if he was confident his proposal could work without a rate increase, Nirenberg replied: “Yes, I am. I say that as a board member and a mayor.”

Bruce Selcraig is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read his stories on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | BSelcraig@express-news.net