Four S.A. council members seek mayoral appointment

District 2 Councilwoman Ivy Taylor District 2 Councilwoman Ivy Taylor Photo: Courtesy Photo Photo: Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Four S.A. council members seek mayoral appointment 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — The competition for interim mayor of San Antonio will have four contenders, now that the deadline has passed for City Council members to express interest in the appointment.

Submitting letters of interest by Wednesday's 5 p.m. deadline were District 2 Councilwoman Ivy Taylor, District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales, District 6 Councilman Ray Lopez and District 8 Councilman Ron Nirenberg.

The 10-member council has called a special meeting for 9 a.m. Tuesday to select a replacement for Mayor Julián Castro, whose term ends May 31. Castro has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Castro plans to resign as mayor once his successor is chosen, and later will be sworn in as HUD secretary.

Not filing a letter of interest was District 7 Councilman Cris Medina, who had expressed interest in the appointment but last week was the target of an anonymous email alleging official wrongdoing, which he vigorously denied. Medina announced Wednesday that he would take a brief leave of absence from council for military training in the Air Force Reserve, adding that fulfilling that commitment prevented him from pursuing the mayoral appointment.

“I have begun the process of selecting a community leader to represent District 7 while I am at military school,” Medina said in a prepared statement.

“I look forward to putting on the uniform every day for a few weeks and learning even more about being a better officer,” he said.

jgonzalez@express-news.net