San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg's ex-campaign chief blames him for city hall 'clown show'

San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg's former campaign manager is blaming his one-time boss and City Manager Erik Walsh for creating a "clown show" in which five council members called a press conference last week to discuss the possible ouster of the city attorney.

City Council is meeting in executive session Wednesday to discuss the possibility of removing City Attorney Andy Segovia over some members' allegations that he provided conflicting and inaccurate legal advice.

However, Kelton Morgan, who successfully ran Nirenberg's first two mayoral campaigns, told the Current Segovia is most likely just following instructions from the mayor and Walsh.

"I'm not sure that I put any of this necessarily on Andy," Morgan said. "Other than he's being told what to do by Erik and Ron."

It's worth noting that Nirenberg cut Morgan loose in early 2020, replacing him with longtime Democratic operative Gilberto Ocañas.

Nirenberg himself was not available for comment Wednesday afternoon.

Five council members, including District 6's Melissa Cabello Havrda aired their allegations against Segovia during a May 9 press conference. They argued that Segovia and Nirenberg refused to allow council to go into executive session last week to discuss sensitive financial details of the city's contract negations with the fire union.

"The initial request for the private executive session was because the legal advice we received from Andy Segovia was that they had to happen in executive session," Cabello Havrda told the Current this week of her decision to call the presser.

Segovia told council members they couldn't meet in the executive session, citing fears of information leaking out and putting the city in a compromised negotiating position with the union.

Council is now scheduled to discuss the negotiations publicly during Thursday's A session.

"I'll tell you, I don't know what they're trying to discuss on Thursday, because there's only so much we can say without openly trying to negotiate a contract," Cabello Havrda told the Current on Monday. "[Our] intention was never to negotiate the contract for the city or the fire union. It was to give direction — that's what we were supposed to be doing."

Political consultant Morgan speculates that Nirenberg and Walsh are instructing Segovia to keep council out of the discussions. He also blamed the mayor for allowing the situation to be thrashed out in public.

"This is just more of Nirenberg being a terrible leader, or not a leader at all, and not engaging with other council people and keeping them informed and happy," Morgan said.

Segovia's office hasn't responded to Current's request for comment on the rescheduled fire union discussion.

Nirenberg has long struggled to master city hall politics, Morgan said, adding that he frequently resorts to my-way-or-the-highway ultimatums rather than building consensus.

The consultant also said political positioning for the 2025 mayoral race is playing a role in the City Hall chaos. District 9 Councilman John Courage and District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez have formally announced their candidacies, while Cabello Havrda and District 4's Adriana Rocha Garcia are also said to be mulling runs.              
                                                                                                                                             
"This goes deep. This is seven years of the mayor refusing to forge relationships with any of his colleagues," Morgan said. "This is also four people on the same council wanting to run for mayor at the same time — all of these competing agendas and whatnot at play, and the result is a very public, silly clown show."

Morgan said he's unsure why Nirenberg and Walsh want to keep council in the dark about the city's second-largest employment contract. But, he did say Segovia's concerns about potential leaks are most likely a load of horseshit.

Cabello Havrda told the Current her concerns about Segovia and the union negotiations have nothing to do with possible mayoral aspirations.

"I maintain that anything I have ever done sitting in this seat has been for my city," Cabello Havrda said. "This isn't the first time I've raised concerns about the city attorney or these processes or a refusal to adhere to what six of us are saying in some cases. But it's the first time I've done it publicly. This isn't a concerted effort to set myself up for a future run. This is what I believe is right for the city."

Morgan said that there might be some political calculus on Cabello Havrda's part but added that her public spat with Segovia is unlikely to mean much to most voters come election time.

"This isn't creating jobs, filling potholes, solving traffic congestion or putting more cops on the street," Morgan said. "Ultimately, this is inside baseball."

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