SAN ANTONIO – In the run-up to the 2022 election, Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) faced a choice.
With Ina Minjarez deciding to run for Bexar County Judge, the District 124 seat in the Texas House of Representatives was open. Cabello Havrda said the people she talked to advised her to run for state representative, which they saw as a step up from a city council seat.
“And it kind of broke my heart a little bit, because that’s not why I’m in public service. It’s not for the clout, or the extra perk, or anything like that,” Cabello Havrda told KSAT in a recent interview.“And I really had to soul search and figure out, ‘Do I want to spend my time in Austin, or do I want to spend my time here in my hometown, San Antonio?’ The answer came very easily. I wanted to stay on (the city) council and serve my community.”
The disability attorney now hopes to lead the community as mayor. In a field of 27 candidates, Cabello Havrda describes herself as “the fighter.”
“It’s really easy to run on promises and say that there’s no time to waste,” Cabello Havrda said. “But if there’s no time to waste, then we need to hit the ground running.”
After developing an early reputation as a soft-spoken councilwoman, Cabello Havrda has grabbed more headlines in her third term representing District 6 on the Northwest Side.
She has recently pushed for the city to help fund travel costs for women seeking legal, out-of-state abortions. Cabello Havrda also notably led a self-styled “bloc of five” group of council members in a call to consider ousting the city attorney over the fire union contract last year.
“I do fight against the establishment, the powers that be, and I get called all kind of names for it,” Cabello Havrda said. “The paper called me ’unbecoming,’ you might remember.”
Ahead of budget talks in September 2023, Cabello Havrda suggested the city send a large part of the money it receives from CPS Energy every year back to the city-owned utility. Though it was meant as a way to help stave off a rate increase, the city said the idea would likely have meant cutting entire programs or departments.
Eventually, the council passed a more tailored policy on kicking unexpected windfalls back to CPS Energy. Though she acknowledged the difference, Cabello Havrda said, “But you got to put it out there. I put out the proposal, which a lot of people thought was farfetched, but we got where it needed to go.”
Looking ahead, Cabello Havrda sees affordable housing as the city’s top issue. The councilwoman ties it, in part, to another big concern for San Antonians: homelessness.
“I really think we need to expand programs like (Towne Twin Village), that’s on the East Side, that are very low barrier to entry to get the unhoused into housing and much bigger developments,” Cabello Havrda said.
In a 33-minute interview, Cabello Havrda shared more thoughts on public safety, giving San Antonians a larger role in the city budget process and her suggestions for expanding the city’s Ready to Work job training program.
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