[0:02] good afternoon everyone again on behal

[0:05] of the north chamber executive committee

[0:07] bo staff want to thank you for being

[0:09] here today I have the priv of serving as

[0:12] mentioned as the chair of government

[0:14] Affairs the

[0:17] year year proud to have at table on

[0:21] chamber issues in

[0:25] our

[0:27] reform polies supported um we supported

[0:31] and advocated on important issues such

[0:33] as employee retention tax credits San

[0:36] Antonio to DC non-stop lights and

[0:38] funding for the advanced rapid transit

[0:41] to name a

[0:42] few of course we look have look forward

[0:44] to having a great discussion today with

[0:45] our County Judge Peter Sakai but before

[0:48] we get started we want to acknowledge

[0:50] and thank those elected officials who

[0:51] have joined us here today several of you

[0:53] have joined us for our government

[0:55] Affairs meetings and we look forward to

[0:57] having um those who have not attended

[1:00] join in the future if you can please

[1:01] stand and be recognized when your name

[1:03] is

[1:04] called obviously the man of the hour be

[1:06] County Judge Peter

[1:08] [Applause]

[1:13] Sakai be County Commissioner pring three

[1:16] Grant

[1:18] [Applause]

[1:21] moty May County Commissioner Precinct 2

[1:24] Justin Rodriguez

[1:26] [Applause]

[1:31] city councilman District 9 John

[1:38] courage city council woman District 3

[1:41] phis

[1:45] vagan city councilwoman district 7

[1:48] Marina Alber

[1:51] [Applause]

[1:53] garito city councilman District 8 Manny

[1:56] palas

[1:58] [Applause]

[2:02] city councilwoman district 6 Melissa C

[2:07] [Applause]

[2:09] hav I believe we also have the bar

[2:12] County tax assessor Albert weski

[2:15] [Applause]

[2:18] here the mayor of the city of Lio Mary

[2:23] [Applause]

[2:26] Dennis councilman city of Converse Stacy

[2:34] Adams be County Sheriff Javier

[2:39] [Applause]

[2:42] salaza representative of the 120th

[2:45] District representative German

[2:51] Hawkins representative of the 118th

[2:54] District uh representative Luhan

[2:58] [Applause]

[3:02] a newly elected fa County Appraisal

[3:04] District Board member Naomi

[3:08] [Applause]

[3:11] Miller and we have uh from the county Manager David Smith and I not

[3:16] sure if he joined us after all but the

[3:18] city uh manager Eric supposed to be here

[3:20] so give everybody a round of

[3:25] applause again thank you all for your

[3:27] service to our community pleas please

[3:30] let me know if I miss anybody um one of

[3:32] our core tenants as a chamber is

[3:34] advocacy what does that look like for

[3:35] the north chamber well it looks like

[3:37] signature programs like this one

[3:39] leadership programs including Civic

[3:41] Leadership Academy breakfast with the

[3:43] Mayors that's coming up in August and

[3:45] City Vision are just some examples of

[3:47] our efforts to inform our members about

[3:48] what's going on in our community and

[3:50] then Advocate on their behalf we also

[3:53] have our monthly government Affairs

[3:54] meetings where as mentioned prior we

[3:56] invite Civic or elected leaders to uh to

[3:59] come inform us about issues and topics

[4:01] that are important to them and to our

[4:03] membership so I mentioned the mayor's

[4:05] breakfast um I I have to give ourselves

[4:07] the shame shameful plug uh but we're

[4:10] really looking forward to that breakfast

[4:11] coming up on August 9th information

[4:13] about the event could be found using a

[4:15] QR code in the program we have currently

[4:17] 11 Mayors uh committed so far so please

[4:20] help us get the word out so finally I'd

[4:22] like to introduce my friend uh and key

[4:25] member of the north San Antonio Chamber

[4:27] of Commerce uh board of directors and

[4:29] executive committee Chris

[4:31] Coro Chris come up Chris has done an

[4:34] amazing job chairing our Workforce

[4:37] committee the past couple years uh but

[4:40] more importantly for

[4:41] today um for today at least he's here

[4:44] representing our title sponsors George

[4:46] General Contractors so let's all give

[4:48] Jorge a big thank you and let's give

[4:50] Chris a

[4:50] [Applause]

[4:54] welcome well good afternoon everyone and

[4:57] on behalf of Gary Jor 50 employees of

[5:01] George General Contractors were very

[5:03] pleased to be part of sponsor for

[5:05] today's event be county has been home GE

[5:08] contractor since G's father founded the

[5:11] firm in

[5:12] 1967 G's father was very involved in

[5:15] community very involved in trades sub

[5:18] trades that we work with and that's

[5:20] still happening today our

[5:23] mission is to transform people in places

[5:27] and we do that by becoming involved in

[5:29] we live I want to tell all of you the

[5:32] north chamber has been a great partner

[5:35] from Geor contractors over the years

[5:37] honored to be serving on the board I'm

[5:39] sharing Workforce Development bringing a

[5:42] lot of people to the table there's a lot

[5:44] of great entities trying to do good

[5:45] things with Workforce right now the one

[5:48] thing that I've seen that's been lacking

[5:50] to some extent has been bringing

[5:52] everybody in the room and then bringing

[5:54] the business community and their HR

[5:56] directors to provide feedback

[6:00] program the north chamber has been a

[6:03] huge advocate for us in past years as I

[6:07] look out across this room today and look

[6:10] at the relationships that we built over

[6:11] the past 57 years it's really an honor

[6:14] to be here to say that whether it's

[6:16] University Health System University of

[6:18] Texas San Antonio Texas A&M Credit human

[6:23] um city of San Antonio they're all

[6:26] represented here today and we are just

[6:28] so proud part of this community and on

[6:31] behalf of Y and employees we are very

[6:34] pleased

[6:36] Toons I have the great honor of

[6:39] introducing our new CEO and chairman

[6:42] Brett Finley Brett's been on the job all

[6:44] of seven months he uh is a Texas State

[6:48] grad he got his BS in kinesiology from

[6:50] Texas State University got a master in

[6:53] arts and political science most recently

[6:56] the past six years he was withan Board

[7:00] of realtorss where he represented 16,000

[7:02] reals across be County advocating for

[7:05] public policy for them and I'm really

[7:08] honored to welcome him up to the stage

[7:10] today it's our president and CEO and he

[7:13] will be moderating with our guest of

[7:16] honor judge Peter Zak Peter speaking of

[7:20] getting back to the community he has had

[7:22] a career of Public Service um he was

[7:25] appointed to uh CH be the children's

[7:28] judge for years ago he served four terms

[7:32] as a

[7:33] 225th circuit court judge he was elected

[7:35] to that he joined the office of uh uh

[7:39] judge of bar County in 20 uh January of

[7:42] 2023 so both of them are relatively new

[7:45] um he um has a great family story as

[7:50] well his family Japanese World War II

[7:53] his dad his family were involved iner

[7:55] camps so he is very very very concerned

[8:00] about civil rights rightfully

[8:02] so near and dear his heart he's also

[8:05] been great about back to community

[8:06] himself his wife Rachel is an educator

[8:09] like my wife congratulations 32 years in

[8:12] Harlandale ISD Rachel will you please

[8:14] stand

[8:16] [Applause]

[8:20] recogniz my wife said be sure and let

[8:22] everybody know that she's doing God's

[8:24] work so thank you for what you've done

[8:26] in Harlandale I noticed we had the

[8:28] opportunity to BU University Health

[8:30] System there new Women's and Children's

[8:31] Tower we had Jim Adams in the audience

[8:33] today Jim's chairman of board University

[8:36] Health System he and his wife celebrated

[8:38] J's 65 years of marriage and you all are

[8:40] graduates of our Harlandale ISD so

[8:43] thought I would put a plug in for them

[8:45] as

[8:49] well so without further Ado I'm going to

[8:52] ask judge SC to come up and uh let's get

[8:55] this thing picked off again we're so

[8:57] grateful to have you all here today

[9:07] thank you

[9:10] Chris BR how are you come on down all

[9:12] right thank you we're good okay we made

[9:15] it welcome everybody to uh the state of

[9:18] business in bear county event as Chris

[9:21] mentioned I'm Brett Finley president CEO

[9:23] and we have got a a lofty agenda for

[9:26] today a lot of topics to to dive into

[9:29] and I'm really excited and so thankful

[9:31] that everybody could be here to have a little fireside chat with 350 of

[9:35] your your closest friends and family

[9:37] maybe next year we'll try to work with

[9:39] AV to get like a a fire kind of going

[9:41] not not literal fire not in this heat

[9:43] all right it's bit too hot out there

[9:46] just missing a glass of scotch and a

[9:48] cigar or something but we are going to

[9:50] have a bit of a chat today so U without

[9:53] further Ado judge and I think when when

[9:54] folks talk about your role as County

[9:57] judge you were certainly focused on both

[9:59] Regional investment but also foreign

[10:01] investment and not just Mexico but also

[10:04] Beyond and I know overseas you had a

[10:06] recent travel over to Japan uh trying to

[10:09] really strengthen international

[10:11] relations with prominent Business

[10:12] Leaders um you want to touch on that and

[10:14] also maybe a few welcoming remarks for

[10:16] our Audi sure sure well thank you Brad

[10:18] let me thank the north chamber and the

[10:20] work yall

[10:22] do feedback and uh just want to thank

[10:25] all of y'all um y'all are kind of the foundation for our community at

[10:32] least from the business community so I

[10:34] want to thank all those that participate

[10:36] all those that support the north chamber

[10:39] Brett thank you and and your board and

[10:41] thank you Gary jores for being the title

[10:44] sponsor along with all the sponsors that

[10:46] make this opportunity for me to come and

[10:49] talk to y'all and really all we're

[10:51] hoping today was to have a conversation

[10:54] as to uh what I've been doing where am I

[10:58] going and what I'm hoping that we can do

[11:01] in collaboration to make their County a

[11:03] better place and so Brett thank you for

[11:07] this op okay so talk a little bit about

[11:10] your your recent trip to Japan J you

[11:12] want to talk about maybe some

[11:13] accomplishments what's what's on the

[11:15] horizon for for foreign investment

[11:17] potentially here count Well Middle May

[11:21] uh I made a decision to take a trip to

[11:24] Japan a delegation over there uh I want

[11:27] to thank my team who went with me uh it

[11:32] was myself and Rachel along with the bar

[11:35] County team Matthew palanco was Chief of

[11:39] Staff David Marquez with the bar County

[11:42] Economic Development and a staffer

[11:44] Marshall hul we also had great ratx and I want to thank uh Sarah kabus Rush

[11:52] and Charlie fish for being part of that

[11:55] team one of the kind of unknown people

[11:58] that really was a strank that team for

[12:00] those that are not aware we had a Texas

[12:02] Japan leason hio

[12:05] wavis and he was very instrumental in

[12:09] making sure that we were success so in a

[12:12] nutshell Brett I would say we

[12:16] scored uh we knocked it out of the park

[12:20] okay and we did very very well uh for

[12:25] those that and sometimes the public

[12:27] needs to understand why we do these

[12:28] things

[12:30] why is because I see those these type of

[12:33] trips as to help develop and expand the

[12:38] economic base of Bear County pure and

[12:41] simple there is a return and investment

[12:43] for these type of trips also too it was

[12:47] my opportunity to develop the

[12:49] relationships with the high government

[12:51] officials in Japan and we met a few and

[12:55] also to meet the businesses and

[12:57] industries that are dealing and working

[12:59] here in bar

[13:01] County and I will tell you in 5 days

[13:05] five working days we had 22 meetings

[13:08] five national press interviews and we

[13:11] work from the morning to the evening so

[13:13] we were very very focused we strategized

[13:17] and like I said uh some of the outcomes

[13:21] the return investment on that I will

[13:24] tell you we have some new manufacturing

[13:27] companies from Japan that are coming

[13:30] this year to come see what bar countyy

[13:33] is all about uh I am confident those opportunities are going to become

[13:39] realities also too I had an opportunity

[13:42] to meet some high government officials I

[13:45] met the honorable T Kono who was the

[13:50] minister of digital

[13:52] Technologies and I believe he may be the

[13:54] next prime minister of Japan if given

[13:57] that opportunity and so we had a great

[14:00] opportunity to discuss the strength and

[14:03] the industry of cyber security I will

[14:06] tell you it's interesting Japan doesn't

[14:08] really take a they they really both in

[14:11] the private and the public sector really

[14:13] didn't have that uh issue so to speak

[14:18] with cyber security I don't know if

[14:20] that's because they haven't had issues

[14:22] or it's not a high concern but I wanted

[14:25] to make sure they understood that cyber

[14:27] security was an integral part of our

[14:30] economic basee in bar County especially

[14:32] with UTSA being one of the leading

[14:35] institutions for cyber security and the

[14:37] education and the two buildings are

[14:39] building right there by the

[14:41] courthouse and so one of the things I

[14:43] think I was able to plant to seed both

[14:46] in the government and in the private

[14:48] sector was you better take care of cyber

[14:50] security cyber security is something you

[14:53] need to integrate into your business

[14:55] models as you come to the United States

[14:59] also too had a great conversation with

[15:01] the governor of aichi prefecture

[15:04] governor omura and he uh has a great

[15:08] relationship that's where Toyota Japan

[15:11] the corporate headquarters is located

[15:13] and one of the things that we committed

[15:15] to was to continue a United States Japan

[15:19] student exchange and so I'm looking

[15:22] forward working with Rachel to see how

[15:25] we can become closer in the relationship

[15:28] obviously this trip by coincidence came

[15:31] after I was invited to the Prime

[15:34] Minister cida's joint address to

[15:37] Congress and I also used his address to

[15:40] tie back to Bear County which is the US

[15:44] Japan relationship is not as strong but

[15:48] it's going to need to be stronger and

[15:50] they're going to really look to link

[15:53] more so I took that commitment that

[15:56] prime minister kashida had to take it to

[15:59] the private sector to say we need to do

[16:02] even more so I'm excited about the seeds

[16:05] I planted so to speak the opportunities

[16:08] that I was trying to let the Japanese

[16:11] Industries especially in the

[16:12] manufacturing world and so finally I

[16:16] think Brett what I really wanted to

[16:19] accomplish was this I wanted to build

[16:22] consensus and build an understanding

[16:24] with our uh Partners there in Japan I

[16:28] want wanted to deepen that relationship

[16:31] I wanted to I'll be real blunt I'm a

[16:34] Japanese American so it gave me

[16:36] tremendous leverage in having those

[16:39] conversations with the officials in

[16:41] Japan and finally I wanted to convince

[16:44] Japan and the industries there that it

[16:47] is in their best interest to look to

[16:50] Bear County and then from a regional

[16:53] perspective of what Bear County and the

[16:55] regional including looking South into

[16:58] Mexico could create for these business

[17:01] Industries so I think it was a

[17:03] tremendous success that fantastic Jud

[17:05] and thank you for your I think

[17:06] intentional leadership I think you

[17:08] mentioned cyber security we talk about

[17:09] military City USA but I don't think a

[17:12] lot of folks know we've got over

[17:14] 16,500 cyber Security Professionals

[17:16] right here second largest Hub of cyber

[17:18] security in the United States outside of

[17:20] Washington DC I see Jim herbach back

[17:23] there with Fort San Antonio LED Martin I

[17:25] know they've got room for growth with

[17:26] over 15,000 square feet of you know

[17:29] facility space uh to bring in

[17:31] potentially new employers they they're

[17:33] aggressively hiring as we speak USAA I

[17:36] know they're they're killing off I think

[17:38] 1 million and plus cyber security

[17:40] attacks in their cyber Center on a

[17:42] regular basis just to say a few things

[17:44] there on cyber security I want to

[17:47] transition let's talk a little bit about

[17:49] Transportation we've got the Texas

[17:51] Mexico Automotive super cluster that's

[17:54] everyone's favorite acronym for this

[17:56] afternoon the T the TM

[17:59] ASC initiative uh we've got some top

[18:02] findings about advancing economic growth

[18:05] this was a a strategic partnership

[18:07] between Texas and the four most northern

[18:10] Mexico States I think in 2013 it was

[18:13] first started seen a lot of good work

[18:15] there can you talk a little bit about

[18:16] that new initiative new isue well one of

[18:18] the things bear county has focused on

[18:20] and I give credit to David marz and his

[18:22] team at our Economic Development shop

[18:25] was that we have the county has always

[18:28] looked at the regional uh perspective of

[18:32] growth which means look at the

[18:35] manufacturing Trail so to speak that

[18:37] starts and I think we have it up on the

[18:39] screen that starts in Mexico central

[18:42] Mexico with the manufacturing plants in

[18:44] there literally comes to Laro and uses

[18:47] I35 to uh as a trade Corridor throughout

[18:51] the country and so one of the things

[18:54] that I think was important about task

[18:57] and having to study

[18:59] was that that we were able to give data

[19:02] driven analysis to the private sector

[19:06] and even to the public sector for that

[19:07] matter but the private sector really

[19:09] need to understand what the

[19:12] opportunities they have to come to Bear

[19:15] County and then understand that what

[19:18] we're looking at from a county

[19:19] perspective is how do we tie in the

[19:21] regional concept and so one of the thing

[19:25] Tass did was give Japan and those

[19:28] officials data metrics analytics so that

[19:31] they could make their cost benefit

[19:34] analysis also too we were big on making

[19:38] the pitch from a fact based data

[19:41] perspective and having the Tass report

[19:44] as an underpinning of that presentation

[19:47] and that's the reason why I applaud my

[19:49] team we were very focused we were very

[19:51] prepared to address the needs of each

[19:54] company we talked to we were very very

[19:56] intentional with that and then two I

[20:01] pitched as the County Judge about

[20:04] collaboration how I am making a special

[20:07] effort that City County works together

[20:10] on these type of issues of bringing

[20:13] corporate opportunities uh to our

[20:15] community I also told them that I work

[20:18] with the county judges my counterparts

[20:20] all in South Texas I'm going to continue

[20:23] to look at things from a regional

[20:25] perspective and so what I was want them

[20:28] to understood is it just wasn't a sales

[20:31] pitch of Bear County this was an

[20:34] opportunity that they had to come to

[20:36] expand and establish a corporate base

[20:39] ultimately I was also pitching they need

[20:42] to bring the corporate headquarters they

[20:44] need to be physically located in our

[20:47] County and so I'm convinced that the

[20:50] business growth that this initiative and

[20:54] this the trip to Japan Bo will increase

[20:58] the economic base of bear county and so

[21:01] the Tass was an example of having the

[21:04] data and I think I'll be honest with you

[21:07] we didn't go try to pitch them the world

[21:09] we gave him the facts and we left it

[21:11] saying read it in fact I believe the

[21:14] Tass report is in all your QR codes I

[21:18] want to make a a shout out for that to

[21:20] say if yall want to see that report and

[21:23] we also put it in Japanese so that there

[21:26] was no going to be no issue of

[21:28] interpretation or what I will tell you

[21:31] in a couple meetings we really did a

[21:33] deep dive in that t- mask they really

[21:36] wanted to go what do you mean Mexico to

[21:38] Laredo to San Antonio and on up and so

[21:43] one CEO literally got on and just

[21:47] started going on the map going where

[21:49] does this all go so I'm just telling you

[21:52] it was again there was a very strategic

[21:54] process to our presentation there in

[21:57] Japan also too I think what's important

[22:00] is to recognize t- mask is the

[22:03] underpinning of what I call local

[22:07] regionalism and I call I use the word

[22:09] Texas Diamond uh the old Texas triangle

[22:14] is been really Dallas Austin San Antonio

[22:17] Houston right and how all that could

[22:20] develop into an economic generator I

[22:23] have wanted to create What's called the

[22:25] Texas Diamond San Antonio at the top

[22:29] Corpus to the east Oro to the west down

[22:33] to the real Grandy Valley which I grew

[22:35] up in so I know that Community very very

[22:37] well and into Mexico more specifically

[22:41] monter understanding that that is going

[22:44] to be the key to the growth from this

[22:49] strategy of from an international to a

[22:51] national to our local community let's

[22:54] bring in and I've been down to Laredo

[22:57] I'm going to Corpus right Vic Boer I'm

[22:59] going to Corpus chity this Friday to

[23:02] share and all we're doing is not making

[23:04] any pitch what we're trying to do is

[23:07] help help them understand that the

[23:09] projects we have hopefully is going to

[23:12] collaborate with the projects they have

[23:14] and that we just don't look at silos

[23:17] that this is all barar County this is

[23:19] all South Texas no how does it all come

[23:21] together and that was one of my

[23:23] takeaways in Laredo is we have a lot of

[23:26] work to do to bring that perspec effect

[23:28] of collaboration that their projects

[23:31] that they're creating now I will tell

[23:32] you one thing we learned that I learned

[23:35] was that they've got a tremendous

[23:36] investment on the bridge and the

[23:38] capacity of the bridge they have clearly

[23:40] said there is more traffic to come which

[23:44] means more truck traffic to move

[23:46] Commerce which means more trucks on I

[23:50] ag35 which will I'm sure will touch on

[23:53] other collateral issues and so again um

[23:57] I think there's a full report report on

[23:59] t- mask and I want to invite everybody

[24:01] to use the QR code uh what I believe is

[24:04] at their table we take a look at that

[24:07] and again we've got a ton of opportunity

[24:09] I think by virtue of some some OD you

[24:11] know 310 plus local suppliers in the

[24:14] automotive specific side of the industry

[24:17] 50,000 employers here in Texas another

[24:20] 400,000 employees who are living and

[24:23] working in Mexico um I want to touch on

[24:25] a little bit of Workforce Development

[24:26] specifically in that space of advanced

[24:28] manufacturing I know the county has a

[24:30] couple of programs you'd like to shed

[24:32] some light on how hey we we have

[24:34] eagerness from industry do we have the Willpower the training the trainable

[24:40] Workforce uh to to fill those jobs the

[24:44] short answer is yes I mean obviously

[24:45] we're fulfilling the needs of Toyota

[24:48] Navar HB Holt uh you know and and more

[24:53] companies to come one of the things that

[24:56] I I want the North chamber and everybody

[24:59] in the room to understand is the county

[25:01] does have specific programs in the

[25:04] Workforce Development sometimes it's

[25:06] mentioned but it I I didn't really

[25:09] understand till I became County Judge

[25:11] what work the county is into the

[25:14] Workforce Development and we have

[25:16] basically two programs and uh we have

[25:19] Texas Fame and Texas fast sometimes

[25:22] those programs are kind of interl and

[25:24] they sound like the same one but they're

[25:26] not so let me make sure everybody

[25:28] understands Texas Fame Texas Fame is a

[25:31] two-year program Advanced manufacturing

[25:34] program we partner up with the Alo

[25:35] College District and I believe their

[25:37] campus right now is down on the Paulo

[25:39] Alto campus and in the St Phil Philips

[25:43] Southwest Campus and what it is is it's

[25:46] a joint

[25:48] venture of the workforce where uh

[25:52] students are given two days of class

[25:55] work uh in the on campus with a 3 days

[26:01] on the job training of a sponsoring

[26:04] company and let me I'm referring to

[26:07] notes because I want to be very specific

[26:09] about our numbers and our success out of

[26:12] Texas Fame we've gotten 212 graduates

[26:17] 91% placement rate with an average wage

[26:21] rate of

[26:22] 2831 ideally what we're hoping out of

[26:25] Texas Fame is that people will get a a

[26:28] associates degree if that's what they

[26:30] want and they will get a certification

[26:32] in the advanced manufacturing trade and

[26:35] they got a guarantee for job and I think

[26:39] it it is a very successful program now

[26:42] Texas fast is a SE is all part but

[26:46] separate Texas fast is a 10-week boot

[26:49] camp it's basically getting its entry

[26:52] level maintenance

[26:54] technicians and it's people that have

[26:56] not been in the workforce generally

[26:59] we're focusing on older uh students

[27:03] we're focusing on people that perhaps

[27:04] have made bad choices and are coming out

[27:07] of the criminal justice system if you

[27:09] know what I'm saying or we're dealing

[27:11] with people that have really never

[27:13] engaged in the workforce and what we're

[27:16] doing in that 10we boot camp Brett is

[27:19] that what we want to do is just get them

[27:20] to get a skill set and have the employer

[27:24] committed to take that graduate and then

[27:26] skill them up in other words the company

[27:29] will really then engage in a full-time

[27:32] Workforce Development program for them

[27:35] numbers 121 Texas fast graduates 88%

[27:39] placement rate with an average wirly

[27:42] Rage of

[27:43] $26.78 cents I will tell you one of the

[27:46] things that we picked up in the trip to

[27:48] Japan was that we got feedback that I

[27:53] think it was Toyota it was one of the

[27:55] manufacturers in Mexico that had to shut

[27:59] down because of the shortage of Labor

[28:02] and I grabbed that and said you're not

[28:04] going to have that here one of the

[28:07] things that I'm committed to and it's

[28:08] something I've committed to from a

[28:10] pledgees a campaign to what I'm doing

[28:12] now as County Judge is I want to see

[28:13] public private Partnerships I don't want

[28:16] to see County having to do everything

[28:18] and doing the heavy lift I'm looking at

[28:20] you private sector to say hey what can

[28:23] we do to partner up and then bring in

[28:25] the other public institutions such as Al

[28:28] College districts such as the public

[28:29] school districts anybody that has infal

[28:33] people into the skilled Workforce the

[28:36] other thing is and I'll say it on the

[28:38] record I want an employer driven program

[28:41] I want the employers to say what they

[28:43] need and what what are the the

[28:47] attributes the skills that they need and

[28:49] then like I said we have a program that

[28:52] can really put people on a career path

[28:54] with Texas Fame have an associates

[28:57] degree I would assume some people may

[28:59] decide they want to go back into the get

[29:02] a higher uh degree of a bachelor's or a

[29:05] master and so that they can move up but

[29:07] we want to get them into the advanced

[29:09] manufacturing training programs and so

[29:12] that's where the Count's at and I think

[29:14] it's very successful and I am committed

[29:16] to expand that especially from an

[29:19] employer driven program that is I think

[29:22] from a chamber perspective judge any

[29:24] employee driven program as it relates to

[29:26] Workforce Development that's that's our

[29:28] love language so we're we're right on

[29:30] par there um so you mentioned I35 and I

[29:33] know you've been strengthening

[29:34] relationships not only across the seas

[29:37] but also here with your counterpart

[29:39] Travis County Judge Andy Brown um and

[29:43] passenger rail has been a topic of maybe

[29:45] a little bit of the past but maybe

[29:48] reconstituted we're still trying to work

[29:49] on some things I want to kind of glean

[29:52] your optimism uh on a scale of like one

[29:55] being it's it's a pie in the sky there's

[29:57] no going to happen to tend being hey

[30:00] look like we we've got some momentum

[30:01] here and it's absolutely a certainty are

[30:03] we somewhere in the middle right now how

[30:04] does how does passenger rail what's the

[30:06] Outlook right now on the optimism scale

[30:08] let let me say this I think it's going

[30:10] to happen but it's going to be a slow

[30:14] methodical process uh one of the things

[30:17] let me kind of give you the background

[30:19] with judge Andy Brown and I so that you

[30:22] understand this relationship that we

[30:24] have uh obviously the Spurs have to come

[30:27] to the commissioner court and I know

[30:28] commissioner Moody commissioner

[30:30] Rodriguez yell in the room you know they

[30:32] need

[30:33] permission for by the way this I'm the

[30:35] landlord of the Spurs okay and and I

[30:38] mean that in a a in a in a positive way

[30:42] they had to come to the court to get two

[30:44] games in Austin and we had to give

[30:47] permission and we got some push back

[30:49] there was some public why why are you

[30:51] giving them permission the Spurs are

[30:53] leaving they're going to go to Austin

[30:55] and I had to put the breakes on that

[30:58] so in my conversations with Judge Brown

[31:00] out of this particular incident I told

[31:03] him hey are you taking my Spurs and he

[31:06] goes no okay will you say that publicly

[31:08] he goes yeah I'll say it publicly okay

[31:11] we do we have a shake of the hands and

[31:13] I'm I'm going Shake of the hand kind of

[31:14] guy I also had a conversation with Peter

[31:16] John and Peter John said no we're not

[31:18] moving so we obviously allowed the first

[31:21] to go and has allowed this uh I35

[31:26] relationship and I think it's really

[31:28] brought uh uh Travis County and Bear

[31:31] County more together and then and again

[31:33] in a very collaborative way just with

[31:35] the fact we started a conversation of

[31:37] common interest so let's get to what

[31:39] you're asking for about rail Judge Brown

[31:42] is like I want Rail and I had to

[31:45] initially say I want rail but I got to

[31:48] say it a little

[31:49] quietly uh it's been tried and it hadn't

[31:52] happened and I'm not going to make the

[31:54] same mistake over he on the other hand

[31:57] hasn't they got Light Rail in Austin you

[31:59] know I mean they got they they do all

[32:01] kinds of things right bear is bear we

[32:04] got to go at the pace that the community

[32:07] will Embrace and so in regards to rail

[32:11] we agreed that we needed to look at

[32:14] multimodal

[32:16] transportation we could not build out

[32:18] more Lanes of 35 it's we're doing it now

[32:22] and I'm going to tell you from my

[32:23] reports we're going to have too much

[32:25] truck traffic and we're still going to

[32:26] have choke points on

[32:29] 35 so rail is going to be a

[32:33] necessity thank y'all very

[32:35] much now why did Judge Brown and I start

[32:39] the conversation because there are

[32:41] opportunities and those are the

[32:42] conversations we continue to have the

[32:45] Biden Administration has $66 billion in

[32:48] order to uh invest in passenger derail

[32:51] we wanted a conversation so that we

[32:54] could make the pitch to the federal

[32:56] government as you think you can give us

[32:57] some money and we made the pitch but you

[33:01] know we didn't get in line a lot of the uh passenger rail was East Coast

[33:05] West Coast and so we understood that we

[33:09] also understood that Amtrak is a

[33:11] stakeholder partner has to be involved

[33:13] because they do run a a rail but it's

[33:15] only once in the morning once in the

[33:17] evening and there's there's not good

[33:19] reports coming out of the service of

[33:22] Amtrak and so what we have done now is

[33:25] we have brought stakeholders together

[33:27] bring this conversation bring this

[33:29] collaboration and we've had multi

[33:31] meetings and I want to recognize to give

[33:33] a shout out to councilwoman Melissa Hava

[33:36] uh who is uh representing the city of

[33:39] San Antonio and has quite frankly is out

[33:42] front of this along with the myself and

[33:45] behalf of the county and so we have all

[33:49] also two County judges and City

[33:51] officials in between and so it it it

[33:54] just aligns with the regional

[33:56] partnership it aligns with the Regional

[33:58] because I'm also saying why aren't we

[34:00] also looking from San Antonio to Laredo

[34:03] because we know that there's been a

[34:04] study from Monteray to Laredo and that

[34:07] Mexico is prepared to invest in rail so

[34:11] my perspective

[34:13] is let maybe we can't make highspeed

[34:16] rail happen but Judge Brown and I says

[34:20] look what we want to do is we want the

[34:22] opportunity for people to go up and down

[34:25] 35 I see the opportunity and growth of a

[34:28] commuter rail whatever that could be and

[34:31] whatever we can create with whatever

[34:33] resources we have that people would come

[34:36] from the from s Austin to the Frost Bank

[34:39] Center to come to Spurs gate I mean

[34:41] they're coming but we want to see that

[34:43] growth I went to two sellout games in

[34:46] Austin I'm telling you the the Austin

[34:48] people embraced the San Antonio Spurs so

[34:51] why aren't we making it convenient why

[34:53] aren't we developing and enhancing our

[34:56] entertainment centers I get it Travis

[34:59] County Austin has some really great neat

[35:01] events like South by Southwest but why

[35:03] AR we having it here and so private

[35:06] sector I need you to create these

[35:09] entertainment districts or entertainment

[35:11] centers or events that will bring people

[35:14] down obviously we know that there are

[35:17] people that live in San Antonio work in

[35:20] Austin and so we also want to provide

[35:23] for them and so Brett that's the reason

[35:26] why I am call cautiously optimistic but

[35:29] I think from my perspective and just my

[35:32] way I lead is I want to be methodical

[35:35] and so as I have planted seeds in Japan

[35:38] I'm planting seeds in our community that

[35:40] we must be committed to rail it's great

[35:43] to hear um I know we're running a little

[35:45] short on time we've got other questions

[35:47] to get through and I'm not going to let

[35:48] you off the hook on the county being a

[35:50] landlord of the S train first I knew I

[35:53] opened the door on that one before we

[35:55] get there uh there's a a small ground

[35:57] break on the south side of Bear County

[35:59] just this last week 400 Acres was

[36:01] purchased by JCB some of you probably

[36:03] familiar with him

[36:06] absolutely they've got a 720,000 sare

[36:10] foot facility uh and by Texas math

[36:13] that's a whole lot of football fields um

[36:14] but they're putting in on the south side

[36:16] of Bear County Judge what is that going

[36:17] to mean for economic development and

[36:20] just you know overall here in in Bear

[36:22] County why should folks be excited about

[36:24] JCB because I think JCP is well one if

[36:27] youall know Where It's a UK so uh we're

[36:31] get we've got a one of the largest

[36:33] manufacturing the military and

[36:35] agriculture equipment uh you see some of

[36:38] their equipment along the roadway on

[36:40] road

[36:41] construction I mean you just said it,

[36:43] 1500 new jobs 10 billion billion with a

[36:47] B in 10 years and what that what that

[36:51] goes is what what my strategic plan is

[36:54] use it to develop and expand the

[36:56] economic base use it to defeat

[36:59] generational poverty and the rates of

[37:01] poverty we have in our community by

[37:03] creating really meaningful jobs that pay

[37:06] well uh I see JCB along with also too I

[37:12] think it's already been announced I got

[37:14] to be careful on what announcements I

[37:16] can but Toyota is going to go on an

[37:18] expansion and they're going to go on a

[37:21] half billion dollar expansion on their

[37:23] campus and we're really looking forward

[37:25] to see the economic impact

[37:28] if you just go down to the South Side

[37:30] along with I think it's zaram more that

[37:32] turns in Highway 16 and over to 281

[37:36] you're going to see an explosion of

[37:38] growth we've got the uh Hospital Jim

[37:40] Adams Jimmy H Locker thank you for your

[37:42] leadership on the UHS board we've got a

[37:45] new hospital that's going to include

[37:46] mental

[37:48] health to to meet the underserved needs

[37:51] of that Community you can automatically

[37:54] see that the school districts Southwest

[37:56] Southside and East Cent control are all

[37:58] getting the effects of an increased tax

[38:01] base so I you know I'm not not going to

[38:04] touch that public education and finance

[38:06] I let the people in Austin continue to

[38:08] do that debate but what we can do

[38:11] locally is just kind of keep building up

[38:13] our base and so JCB Toyota and I believe

[38:19] the other businesses that are yet to

[38:22] come but are coming that we're going to

[38:24] be able to really increase tax base

[38:27] which will then allow us as a body and

[38:30] I'm talking to my fellow Commissioners

[38:32] to look at ways to lower the tax burden

[38:35] on seniors on our veterans our First

[38:38] Responders that we can hopefully

[38:41] maintain those tax keep those taxes down

[38:44] so that we don't overburden our system

[38:47] and so I'm I'm just so excited about JCB

[38:51] that as you saw Toyota was a game

[38:54] changer Toyota manufacturing Texas it

[38:56] was a game changer for bar County it was

[38:59] a game Cher for the Southside and now we

[39:01] got a I think we have another game Cher

[39:05] so if you think they scored a lot of

[39:07] points there's more points to score in

[39:09] this in this game we love hearing that

[39:11] and I know speaking of Game Changers San

[39:13] Antonio is really known for their small

[39:16] businesses right truly at the heart of

[39:18] the cause of of what I think us as a

[39:20] chamber really like to lean in on can

[39:22] you talk about from a county perspective

[39:24] the support the resources that y'all

[39:25] have for small businesses

[39:28] well obviously small businesses and and

[39:30] running for this office I made a

[39:33] commitment to small business I knew some

[39:35] of the big projects that we just

[39:38] mentioned there they were going to

[39:40] happen or we had the we really had

[39:42] momentum there we need to continue to

[39:45] focus on small businesses I really

[39:47] believe they're the heart and soul of

[39:48] our community including all the mom and

[39:51] pop operations and so one of the ways I

[39:55] want to help them is for County

[39:58] government to be more accessible to be

[40:01] more transparent to be more accountable

[40:03] to be more user friendly because they

[40:06] need the resources to develop in light

[40:09] of that I will tell you one of the big

[40:11] initiatives I'm doing right now in

[40:14] regards to County government I really

[40:16] want us a big upgrade in County

[40:19] procurement we're still stuck in a lot

[40:22] of the old way so to speak in Old

[40:25] systems and so I really am pushing our

[40:28] County procurement to really be more

[40:31] streamlined I'm also committed and I

[40:33] believe Renee Watson who I was with an

[40:36] event last night we were and let me get

[40:39] my notes with the associated general

[40:41] contractors of America the local San

[40:43] Antonio chapter we had graduates about

[40:46] over two dozen graduates of small

[40:49] business being certified in order for

[40:51] them to enter the job market and be

[40:54] vendors with Bear County and to

[40:57] understand the process and so those are

[41:00] the things the County's committed to its

[41:02] small women minority owned business

[41:04] enterprises with Renee Watson in charge

[41:06] of uh the San Antonio business

[41:08] Enterprise Department uh I'm really

[41:12] proud and I don't know if he's here

[41:13] today but one of our new County

[41:16] department heads is Art Reinhardt uh who

[41:18] heads up our Public Works County

[41:20] engineer I was really proud that we

[41:22] provided really a public input on that

[41:24] appointment and I hope people learn to

[41:26] appreciate I really

[41:27] wanted the community and especially the

[41:30] business Community to tell us who were

[41:32] the best people to become part of be

[41:35] County government and our really has

[41:37] really great job of trying to open up

[41:40] and making Public Works a more public

[41:42] friendly private sector friendly so uh

[41:45] all I want to do is encourage all of

[41:47] y'all to go to the county we have our

[41:50] Vendor Portal uh especially for your

[41:53] commitment or your small business

[41:55] members let them understand understand

[41:57] and perhaps there's more training to do

[42:00] in order to let the small business

[42:02] Community grow I want them to grow along

[42:06] with the large businesses that are

[42:08] coming they both have to be rising up at

[42:11] the same time that to me is going to be

[42:15] a big accomplishment and I'm I'm

[42:17] confident we're going to get there

[42:19] that's great to hear judge and I know

[42:20] from the chamers perspective there's

[42:21] been a great deal of receptiveness from

[42:24] you and the county leadership hearing

[42:26] and gaining that feedback from from

[42:28] small business owners say hey look this

[42:30] is where the support we're needing this

[42:31] is where maybe the Mark isn't being hit

[42:33] and let's let's adjust according well

[42:35] let me let me just quickly follow up I

[42:37] know that we're short on time but one of

[42:39] the things that we passed and I want to

[42:41] give credit to the court and to the

[42:43] commissioner we established a

[42:45] construction bonding assistant program I

[42:48] think it's the only one in in town so to

[42:50] speak where we're going to expand

[42:53] through County Assistance the ability to

[42:56] assist contractors to build and expand

[42:59] their bonding capacity which means

[43:02] they'll learn to compete at a higher

[43:04] level that is something I'm really

[43:06] excited I really want to see the results

[43:09] the ROI on that program because I think

[43:11] that's a game Cher also too and I think

[43:14] some of y'all may be involved especially

[43:16] the public institution is our supply

[43:18] essay I think mayor former mayor

[43:21] secretary Saros has head headed that

[43:23] opportunity to look at procurement from

[43:26] entire

[43:28] Community perspective I think we got 14

[43:30] plus governmental entities public

[43:32] institutions that have all signed on to

[43:35] make the procurement process so as I'm

[43:38] working on County we are working and

[43:41] much and part of that and I think David

[43:43] Smith our County manager has been the

[43:45] leader on the local level from the

[43:47] county perspective of having how do how

[43:50] business gets certified how do business

[43:52] know about the opportunities and so

[43:55] again that's that's another exciting

[43:57] uh initiative that the county has led

[44:00] let's let's go a little bit further down

[44:01] the question board here on anything else

[44:03] that we haven't covered and we've got in

[44:05] addition to Economic Development your

[44:07] stated priorities in public safety

[44:09] Public Health I know you touched on the

[44:10] new hospital development we've actually

[44:12] got Mr George Hernandez the president

[44:14] CEO of the University of Health here as

[44:16] well as Mr James Adam chairman of the

[44:17] board of managers for Bear County

[44:22] Hospital can talk a little bit about on

[44:25] the public safety side and public health

[44:28] aspect some of your your focus points in

[44:30] that sure one of the things as running

[44:33] for this County Judge obviously I

[44:35] brought a skill set being a judge in the

[44:37] court system about our justice system

[44:40] and obviously last fall we had a

[44:43] situation where we had the media God

[44:46] bless them uh they covered all these

[44:49] situations where there were shootings

[44:50] between repeat offenders and uh police

[44:53] officers which was obviously a danger

[44:56] and an issue that needed to be addressed

[44:58] I think some of the conversation at that

[45:00] time was really finger pointing of well

[45:03] it's you're to blame no to you to blame

[45:06] and this is where my relationship and my

[45:09] commitment to this community came in I

[45:11] called the mayor the mayor called me I

[45:13] don't know called first he said look we

[45:15] got to stop this we got to stop the

[45:17] finger pointing and we've got to fix

[45:19] this and so what I did was con and we

[45:23] and along with the mayor and he and we

[45:25] worked together on this issue we brought

[45:27] all the stakeholders together we brought

[45:29] the chief of police and the San Antonio

[45:31] Police Department we brought the sheriff

[45:32] and the sheriff's deputy we brought the

[45:35] court system uh judge Ron ronel

[45:37] represented the courts we represented

[45:40] the um all the other stakeholders that

[45:44] are part of Public Safety and what we

[45:47] did is we broke it down and we analyzed

[45:49] it and I had my 18 my staff Cynthia C uh

[45:54] was really my leader on that initiative

[45:57] and we basically put a public safety

[46:00] plan together we put I think as I recall

[46:03] my notes showed about three dozen uh

[46:06] dozen steps that we all adopted as a

[46:10] group to help bring and tighten up the

[46:13] criminal justice system and I truly

[46:16] believe that we as a result we are

[46:19] keeping our community safe I know there

[46:22] things that happen and I continually

[46:25] have conversations with the sheriff I

[46:27] have continual conversations with chief

[46:28] police what do we need to do and so we

[46:32] timed up some of the issues of release

[46:35] of especially repeat offenders we looked

[46:38] at whether our magistration system

[46:40] needed to be tightened up so to speak

[46:42] the use of our personal bonds our

[46:44] electronic monitors all that kind of got

[46:47] looked at and so what I want the public

[46:49] to understand and it's it's it's an

[46:51] ongoing issue even right now the public

[46:54] is safe because we have committed

[46:57] elected and appointed officials who want

[47:00] to do the very best what we need to

[47:02] learn to do is we need to learn on how

[47:05] to work together and to communicate and

[47:08] then and as Commissioner's Court or City

[47:11] Counsel and I know we have city council

[47:13] how how much do we invest in that

[47:16] because it takes tax dollars to make

[47:18] some of these uh projects and and steps

[47:21] work and those are the tough decisions

[47:23] we make in light of the tax relief

[47:27] people are asking for so I want to

[47:30] Circle back before we close I want to

[47:32] Circle back and touch on I I can't let

[47:34] you off the hook as I mentioned I don't

[47:35] think anybody's going to let you out the

[47:37] door without asking about the world's

[47:39] greatest basketball teams Spurs the

[47:41] Spurs county is the existing landlord

[47:44] what can you share with us what can you

[47:45] share with the audience give us a little

[47:47] bit of perspective and what the role of

[47:49] the county has been best far those well

[47:53] obviously there are conversations

[47:57] and and and they're continuing and there

[48:00] is nothing concrete to report out and

[48:04] even if I had the ability to tell you

[48:07] something the group has agreed that we

[48:10] need to work in confidence and order to

[48:13] accomplish what the Spurs let me make

[48:15] these points and I've made it publicly I

[48:18] made a commitment to the San Antonio

[48:20] Spurs and Peter John Hull and the whole

[48:22] family to say I support you I'll do

[48:25] whatever I can to and especially keep

[48:27] you here in in our community and so the

[48:31] Spurs know that at the same time I let

[48:34] the Spurs and the city know that I have

[48:38] an investment of the Frost Bank Center

[48:40] that was created when I believe County

[48:42] Judge Cindy CER was on uh court and I

[48:45] said it's still a great facility and we

[48:49] have a lease that goes to 2032 so I have

[48:52] a fiduciary duty as a County Judge to

[48:54] make sure everybody complies with the

[48:57] contract or if we need to

[49:01] renegotiate and so I've made it very

[49:03] clear that I have to protect Frost Bank

[49:06] Center I have to figure out and

[49:08] repurpose what the Frost Bank Center is

[49:11] going to be if the Spurs leave and when

[49:15] they leave and I'm telling you right now

[49:17] we don't have anything concrete to

[49:20] report out and if I did I wouldn't tell

[49:22] you but also two also said said this and

[49:27] this was a big stipulation I told

[49:30] everybody in the room the the whenever

[49:33] they created the Frost Bank Center they

[49:36] made a commitment that they would invest

[49:37] in that community in that East Side

[49:40] especially around Frost Bank Center and

[49:42] that that would the Frost Bank Center

[49:45] would create this economic uh center

[49:49] with whatever they would create I quite

[49:52] frankly told them that that hasn't

[49:54] happened that I truly believe in my

[49:57] conversations with the community in the

[49:59] east side and the leadership in the east

[50:01] side will tell you those promises were

[50:04] never met they feel that those promises

[50:07] were broken and so I have insisted that

[50:11] whatever we do to assist to Spurs and to

[50:14] figure out how we can negotiate it that

[50:17] development in that Frost Bank Center is

[50:19] ongoing and I'm expecting an investment

[50:23] of all the stakeholders involved now

[50:26] what we need to understand is

[50:29] that that may mean a lot of different

[50:32] things so I will tell you that the

[50:35] county is at the table but at the same

[50:37] time the the conversations really are

[50:41] between the city of San Antonio and the

[50:43] Spurs and then once they formulate that

[50:46] then we're going to put I mean obviously

[50:49] we're there to make sure all the pieces

[50:51] of the puzzle and that's going to be my

[50:53] job as the County Judge to make sure the

[50:56] County's protected the county investment

[50:59] is protected but yet I want to be very

[51:01] clear I'm committed to the Spurs we know

[51:04] that wmy won the Rookie of the Year we

[51:06] know that wmy is going to bring another

[51:08] championship to our community and so

[51:11] what we need to do is we got to make

[51:13] things work and that's my commitment to

[51:16] the community we'll figure it out we'll

[51:18] make it work one of the other things to

[51:20] recognize I don't know if they're in the

[51:21] room but I've insisted that the San

[51:23] Antonio Rodeo uh sale and and the bar

[51:27] County Coliseum Advisory Board are at

[51:30] the table the rodeo is a very valuable

[51:34] partner and the Frost Bank Center and

[51:36] that I want them to take advantage of

[51:38] whatever opportunities can come in what

[51:42] this new uh day will be for the Spurs

[51:46] for the city and the county uh we also

[51:48] want to look at what we can do to

[51:50] enhance the grounds of the Coliseum

[51:53] Advisory board that is a crown jewel

[51:56] that was created many many years ago and

[51:58] I'm committed to make sure that the

[52:00] rodeo is also protected they they've

[52:02] been a very good partner with the county

[52:05] yeah that's great to hear and thank you

[52:06] for the Insight your pness U ladies and

[52:10] gentlemen that concludes our our

[52:12] questions for today's program judge

[52:14] before we let you go though um we wanted

[52:16] to just say a bit of a thank you

[52:18] financially speaking uh in regards to

[52:21] the donation to um the Bear County

[52:23] fostering educational success

[52:25] organization the North San chamber is

[52:26] going to be donating $500 towards those

[52:29] charity efforts to make sure that you

[52:31] can get foster kids into that that

[52:33] successful pathway and possibly uh

[52:36] succeeding on the college and bigger

[52:38] things let me give a plug for that

[52:40] absolutely unless we're judge you got

[52:43] let me tell you the bar County uh educa

[52:46] fostering educational success is a

[52:49] foster care program that I created when

[52:51] I was in children's Court along with

[52:53] UTSA Texas A&M San Antonio and the

[52:56] College District and what and Casa and

[53:01] what we did was an example of what I

[53:04] tried to do every day as your County

[53:06] Judge I brought everybody together and I

[53:08] said look we got to take care of these

[53:10] kids that have a tuition way they get

[53:11] free education but they're not taking

[53:13] advantage of it because there's no

[53:15] support for them and I just want to

[53:17] applaud Dr Amy and more importantly Miss

[53:21] Peggy Amy uh the first lady of UTSA that

[53:25] we took it and we have a program that is

[53:28] I'll be honest people all over the

[53:30] country want to know how did you create

[53:32] this and we didn't create it by County

[53:35] city we created by everybody coming

[53:37] together and figuring out what we could

[53:39] do it is one of the most successful

[53:41] programs I've ever put together it's

[53:43] something I'm very proud of and that's

[53:45] an example of what I hope to bring to

[53:48] the county let's fix things let's sit

[53:51] down roll up your sleeves and let's

[53:53] figure it out and we come together and

[53:55] collaborate and that's that's I continue

[53:58] to do that as I serve as your County

[54:01] judge so thank you br and more

[54:03] importantly thank you for the flowers

[54:05] for Rachel I probably would have got a

[54:07] little static at home going where did

[54:10] how come you didn't give me flowers and

[54:12] so thank you for what you do absolutely

[54:14] thank you and thank y'all for what y'all

[54:16] do thank you very much

Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai gives State of Business address

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