Unlike the 27-candidate mayoral race happening in San Antonio, a rare opening in the Alamo Heights mayor’s office this year has drawn just one candidate for the job.
Longtime Alamo Heights Mayor Bobby Rosenthal, who’s held the position since 2017, decided not to seek reelection this year.
While at least two candidates were actively considering the race at one point, only Al Honigblum, a real estate developer who currently serves on the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, filed to run.
Uncontested races are relatively common in Alamo Heights — a wealthy enclave just north of downtown San Antonio that’s home to about 7,300 residents.
Rosenthal ran unopposed for mayor in 2017 and never faced an opponent in his three reelection races.
This year, three out of five Alamo Heights City Council seats were up for reelection, but incumbents were unopposed in each spot: Lawson Jessee in Place 1, Karl P. Baker in Place 2 and Trey Jacobson in Place 5.
Jacobson, a former chief of staff to San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, was appointed to replace retiring Councilman John Savage in August, and is running for the remaining year of Savage’s term. The seat will again be up for reelection in 2026.
With no contested races, the council and mayoral races have been canceled and the candidates will automatically be sworn in shortly after the May 3 election.
But Alamo Heights voters will still have other issues to weigh in on.
City officials are asking voters to reauthorize a one-half cent sales and use tax for the maintenance and repair of existing city streets. All Bexar County residents will also get to vote on a proposed $1 billion Alamo Colleges bond.
A developer turned politician
Honigblum, age 67, grew up Northeast San Antonio and started his career in Houston working in oil and gas.
He moved to Alamo Heights in 1984, pivoted to real estate, and eventually developed Pica Pica Plaza on the South Side, where he launched a food distribution site for families during the pandemic.
He’s been closely involved in Alamo Heights city politics for roughly two decades, serving on the Architectural Review Board and Planning and Zoning Commission.
Honigblum said the idea of running for mayor started off as a joke among friends and local politicos.
But after mulling it over, he decided his experience might be a good fit for the role after all and threw his name in the hat.
He’d already helped draft many of the city’s building codes, and said he has some ideas in mind to make Alamo Heights even more “charming.” He’s also in a position where he can take on an unpaid job.
“This is not a political venture in my career at my age,” he said. “I don’t have any political gain or any political aspirations. This is truly, I have lot of experience and a lot of time.”
