Ron Nirenberg

Nirenberg is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (from Poland and Russia) on his father's side and of mixed Filipino, Malay, Indian, and British heritage from his mother's side.[4] Nirenberg's mother and father met while the couple was serving with the Peace Corps in Malaysia.[5] His paternal grandparents immigrated to the United States before World War II, passing through Ellis Island. His Roman Catholic mother is half-Filipino and was born in Penang, Malaysia (then part of the colonial British protectorate of Malaya). His maternal grandmother was Anglo-Indian, born to a Scottish father and an Indian mother, while his maternal grandfather was a Tagalog-speaking Filipino musician with possible roots in Mindanao.[6] Nirenberg, who is Methodist, was raised in the capital city of Austin, Texas.

Nirenberg attended Trinity University in San Antonio and graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in communication. He later attended the University of Pennsylvania, from which he earned his Master of Arts in communications.[7] After college, he was a program director for the Annenberg Public Policy Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[8]

Although Nirenberg identifies as an independent[17] and ran for office as a nonpartisan politician (in Texas, all municipal elections are officially nonpartisan), he was considered to have run on a more progressive platform. In 2013, Nirenberg endorsed a city ordinance which bans discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. Taylor, then also a member of the city council, voted against the ordinance. Taylor also opposed the city's filing of a lawsuit against the new state law which defines a misdemeanor offense for municipal officials who refuse to cooperate with federal authorities seeking to halt illegal immigration. Signed by Governor Greg Abbott, the law targets the sanctuary city movement. Nirenberg, conversely, backs the lawsuit.[5]

As mayor-elect, Nirenberg called upon the city council to endorse the Paris climate accord even though U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to remove the United States from the agreement. The San Antonio City Council approved a resolution to sign the Paris climate accord one day after Nirenberg's election, and in November 2017, the City Council approved the creation of a Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.[18] This would lead to San Antonio being one of 25 cities awarded the American Cities Climate Challenge grant in 2019 by Michael Bloomberg.[19]

In 2019, Nirenberg led the charge to have a Chick-fil-A restaurant removed from the concessions contract at the San Antonio International Airport, citing a conflict with the company's opposition of same-sex marriage. Councilman Greg Brockhouse opposed this decision and called for a re-vote on the decision but it was defeated.[20][21] Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton later began an investigation on the actions of Nirenberg and the San Antonio City Council, claiming the decision was in violation of existing Texas laws, the U.S. Constitution, and even San Antonio's own ethics code.[22] The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also opened an investigation on this action.[23][24] On June 10, 2019, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 1978,[25] colloquially known as the "Save Chick-fil-A Bill", which forbids local governments from taking adverse steps against companies or individuals based on their religious beliefs.[26][27] On September 5, a group of five individuals filed suit against the City of San Antonio citing this new law.[28][29]

Nirenberg is married to Erika Prosper, director of customer insights for H-E-B. The couple has one son, Jonah.[30][31]

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