Phil Hardberger
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Phil Hardberger
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Mayor of San Antonio
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| Assumed office June 7, 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Ed Garza |
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| Born | July 27, 1934 Morton, Texas |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Linda Morgan Hardberger |
| Profession | Mayor Judge Attorney |
| Religion | Baptist |
Phil Hardberger (born July 27, 1934) is the mayor of San Antonio, Texas. He took office in June 2005. He is a Democrat; however, as with all mayoral, city council, and school board positions in Texas, Hardberger was elected on a non-partisan ballot.
Hardberger was born in Morton, the seat of Cochran County in West Texas, to Homer Reeves Hardberger (1908- 1986)[1] and the former Bess Scott (1913-2008). In 1943, the family moved to O'Donnell in Lynn County near Lubbock. As a youth, Hardberger worked in cotton gins. Mrs. Hardberger, a native of Burnet County, taught school in O'Donnell for thirty-three years and was a 1955 graduate of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. Son Phil graduated the same year from Baylor University in Waco. Hardberger was reared in the Baptist Church. He has a younger sister, Jan Peranteau, who was born in 1945 in Lamesa, the seat of Dawson County, also in the Texas South Plains country. Hardberger said that his mother was "the single most cheerful person I've ever known. She loved the trees and flowers here in San Antonio and always had a positive spirit."[2]
After Baylor, Hardberger was a captain in the United States Air Force and piloted the B-47 bomber. He was the executive secretary of the Peace Corps during the administration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. He was a special assistant to the director of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity under President Lyndon B. Johnson.
In 1968, he married the former Linda Morgan, who in 1956 survived the sinking of the SS Andrea Doria. He would then be appointed Associate Justice and then Chief Justice of the Fourth Court of Appeals.
Hardberger's decision to run for mayor in the fall of 2004 was somewhat of a surprise because no one without a city council background had been elected mayor of San Antonio in modern history. Hardberger appeared to be in second place in a three-way race against City Councilmen Julian Castro and Carroll Schubert, until King Antonio's River Parade, a major event in the city's annual Fiesta celebration in April 2005. Radio station WOAI reported, and Castro confirmed, that his twin brother Joaquin, a member of the Texas Legislature, had taken his place on the city council river barge. The stunt reinforced the perception that Castro was too immature to be mayor, vaulting Hardberger into the lead. He defeated Castro in a runoff on June 7, 2005. He succeeded Ed Garza, who was prohibited by city statute from serving more than two two-year terms.
He was in office during the fall of 2005 when the New Orleans Saints were displaced as a result of Hurricane Katrina and set up their operations in San Antonio. The 2005 season was split between the Alamodome in San Antonio and LSU's Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Various media reports in the San Antonio Express-News indicated the owner and government officials in San Antonio were working behind the scenes concerning a possible permanent relocation to San Antonio. Hardberger pushed a strong verbal campaign to pursue the Saints. Other officials, including Texas Governor Rick Perry, had indicated they would also support a relocation to San Antonio, including using funding to upgrade the Alamodome, or possibly build a new stadium.
It is disputed in some circles as to the amount of discussions that happened between Mayor Hardberger and the New Orleans Saints. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Mayor Hardberger also encouraged Saints owner Tom Benson to sue the NFL and commissioner Paul Tagliabue to try to keep the team in San Antonio permanently.[3] No lawsuit was ever filed. Hardberger hasn't given up hope on another professional sports team even though the Saints have returned to New Orleans when he said, "Sometimes dates do lead to marriage proposals. We don't have to be a one-franchise town."[4] Hardberger goes on to say,"I'm going to support the county judge on this Marlins thing," Hardberger says. "But I have not changed my mind about the NFL. Baseball is a great game. But there isn't any doubt in my mind that, if we're going to take on an additional professional franchise, the great majority of people here would like a football team."..."I am absolutely certain that we will wind up with an NFL team in the next few years. It is coming, and if it's not the Saints, it will be somebody else."[5]
Hardberger was re-elected in May 2007.[6]
At the time Hardberger was first elected the city had been in talks with Major League Soccer to bring a franchise to the city as part of the league's continued expansion plans. Hardberger put an end to the talks, stating "Goodbye. That's what I would tell MLS," contending that the deal did not make financial sense for San Antonio.[7]
| Preceded by Ed Garza |
Mayor of San Antonio, Texas
Phillip Duane "Phil" Hardberger |
Succeeded by Term-limited in 2009 |
