A printing press used by Henry Cisneros’ family’s print shop is displayed in the lobby of the George and Elvira Cisneros Research Library in San Antonio on the West Side.Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, who hasn’t held public office since his tenure as secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ended nearly 26 years ago, is working on several public infrastructure projects.
Meanwhile, the firm has been hired by the city of Laredo to raise money for new cargo facilities at Laredo International Airport, and it’s part of a team working to build a rail line along Interstate 405 in Los Angeles. Cisneros, who represented the West Side on the City Council in the 1970s and early 1980s, recently renovated the building. The second floor houses his private library, with collections focused on economics, politics and Mexican-American culture.
He recently sat with the Express-News to discuss American Triple I, the housing policies he championed while at HUD, and whether he will ever retire. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity. Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio and secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is pictured at the George and Elvira Cisneros Research Library in San Antonio.Q: I would imagine that having someone like you on the letterhead of a business adds legitimacy.You know, that cuts both ways. There are others who would say, “We don’t want to be in politics.”
We don’t have anything like those in San Antonio. The community here has articulated a desire to try to keep the legacy of the physical environment. I get that. It never was the intent to change heritage, although what we did find in those big high-rises was, things just work better for people if they were not in 12-story buildings, but more like townhomes or apartments. The concentration of the poverty was another part of the problem.