County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson was among the crowd of elected and would-be officials at the Bexar County United Democrats grand opening, and judging from the backslaps, hugs, and handshakes, is among the more popular elected officials in his own party. But he professed to take seriously any candidate the Republicans throw at him in November. As the QueQue reported last week, retired USAA executive and AirForce Major General Susan Pamerleau is seeking to replace dearly departed Larry Click on the ballot, as is Ed Miles, a man of lengthy resume and much Republican fundraising experience.
Miles, who is African-American, works for DA Susan Reed as director of community projects for Bexar County. Among his favorite programs, he said, is Do the Write Thing, which encourages middle-school kids to examine the root causes of violence. The national program was founded by the Kuwait-America Foundation, Miles said, as “their way of saying thank you for helping us to get our freedom back,” after the first Gulf War.
Miles describes his work with the DA as a one-man operation, but he still finds time for three people’s worth of community involvement, from his Methodist church to many, many Perry appointments — although it probably helps that the Greater San Antonio Crime Commission on which he sits hasn’t really met in the past couple of years. The issues he’s most concerned about, he says, include gang violence in the subdivisions, potholes, and affordable housing, especially for the BRAC expansion at Fort Sam Houston.
Adkisson, the QueQue noted last week, has been no slouch in the raise-and-spend department, reporting $67,000 in contributions on hand for the reporting period that ended June 30. He spent a whopping $120,000 to beat primary opponent Sheila McNeil, including $75,000 with Christian Anderson’s Election Support Services and $5,300 with Eastside politico Tommy Calvert’s Calvert International Consulting. Among his most generous donors were the Teamsters PAC DRIVE, the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Bexar County, Houston-based public-transit engineering company LAN-PAC, several engineers such as Gary Joeris of the eponymous commercial engineering firm, and VIA Chairman Henry Muñoz of the oft Bexar-contracted Kell-Muñoz Architects.
Miles says he figures it’d take $100,000 to beat Adkisson, but he thinks he can raise it if the Republican precinct chairs give him the nod August 14. “I strongly believe when I win on Saturday, people will come out of the woodwork to support me,” he said, but if he doesn’t win, he’ll get behind Pamerleau. “We have to circle the wagons and work together as a team.”
