John Bogna
During a meeting of the House Defense and Veteran’s Affairs Committee on Monday, military officials and civilians testified before the San Antonio city council on one major debate: annexation reform.
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More than 30 people testified for the right to vote before their neighborhood can be annexed by the city, and want to reform the law so it includes this provision.
Members of the military were concerned that, if bases are annexed by the cities where they’re located, they could be shut down if the city decides it doesn’t need them. If that happens, they say, thousands of jobs will be cut with the closure of every base.
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Legally, the issue of protecting military bases from closure has become entangled with annexation reform for this reason. A fear possibly stoked, according to the Tribune article, by President Trump’s call for more base closures in May.
Still, by the close of Monday’s meeting, civilians, lawmakers and the military seemed to approach an agreement on the issue. All were willing to find a way to protect both citizen’s voting rights and military bases in the area, an issue especially important for a place that calls itself “Military City, USA.”
