The City of San Antonio is finally filling a key leadership role overseeing roads and infrastructure \u2014 by recruiting the leader in charge of similar projects over at Bexar County.<\/p>\n
Art Reinhardt came to the county<\/a> from the private sector in January 2024, and will take over as San Antonio\u2019s Public Works Director at a pivotal time.<\/p>\n The city approved a massive $1.2 billion bond in 2022<\/a> and has faced consistent backlash from residents and business owners over projects that have been taking longer than expected.<\/p>\n This year it even conducted an audit<\/a> of the department\u2019s procedures and made structural changes to its staffing during the last budget cycle, aimed at shoring up public confidence in the department before embarking on much bigger endeavors, like the roughly $4 billion downtown sports and entertainment district\u00a0known as Project Marvel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reinhardt previously spent seven years working for the city as an assistant division director and interim deputy director at the Public Works Department. He went on to become the local business lead for the San Antonio office of a national engineering firm,\u00a0WSP<\/a>.<\/p>\n His hiring at the county nearly two years ago was cheered by the local business community, which said his experience in the private sector was a welcome change.<\/p>\n Reinhardt told the San Antonio Report on Tuesday that he didn\u2019t expect to leave the county so quickly, but was motivated by the opportunity to serve in a bigger way.<\/p>\n \u201cThis position opened up months ago \u2026 I didn\u2019t pursue it immediately, just out of respect for the [commissioners] court, the judge and the team,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we ended up speaking in the city, and [were sold on] the opportunity to serve [and] all of the exciting things happening there.\u201d<\/p>\n San Antonio\u2019s longtime Public Works Director Razi Hosseini announced plans to\u00a0retire in September<\/a>, after\u00a0prolonged construction leading up to the Final Four tournament caused the city to spend\u00a0$800,000 on temporary sidewalks<\/a> that it planned to later remove.<\/p>\n Some local bars and restaurant owners even formed a PAC<\/a> to focus on public works, saying that mismanaged city construction projects were keeping customers from being able to reach their businesses.<\/p>\n The city hired a recruiting firm to find a replacement, but eventually appointed an interim director after the search strung on<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reinhardt said he finishes work at the county on Jan. 2 and starts at the city on Jan. 5. <\/p>\n The county expects to name an interim director while it once again searches for a Public Works Director \/ County Engineer.<\/p>\n Reinhardt said Tuesday that he\u2019s confident the city has put the department on the right track to be successful moving forward.<\/p>\n