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In the face of resignation calls, San Antonio mayor vows to stay put

 
An alcohol-related incident at Ralph's, also known as San Ann Liquors, has several city resident calling for the resignation of San Antonio Mayor Timothy Newlon. [Times files]
An alcohol-related incident at Ralph's, also known as San Ann Liquors, has several city resident calling for the resignation of San Antonio Mayor Timothy Newlon. [Times files]
Published Jan. 18, 2017

SAN ANTONIO — The words of Winston Churchill echoed through the chambers of San Antonio City Hall on Tuesday night as several residents asked Mayor Tim Newlon to step down.

"The price of greatness is responsibility," Sara Anderson, a San Antonio resident, told Newlon during the City Commission's public comment period, channeling the great British leader.

Anderson and at least four others who spoke during the meeting were upset by a December fracas in which Newlonwas thrown out of the bar Ralph's, also known as San Ann Liquors, in the small east Pasco city. Newlon's wife, Allison, suffered a cut on her forehead, and deputies were called, though nobody was arrested.

Newlon, 45, sat stoutly on the podium in the face of the criticism, at times wearing a noticeable smirk as residents expressed their disappointment and requested that he resign. Neither the mayor nor any of the commissioners addressed the incident during the meeting. And the calls did nothing to shake Newlon's conviction.

"I will not resign," he said to a reporter after the meeting. "Period."

The incident that had some San Antonio residents so riled up took place on Dec. 15, when the mayor, his wife and a friend visited Ralph's, where the bartender refused to serve Allison Newlon a drink. An altercation followed, a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report said, that resulted in Allison Newlon suffering an injury to her forehead and a bouncer evicting the mayor from the bar.

Once outside, the mayor called a Pasco County Sheriff's Office deputy to report that the bartender had thrown a bottle or glass at his wife. However, after interviewing witnesses, the investigating deputy concluded that Allison Newlon most likely was injured by a shard of glass or bottle after her husband slammed his beer bottle against the bar.

The Sheriff's Office report said the bouncer kept the mayor from trying to re-enter the bar. Allison Newlon was "visibly intoxicated," the report said.

The deputy recommended that the case, reported as an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, be closed and classified as unfounded.

"I am deeply concerned about this issue that has drawn attention away from important city business," resident Mary Anstead said during the commission meeting. "This matter is no longer even about you — it's about the weak example you are setting for the young citizens of San Antonio who may aspire to positions of leadership."

For Louis Rinaldi, another San Antonio resident, the fact that this was the second alcohol-related incident since Newlon's tenure as mayor began in 2012 made it even worse. Newlon was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence on Dec. 18, 2014. He was adjudicated guilty after he pleaded no contest, court records show. He was fined $1,000 and was sentenced to a year of probation, which included a prohibition against drinking or being in a place that served alcohol.

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"Little do we think the sheriff's deputies hired by San Antonio are here to protect us from our own mayor," Rinaldi said.

One man at the meeting asked Newlon what obligation he had to report his indiscretions to the public.

"None," Newlon said.

Pastor Santiago Huron, who offered the invocation prior to the start of the meeting, told Newlon he supported him for as long as he is mayor and cautioned residents against gossip.

"I love this place, and I don't think it's a time to give up on one another," Huron said while addressing the room during public comment. "I want us to go beyond something that divides versus something that brings together."

Scott Anderson, a San Antonio resident and Tampa police officer, said he didn't wish for Newlon to resign, but expressed disappointment in the mayor.

As an officer, Anderson said, he is held to a higher standard. And as mayor, he said, Newlon should be, too.

How did Newlon feel about being the source of disappointment for several residents?

"I have no comment on that," Newlon said after the meeting.

Contact Josh Solomon at (813) 909-4613 or jsolomon@tampabay.com. Follow @josh_solomon15.