City Council

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Diego M. Bernal, City Council District 1

Office

City Hall
P.O. Box 839966
San Antonio, TX 78238
Office Line: 210.207.7279

Constituent Office
1310 Vance Jackson
San Antonio, TX 78201
Field Office Line: 210.207.0900

E-mail District 1

Staff

Kevin Lopez
Chief of Staff
Hector Morales Jr
Director of Governmental Relations/Policy Analyst
Anna Alicia Romero
Director of Constituent Services
Lincoln Avant
Research and Analysis Specialist
Joseph S. Garza
Community Relations Specialist
Margaret Adams
Constituent Services Assistant
Laura Furst
Special Projects Assistant
Theresa "Tracy" Rees
Senior Executive Secretary

Diego M. Bernal, City Council District 1

I was born in South Texas to a former farmworker and an educator. My mother raised my sister Anita and I as a single parent in apartments and small houses right here in the heart of San Antonio, in District 1. Growing up, our mom always stressed the importance of a good education and believed in the promise of San Antonio's public schools, which I attended throughout grade and high school. I am a proud graduate of Arnold Elementary, Tafolla Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School. Like my mom, I believe in San Antonio's public schools and believe we should do all we can to prepare our students for the future. When I became a first-time homeowner, I knew I wanted to return to my old neighborhood and was honored to purchase a small house essentially across the street from the first home my mother and I lived in when I was a child.

Community Advocate

After high school I attended the University of Michigan, where I earned my undergraduate degree, my Masters of Social Work and my law degree.

As a social worker, I helped young gang members in Detroit, Michigan transition out of the gangs and into school or the workforce. I continued this work in Harlingen, Texas with Communities in Schools (CIS), working with at-risk youth to improve literacy by creating a student newspaper.

In law school, I devoted myself to civil rights advocacy. I spent a summer in New York City with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and a year at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) back in San Antonio.

After graduating from law school I returned to San Antonio permanently as a MALDEF staff attorney, where I spent the last six years advocating and litigating on behalf of working people, children, and immigrant communities. I worked for systemic changes so that Texas public schools are more equitably funded. I also fought against discrimination in schools and in the workforce, and for electoral systems that provide every citizen an equal right to vote.