The Commissioner’s Office said a consultant in Israel and the delegation decided that given recent developments, it was best to delay the trade mission to June.
SAN ANTONIO — A Bexar County Commissioner’s trip to Israel this week has been postponed for later this year. Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody was supposed to head to Tel Aviv Thursday along with the President and CEO of greater:SATX.
According to the Commissioner’s Office, a consultant in Israel and the delegation decided that given recent developments it was best to delay the trade mission to June.
Before the cancellation, KENS 5 spoke with Commissioner Moody about the trip to a country that has been under civil unrest.
“I think this is a wise investment for Bexar County,” she said. The state of Israel has tremendous potential as an economic partner for Bexar County, and the city of San Antonio.”
Currently, the Department of State has a travel advisory for Israel. According to its website, it is at a level three, which means reconsider travel.
However, the commissioner did travel there last year.
“I can understand people’s concerns,” he said. “I think the best litmus test is if commercial airliners are flying into Israel then it is pretty safe to be in Israel.”
As for the trade mission, the commissioner said Israel is a leader in cyber security and different companies are looking to expand to the United States.
“I think there is natural synergies when it comes to cyber, aerospace,” Moody said. “If they are looking to expand to the United States that we can introduce them to San Antonio and Bexar County and ultimately to land that expansion. And bring those jobs back to Bexar County.”
He believes Bexar County needs to get in front of these companies, adding that other cities are ahead in trying to recruit the companies.
“I think we need to be more aggressive, if we want to land more of these opportunities, bring these jobs, bring these investments to Bexar County,” he said.
Last week, most of the commissioners voted in favor of the trip, except for Commissioner Rebeca-Clay Flores. The draft budget has the trip at a little more than $41,000.
During the meeting, Commissioner Moody addressed taxpayers paying for the trip.
“I wouldn’t ask Bexar County residents to pay for a trip like this if there was no return in investment for those dollars,” he said.
Commissioner Moody told KENS 5 he doesn’t believe the expenses would even reach that amount.
“But regardless, if we were able to bring one cyber job to San Antonio and Bexar County, that would more than wipe out the costs of taxpayers over the next 10 to 20 years,” he said. “I think ultimately we are looking for a win-win.”