William E. Thornton is an American politician who served as the mayor of

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

from 1995 to 1997. He succeeded

Nelson Wolff Nelson William Wolff (born October 27, 1940) is a retired American judge and Democratic politician from San Antonio, Texas. He represented Bexar County in the Texas House of Representatives from 1971 to 1973 and the Texas Senate from 1973 to 197 ...

and was himself followed by

Howard Peak Howard W. Peak (born 1948) is an American politician who served as the mayor of San Antonio, Texas from 1997 to 2001. He was succeeded in office by Ed Garza. Prior to serving as mayor of the city, Peak served as a member of the San Antonio City C ...

, after Thornton finished third in his bid for reelection. Thornton also served as a member of the

San Antonio City Council The San Antonio City Council is the legislative arm of the municipal government of the city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. It consists of 10 members elected from single-member districts. San Antonio has a council-manager form of gove ...

for district 8. During the 1997 mayoral election, public relations consultant T. J. Connolly defected from Thornton to Peak's campaign and was subsequently reported to the police for stalking Thornton and his wife. The incident was investigated by the police found no basis for the charge. Connolly describes the incident as "a cold, calculated, well-planned political move". Thornton was a noted proponent for proposals to restore and expand San Antonio's historic center in the area around

the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Anto ...

, as well as a supporter of

tax abatement A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. It is synonymous with tax abatement, tax subsidy or tax reduction. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment. Tax relief can be provided in the ...

s to promote tourism through the construction of new hotels. His term as mayor was marked by tension between the mayor and members of the city council (including his ultimate successor Howard Peak). Thornton was born in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statis ...

. He moved to San Antonio in 1963 to attend Trinity University. Two years later, he moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

to attend dental school, before returning to San Antonio in 1972. He has a doctoral degree in dental surgery from Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry. Thornton's professional career was as an oral surgeon. , Thornton and his wife were living in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Bill Mayors of San Antonio Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Trinity University (Texas) alumni People from Abilene, Texas Texas A&M University alumni