Nelson William Wolff was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1971 and then to the Texas Senate in 1973.
He served on the House Appropriation Committee and then vice-chairman of the Senate Finance committee. He appropriated substantial funding for the initial phases of University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Texas Health Science center in San Antonio. He was a leader in constitutional reform, infrastructure funding, and mental health issues.
He was elected to the San Antonio city council in 1987 and then mayor in 1991. During his two terms as mayor, he accomplished the following:
On February 27, 1992, hosted an international conference in San Antonio with President Bush and the presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, and the foreign minister of Venezuela.
On October 7, 1992, he hosted the initialing of the NAFTA agreement in San Antonio by President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and Mexican President Carlos Salinas. After the passage of NAFT, he led the effort to bring the North American Bank to San Antonio.
He led the City Council vote to create the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) by combining three agencies and naming a seven-member board of trustees.
He oversaw the construction and held the grand opening of the 65,000 seat Alamodome in May 1993.
Her led convinced the city council to build the 6,500 seat-ballpark for the San Antonio Missions Double A baseball team. He over saw the construction and held the grand opening on April 18, 1994. The ballpark was later named Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium.
He led the effort to build a new 240-seat double height City Council Chambers in the Municipal Plaza building. On May 19, 1994, held the grand opening of the chamber.
He over saw the construction of new 240,000 sq. ft. central library. On April 21, 1995, he held the opening ceremonies the library.
In May of 2001 he was appointed Bexar County Judge, the chair of the Commissioners Court and the CEO of Bexar County.
He successfully ran for re-election five times and retired in December 2022 after serving 21 years and seven months. The following are accomplishments as County Judge:
He reorganized county government and established a streamlined management system that enabled the county to be a major force in local government. He is known as the architect of modern Bexar County government.
He and his wife Tracy led the effort to restore and renovation of the 300,000 sq. historic courthouse. Tracy established the Hidalgo Foundation and raised millions of dollars for the restoration to be matched by over $50 million in Bexar County funds. The restoration was completed in 2022.
He instituted the concept of therapeutic justice by establishing the first drug court in his first year in office, 2001. Since then, 13 additional specialty courts have been created to turn the lives around of people caught in the criminal justice system by rehabilitation rather than incarceration.
In 2002, he led effort to attract Toyota and 26 suppliers resulting in over 7000 jobs which in turn spurred Bexar County as an Advanced Manufacturing Hub:
In 2005, he led the commissioners court to create a criminal justice planning department to focused on a vigorous multi-level program to bring efficiency to the criminal justice system.
In 2005, created the Public Defender’s office to represent indigent defendants charged with committing both felony and misdemeanor crimes.
In May 2022, established a Managed Assigned Counsel Department. This was huge set forward by removing authority from judges to appointed indigent lawyers.
In 2007 he led the effort on the Commissioners Court to pass a $500 million, 10- year-flood control plan.
In 2008, he successfully got voter-approval for a visitor tax-backed bond package for 4 initiatives: $125 million to restore the 8-mil Mission Reach the San Antonio River, $80 million for the construction of 13 amateur sports facilities, $100 million for AT&T Center and Freeman Coliseum improvements, $110 million for the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Briscoe Western Art Museum, and the Alameda Theater.
In 2008 he led the effort on the Commissioners court to approve a $900 million plan backed by bonds to build a new 1 million sq. ft.-10-story Sky Tower Hospital in Medical Center and a new six-story Clinical Pavilion on the historic Robert B. Green Campus Downtown.
In September 2017 the commissioners court approved bonds to build a new 12-story, 300-bed, half-million-square-foot Women and Children’s Hospital located next to the sky tower hospital and is expected to open in summer 2023.
In 2013 led the development and creation of BiblioTech, the nation’s first all-digital public library. There are now four BiblioTech libraries.
During the two-year COVID-19 pandemic (2020-21) he and Mayor Nirenberg held 319 Daily media briefings, had 349 Conference calls with health officials, reviewed 615 COVID situation reports and issued 30 emergency orders.
In 2015, he went to Bonn, Germany to receive a World Heritage designation of the city’s Spanish Colonial missions as a UNESCO World Heritage Site—only site in Texas.
He led the effort beginning in 2008 to restore the 8-mile-southern section of the San Antonio River. The largest restoration of an urban river in the United States restored natural habitat, improve water quality, and created a culture park that was competed in 2013 with over $200 million in county funds.
In 2013 he led the effort to restore of the downtown section of San Pedro Creek includes several public art projects. The county commissioners court funded over $250 million and completed the project in 2024.
Together, Nelson and his wife Tracy have six children and eight grandchildren.
