Crisis in Texas, then a C- grade: America's infrastructure needs a bottom-up fix Although the Biden administration is expected to pursue a major infrastructure plan, we must allow localities to lead, write former mayors of San Antonio and Ventura, CA. Getty Images Published March 15, 2021 Share it Henry Cisneros is former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and former mayor of San Antonio, and serves as chairman at infrastructure fund manager American Triple I. William Fulton is director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University and former mayor of Ventura, CA. The importance of investing in our infrastructure has been a frequent topic of national conversation for years, spanning multiple administrations, yet too often this talk has not been met with action.