On the record is brought to you by Steve and Adele Dufilho San Antonio is a fast growing, fast moving city with something new happening every day.

That's why each week we go on the record with Randy Beamer and the newsmakers who are driving this change.

Then we gather at the reporters roundtable to talk about the latest news stories with the journalist behind those stories.

Join us now as we go on the record with Randy Beamer.

Hi, everybody, and thank you for joining us for On the Record.

I'm Randy Beamer, and this week we have the mayor, Gina Ortiz Jones, on to talk about all that has happened in the past couple of weeks and what is going to happen in the next few months and years.

We'll start with the most recent, the Spurs votes to vote seven two for both of them against.

What you wanted to do is to pause the negotiating on the term sheet, and then 7 or 4 to go ahead and approve that term sheet.

Let me can I characterize a little bit differently?

So what my resolution asked for, is.

Is the economic.

Let's get an independent economic impact study.

Randy, as you know, the only data that we have on cost and benefit of the new Spurs arena is from the Spurs themselves.

Having an independent economic impact study is kind of like if you were to buy a house, you'd go get a second opinion on that.

Potentially on that inspection report.

Right.

You wouldn't just take the the, the homeowner's word on the condition of the home.

You'd go get an independent look at that.

And that's all I wanted to make sure that, we can, you know, if and if that corroborates the Spurs numbers, then great.

Let's go tell this wonderful story.

But if it's different than what the Spurs numbers show, then I think we owe it to the people to understand that.

So I wanted a pause until we had that.

That piece of data.

And we again certainly had the time to get that.

And then secondly, I wanted folks, council members to have two public engagements, to get feedback from their constituents on the findings of that independent study, as well as on the proposed term sheet.

That term sheet signs the community up for $489 million.

Okay.

And if you're a city voter, you're paying not only 489, you're also paying 311, right?

Because you live in the city and the county.

So let's let's I want to make sure people have that all laid out for them.

So that was that was the purpose of my resolution.

Let's get independent data and let's go talk to our folks before we vote on the term sheet.

Now some folks because I want to I think it's really important to lay this out because I think it's been mischaracterized and unfortunate And now while some of my and in that session, my, some of my colleagues still, support an independent impact, independent economic impact study.

It will still be helpful.

As several members have said, hey, we really need to understand the impact on the general fund.

Will you vote on that before or the county's election in November?

Will you vote for or whether you should have an economic independence?

We don't need to vote on it.

Because, well, I mean, frankly, they voted on that, on on my resolution.

Folks did not want to to pause to get those two things.

Still baffled by that, but it is what it is.

The the, the term sheet though, that while it is non-binding, it signs us up for $489 million now asking for, an independent economic impact study after you vote on that.

It's kind of like taking part of the test and then asking for the study.

Still, a lot of, votes that you're going to have to take.

So when will that study you think happen?

How will that happen?

It will require, the Spurs providing some information, to be able to do that independent study.

So I really am hopeful that we will have that from the Spurs to be able to conduct this independent economic study again for the benefit, of the entire community.

And do you think you will have more than four votes for that economic impact study?

The majority of council members at the last session expressed their support to still receive an independent economic impact study.

So that was the sense of the council.

So, you know, my intent is to still pursue that again, because there is value in that data helping us and informing our negotiations on other aspects of the deal.

So there doesn't.

I would.

Argue, but how does it how does it happen to be like $250,000 for, as I understand it, for.

Well, yeah.

And so that number is actually that number.

When I look at the cost of the CSL aspects of it, 250 is inflated.

250 is much higher than actually what was paid for the consultant company.

Yeah.

Which stands for convention, Sports and Leisure.

Which again those folks, you know, they, they have a niche market which is going into communities, and saying, hey, this is why you need this thing.

But again, I think an independent economic impact study that helps us lay this, this out for folks because we have to understand this, Randy, not just in the context of the arena, but in all of the downtown development impact on bond, right.

This is something that we haven't really talked a lot about, but I think it's an important piece of this.

There's all the infrastructure that needs to go to support this proposed downtown development.

Again, I support revitalizing our downtown.

I think this is really important.

And of course, I want to support our Spurs.

I just want to do so within the confines of the confines of our pocketbook.

Right.

And so that first budget, that first bond project, City Manager Eric Walsh has, previously mentioned that first bond project could be 220 to $250 million for town down development.

You look at ability to borrow.

We don't have endless credit.

So in the upcoming bond, if we did 220 to 250 million just on downtown development, and if our council said, hey, you know what, it doesn't look like we're going to get help from the state on these flood projects in our community.

There's 14 projects on that list, Randy, for $411 million is the bill for that?

If we if we said, hey, let's just take care of this ourselves.

You're all of a sudden at 660, and.

Two separate for two infrastructure.

Yeah.

It's together.

It's two, I mean, and.

Then there could be a housing, bond vote in May.

Yeah, but, Randy, let me just lay this out for folks, okay?

Because we don't have endless credit.

And so if you do 222 to 250, you do 411, that means you're already at 6060.

And if that cap is a lot lower than folks are anticipating, maybe this isn't the 809 hundred range, then you don't have you only have 200 some odd million then maybe for other infrastructure projects in our community.

And then it's like, okay, see you in five years.

Right.

So and that's why it's important we understand the cost and benefit of this of the Spurs arena, but also in light of the other bills that are coming.

Let me one more thing that I think is going to be really top of mind for folks as we head into this economic environment, I am watching closely.

Right.

The impacts as we're already starting to see them.

Not only are we dealing with impacts of tariffs, Randy, we will begin to see the implementation of the reconciliation bill, Social security cuts to Medicare, cuts to Medicaid, cuts to snap, cuts to children's health insurance plan, all of those things that are impacting our community.

So I want to go into this eyes wide open as we look not only at our getting our current budget process, but also some of the longer term, impacts, as a result of disinvestment.

Been a lot of reaction to the vote, to how you handled the before of the vote.

And coming out of it, one of the stories talked about maybe you used up political capital.

Maybe your take on this could sour the vote.

I think one of the headlines was in November.

Do you worry about that, that just skepticism over that whatever information we get will turn voters off in November?

So or will you come out one way or the other on that vote?

Yeah.

Let's also just play out what you said, which is will information inform people's votes or the answer is, well, and that's the thing is yes, Randy, we should use information.

We should use data to inform our votes.

Yes, we should do that.

We have lots of examples in our community of being sold on a dream.

And those things did not play out okay.

So let's use and that's and that's the thing Randy.

You know, I've been very surprised at the pushback to get to getting independent economic, impact analysis.

Who benefits by the people not understanding the numbers.

Who benefits from the people not having independent data.

Who benefits from from from this being rushed through?

And you're saying you.

No.

My point is, who benefits, but who also who is going to bear the cost if we don't get this right?

How did the negotiations and that council meeting play out for you?

It seemed like the key moment was when you asked Peter John Holt to stand up.

It seemed like everybody was playing nice.

You were trying to be nice.

You're Sean Elliott Harris, Peter, John Holt, ask him.

You know, wouldn't it be okay if we went ahead with a study?

Would you be opposed?

We have enough information.

You said.

Okay.

You worked.

Done, Randy.

You got to.

You got to get it right.

He said.

He said, I think you all have the information that you need.

And then you said you're saying no.

So he is saying he is saying that the information that we have provided is sufficient.

I continue to believe that the community would benefit.

And you continued to ask him, yes or no, I am.

Would you be opposed?

And he said, well, I'll try again.

We have enough information.

And that seemed to be, a tough point in that meeting.

What is that like for you as you push forward?

Is that kind of a personality?

Was it, a personality moment?

Because some negotiations come down to personalities and not information.

Do you how are you?

And the spur as you think moving forward after this going to get along in the negotiations?

Yeah.

I don't see this as an issue of personality.

I see this as an issue of due diligence.

And I understand some have tried to paint me as being anti progress or anti downtown development, and that could not be further from the truth.

Due diligence is not anti progress.

Due diligence is anti poverty.

And now there is.

And that let's be and that to be honest because I think folks are getting caught up in the two as you just characterized it.

Personality stuff.

No these are basic questions.

Basic questions that people should have information to information about before we make a significant generational investment.

There are some, maybe on the progressive side who thought you would be more on their side against any public money, and there are those who are against any public money period, being spent on an arena like this.

But you look at maybe more from a technocratic business standpoint.

I want return on investment.

I want to see that data.

How about that is correct?

How about the economic, not the economic impact, but the emotional, psychic, spiritual impact to a city of San like San Antonio?

If they should lose the Spurs, can an economic impact study quantify that?

For those people out there saying my memories are of the Spurs, how can you take that away?

How can you put a dollar value on it?

So to be very clear, the reason I am pushing for more independent data and more public input is because I think that only helps us with the November vote.

Randy, I get outreach from folks that, not only they support the downtown development, but they also support an independent economic impact study.

And my concern, based on the feedback that I've heard, is that look as much as folks, as much as most folks love the Spurs, there's a lot of folks that can't afford to go to games.

Okay, so that's just the reality of it.

And then secondly, I think some have a bad taste in their mouth based on how this process they feel has been rammed through.

And again, you know, if the story is so good, why are folks afraid of an independent economic impact study?

Why?

Why?

Again, I can't speak to the previous electeds, you know, request, to get that.

But I think, you know, if it's a good story, let's tell it.

But we should we should have the data.

And I think folks are very concerned about the level of pushback to providing such a basic piece of information.

And then that raises questions of, well, well, why, why won't they let us see that data?

And about that, you don't expect that there will be an economic impact study, or the Spurs would give enough information before the vote in November and I least.

No, no, no, hold on.

I'm putting words in your mouth.

You are.

Randy.

And I got to correct the record here on the record.

That's what it is.

No, I think my council colleagues again at that session expressed interest in an independent economic impact study.

So I think what we now then need to lay out is, hey, these are the questions that we're going to ask.

As part of that, it will require, information from the Spurs.

And I very much hope that we get the information to be able to do that independent economic impact study, to be able to tell a great story to our community if we, in fact, get that.

So, as I've already shared, we're working on a timeline to get that.

What about, things going on right now?

That kind of news has eclipsed what else you have to have the budget and the shortfall that we were talking about.

You know, a month ago, hasn't been talked about much, but you've had budget meetings.

And that gap, at least for the first year, seems to have been closed.

Tell us about that budget moving ahead.

Yeah.

Let me just to put a finer, final point on the on the Project Marvel stuff, on the Spurs arena in particular.

And I've said it, but I want to put a fine point on it.

City voters, you pay twice.

I think you should vote twice.

Let me be very clear about that.

Right.

Because, 311 for the county and for 89 from the city is what a is, what a city voter will contribute.

And that's $800 million of a $1.3 billion stadium.

Again, if you if you pay twice, you should vote twice.

I will continue to advocate for that.

The on the the budget piece, we I mean, and this is why, again, you really can't think about these things in a silo, right?

Again, the budget is what does this look like over the next kind of one, two years?

And really, again, going back to the project Marvel, this is why I advocated so hard to make sure we got revenue sharing because our general fund, our general fund, while they were they the concern was really not 26.

The the concern is 27 $150 million gap.

And who knows what that will actually look like.

Given kind of how the community, the, the economy continues to move.

But the real concern, again, in my mind is also 2030.

If we don't do anything to help ourselves, that gap in 2030 is $220 million.

So we have to look at ways in which we strengthen the general fund.

And that's why I advocated so hard for revenue sharing.

A cut from concessions, from ticket, from parking, from naming rights.

One of the most lucrative aspects of any of these deals is the naming rights.

And all of that could have helped with our general fund.

As you go through all this, is it still fun for you to do this?

And and despite the media, are you enjoying it?

And, and, you know, some people might, might assume with all the media, with all the stuff that's been in the news, at least in the headlines, some headlines that you would be discouraged by now, it doesn't seem to be the case.

Well, those folks don't know me.

And like I said last time, Randy, I am here for the people, not for the petty.

There is no, better demonstration than respect for the people than to give them the data that they can make to to have to make an informed decision.

And I'm sure getting a lot more, unanimous support.

Thank you very much, mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.

Preciate it.

Thanks, Randy.

The city of San Antonio has a new department and a new strategy to deal with the homelessness problem in San Antonio.

who is also chief housing officer since 2021.

And now another title as you direct the Homeless Services and Strategy department of the city.

Why was this new department created and how will it work?

And the new director of that department is Mark Carmona, to allow the city to focus its efforts in the area of homelessness, along with its partners in the Homeless Response system.

So how do we look at data even deeper?

How do we try to begin to identify more root causes, and how are we directing resources and policy and strategy towards addressing those issues?

So the department, right now, there is a division within the Department of Human Services at the city of San Antonio.

The people that are working in that division will move over into this new department, effective October 1st.

That will include outreach workers, people that work in encampment cleanup, abatement, opportunity cities that run the connections hotline.

So this allows us to really kind of focus our efforts.

It's been a part of the department now it will be its own department.

And honestly, across the country, cities are adopting this strategy where they're creating offices that it will focus specifically on the issue.

And in San Antonio, as I understand it, the last three surveys about the budget, what people want to focus on, focus the money on homelessness has been 1 or 2, number 1 or 2 for the past three years.

Does that surprise you?

It does in the sense that, you know, after a couple of years, I thought that that might change.

But I think what I'm realizing is that this is a very visible issue that's impacting people.

And they see it every day.

You see the encampments?

Yeah.

They see encampments or they see something on the way home.

And so, you know, our ability to connect and educate the community on what we're doing with this department as well as what we're doing in the community, how we're working with local nonprofits.

The homeless response system is a big part of this.

We work collaboratively.

I used to work at Haven for Hope a few years ago, and I think when I came back into the city, seeing the level of cooperation and coordination with that response system was amazing.

And it continues today.

As I understand it, the encampment sweeps, which a lot of people are pushing for identifying that problem.

They happen, at least once every two weeks.

Yeah.

We're doing a number that are scheduled out.

I want to better understand what are the dynamics in that particular encampment.

Is it the same people that are showing up?

How are we doing outreach to those folks?

Is it a matter of needing to find housing?

Is it a matter of needing services like mental health treatment or substance use treatment?

I think we have to go a little bit deeper and understanding some root causes there, because there's an issue if these keep coming up as regular encampments for us, what's the reason?

The thing that concerns me at this point is there's a lot of new entrants into homelessness as you look at socioeconomic issues like housing and health care and or loss of jobs, that's an issue that prevention can help.

If we can rapidly rehouse people or we have enough affordable housing.

And this is where the city's affordable housing bond and making deep affordability, units available is critical.

Then we can rapidly get people into.

But we have to begin to understand, you know, what's happening at the federal level, what's happening right now that are impacting people and putting them new into the system.

We have to address that as well.

They just extended the lease on a hotel on East Cesar Chavez for, what you call low barrier housing.

Correct.

Do you see that as long term?

One of the councilman was, critical of that investment, saying the return on investment isn't there for him, right?

I think low barrier shelter.

I think transitional housing.

I think bridge housing and permanent supportive housing are elements that we're absolutely going to need.

I think the current strategy that we have at the hotel right now is not the long term answer.

So part of my job is to create what that vision looks like over the next year, so that I can present that to council to say, here's a plan long term, and then try to determine, what involvement the city will have in that.

But that's going to require other partners like health care systems, mental health systems, the county, other other players in the campaign.

Part of what you have now is a hotline where people can report this and you can respond more quickly.

That's right.

All right.

Well, thank you very much.

Mark Carmona, not only chief housing officer, but new title, new job, double pay, no.

Director of homeless services and strategy for the City of San Antonio.

Thanks, Randy.

Thank you.

On reporters roundtable this week, more changes around the Alamo.

A couple of historic hotels sold this week.

An and here to tell us all about it.

Madison Esler, reporter for the San Antonio Express-News.

Thanks for coming in.

Tell us about the Crockett and Manger and how they, I guess, are going to be integrated into the Alamo experience, as the state says.

Yes.

So the state, in partnership with the Alamo Trust and also a private investment group called Rockbridge, bought those two hotels this week, this past week.

And that basically gives them more real estate to work with as they're embarking on a major makeover of the Alamo Plaza.

There will be a new visitor center and museum, there will be new exhibits, new facilities, and so this will basically give them more property to work with, more facilities to work with.

But we don't know yet exactly what that will mean for the hotels and booking and renovations or anything like that.

Yes.

They haven't said much about what their plans would be for the hotels, which are historic.

They've said that Rockbridge is going to continue operating them for now, but as far as the long term plan and what exactly that integration with the Alamo would look like, the details on that are still fuzzy at this point.

And it might not change too much because Rockbridge is a hotel operator.

Yes.

Rockbridge owns and develops, operates hotels across the United States, including some in Texas.

And this is part of that massive renovation, I guess, the money coming, largely from the state.

Now, when they announced this, they called it, you know, the Shrine of Texas Liberty.

It's a very positive, as the Alamo Trust is portraying the whole Alamo history and experience.

Where are they now?

In in the rest of of that.

They're a couple years away from some of the other pieces.

So the centerpiece would really be the visitor center and museum.

And at this point, that's supposed to open in 2027.

Some of the smaller pieces, an education type center is supposed to open next year.

They're working on, some of the, the roadways and kind of pedestrian walkways right now.

Those will be next year.

And so it's kind of staggered.

But the biggest piece, which is that that visitor center and museum, that'll be 2027.

So we're still about two years away from that.

I guess there is also more history in those hotels that could be highlighted to integrate that, including, of course, Teddy Roosevelt at the major hotel and the Roughriders recruiting.

Yes.

Both of the hotels have a very rich history.

The banker in particular, Teddy Roosevelt, was said to have recruited some of the Rough Riders at the bar there.

A bunch of other presidents, celebrities, luminaries have visited that hotel.

And so playing up the history could be part of what the state is planning to do.

And unlike the Alamo, I know because I've been there.

There is a basement at the manger where they stored some of that, bar for a while during prohibition.

But that brings up, Pee-Wee Herman's bicycle, which, oddly enough, is now being showcased, I understand.

Yes, yes, that's my understanding, too.

I guess the ticket Texas bucket list show has just come there to do that, which seems a little unusual.

But also you get into the history of the manger a little bit in your story.

Yes.

Yes, the manger is, I mean, one of the city's most historic hotels.

William Anchor and his wife built it next to their, tavern.

It was said, I don't know that this is true, but allegedly, he would clean the tables after people were done, you know, drinking at the bar, and they would sleep on the tables.

And so that gave him the idea to open a hotel, a lodging facility next door.

And so he built the manger.

It was originally about 50 rooms, but it was gradually expanded by him and his wife and then subsequent owners.

And so it's it's been visited, like I said, by a lot of famous people.

And so I'm curious to see if the the history gets emphasized more than it is now at the hotel.

Including, a couple of presidents we know at least have been there George H.W.

Bush.

Clinton.

Clinton, like the mango.

The mango.

Creamy, the mango or mango and what else would we expect aside from that visitor center down the road in that whole area, the Moses Rose saloon around the corner, also finally bought by Alamo Trust of the state.

Yeah.

So they're working on some more educational facilities for students to come.

One would be the Cavalier Center.

And so they're basically taking an existing facility and reconfiguring it to include a lab and classrooms and other space for students to come and learn.

And so that's in the works right now.

They're improving the roadways.

Like I said, they're trying to connect the Riverwalk better with the area.

And so there's a lot of a lot of work going on in that area, including in front of the hangar.

And a lot of construction.

But there's a lot you can see now, a whole different feel if you haven't been down there compared to even just a year ago.

Yes, yes.

I think the emphasis is on really explaining the history much better to visitors who are coming compared to the previous experience.

Thank you for coming in and explaining all of that.

San Antonio reporter for the Express Newsroom knows everything there is to know about San Antonio Madison this morning.

Appreciate it.

And thank you for joining us for this edition of On the Record.

You can watch this show again.

You can watch any previous shows and download them as podcasts at KLRN.org I'm Randy Beamer and we'll see you next time.

On the record is brought to you by Steve and Adele Dufilho.