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

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 this week.

I'm Randy Beamer, and this week we are starting with a new push to maybe streamline communications about some of those construction projects that seem to go on and on.

And they would tear apart of the street.

And then down the road, they tear up part of the street again and maybe again.

Here to talk about that is City Councilwoman Marina Alvarez.

Think of Ito district seven.

Thank you very much for coming in.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

So you you filed a CCR, which is a.

Council consideration request?

Yes.

About what?

What will this.

Do?

Yeah.

So I joined my colleagues, Councilwoman Terry Castillo and Councilwoman Doctor Secor to file this CCR, which is basically a policy proposal.

What we want to do is an audit of our public works department.

Our public works department deals with things such as building our streets, our sidewalks or traffic signals, stop signs.

And really, we just need to push the reset button on that department.

And you're going to have the study done by an outside source, because what have you heard from residents?

And then what have you heard from public works?

You know, this is a top resident concern.

Just as you mentioned, residents are seeing construction projects go on for far too long.

They're not clear on the start and end dates.

You know, they're stuck in this construction limbo.

There's not transparency about the process.

And we get those calls daily.

And, you know, when we're working with our public works department, you know, they're great partners.

They are you know, they're obviously doing a flood of construction projects throughout the city.

And so we just need to be able to work more efficiently and effectively, because right now we're not doing that.

What are some of those streets I know some of the big ones, Saint Mary strip a while back.

That was complicated, as I understand it, because they found there was an old creek underneath.

Yeah, but Broadway down here, downtown in front of us for years, for different times.

Ripped up the same parts of the streets.

And in your district, too.

It's not just maybe some of the older parts of people know us.

That's right.

There's there's a major corridors like Broadway and Saint Mary's Street, but there's also a lot of work being done in each of our districts, in small neighborhood roads.

One of during the election, a resident came up to me and he said, Marina, I think you're a great councilperson.

He's like, my street's been torn up 4 or 5 times in the last couple of years.

And so I took note of it and looked it up.

And sure enough, he was right, you know, got torn up five times in the last three years.

Whether, it was I was tearing it up one time, the city tearing it up another that impacts that those residents daily lives.

And so that's what what we're trying to address here.

And the timeline on this for this study is because people might wonder, okay, you just had these elections.

We don't have a full city council yet or even a new mayor.

Yeah.

Voting on this.

Yeah.

So the next step is that it would be taken to our governance committee.

We'll see if it gets placed on the governance agenda for the middle of June.

If not, it's going to have to wait till August.

But no matter what city council or mayor, we have, I do see them pushing forward on this, because this is a top resident concern that all my council colleagues and I face.

And you also just filed or are filing a CCR are on something else.

On utility coordination.

So when I'm talking about utilities, I'm talking about SAA's CPS as well as our fiber companies.

You know, we are seeing that, streets get torn up again and again.

And that we feel is a is because of a lack of coordination amongst our utility, providers.

And so the left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing and so that residents aren't having to face and.

The fiber companies, that's something people might not even think about.

Absolutely.

You know, a lot of people don't think of fiber companies as a utility, but we need, the internet to work from our home, for students to do school work.

And so, yeah, you know, we're including them in this match.

Big headlines recently have been about the budget deficit that the city is facing, but.

And you're working on that now.

But how do you work on that with, the makeup of the city council in limbo right now?

The mayor's race is going to be a big difference in who runs that.

It's the most Partizan in a while and still a lot of runoffs.

You won without a runoff in your district, but there are many or several districts still out.

What do you think the makeup is going to be, or how different could it be?

Yeah, I think it could, be extremely different.

We're going to have to see who wins.

You know, we have four council members up for, election right now and our mayor.

And so, you know, I think that what I'm focused on is partnering with the council colleagues I do have and I do know of, and making sure that we put our heads down and do the work, you know, there San Antonio has so much ahead of us, whether we're talking about our budget deficit and making those, tough decisions or, you know, this, the Spurs sports and entertainment district project, Marvel, we have a lot of big things coming ahead of us.

And so we just need to put our heads down and do the work and and not listen to the noise.

Before we get to Project Marvel or briefly, what is it going to be different for you and other council members now that you have four year terms?

This will be the first four year term for mayor and council members in decades.

What does that mean to you?

Yeah, I mean, I think it, it means that we don't have to start up a campaign.

Take a load off.

Yeah.

It does, I mean, I, I like two year terms.

I personally like campaigning.

You know, I love block walking.

I love, going out and talking to residents.

Although, you know, me and my team still block walked without a campaign.

You know, we just love going out, and talking to residents and hearing their concerns firsthand.

But, you know, I do think that the four year term does offer a bit of steadiness and, the opportunity to get more stuff done.

What about Project Marble?

What are you hearing from people and where do you think?

Because both mayoral candidates are kind of, I don't know.

We need more study.

Mayor Nurnberg was a little more.

Maybe for it.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, I'll say this.

Residents are going to be able to decide in November, right?

So this is going to be put up to voters to decide how they feel about it.

Personally, I feel that we need to do what we can to keep our spurs in San Antonio.

You know, I think that the city, the county and the Spurs, we need to unify, on their approach and be bullish on keeping them here.

The Spurs have a close to $4 billion market valuation.

They bring in a lot of jobs.

They bring in a lot of tours.

And so we we would hate to see them go up the street.

The highway to to Austin or Vegas or somewhere else.

And so, I think we need to do what we, what we can to keep them here.

That being said, I do think we need to focus on transparency.

Residents need to know where the funding will be coming from.

And I also think we need to focus on transportation.

We all know that getting downtown right now, is a headache.

And if we're going to be bringing more events and more attraction downtown, now is the time to think of how we want to move people in and out quickly and safely.

Where are the budget cuts going to be?

Yeah, you know, that's going to be a tough decisions.

I, not wanting to touch our police and fire budget.

You know people, public safety is the resident's top priority.

And so that's an area where I don't think we can make any budget cuts.

I will say, in my first term, I did I do think that there are, efficiencies that could be gained in certain departments, budgets.

And so we just need to look at it, we need to look at each department.

You know, last, year we passed zero based budgeting.

And that is where every single department's budget starts at zero.

And then they let us know what they need.

That is going to find, some, some funding.

In place really starts next year.

Yeah.

You're right.

But I think we kind of take a swing at it now.

Right.

All right.

Well thank you very much.

Appreciate you coming in.

And good luck with the streets and yeah.

Faster for that Marina I'll I a veto district seven.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

With federal cutbacks from Dodge and looming tariffs that we're not sure exactly what they will be, a lot of people are wondering what the effects will be in San Antonio.

And here to talk about that is Katie Farrier, vice president of public policy for the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

Thank you very much.

I know you're getting a lot of questions from people, both within and outside your organization about what does all this mean for us?

Where are we right now?

What do you tell them?

Well, we definitely are hearing concern.

I it's it is for real that our members are being impacted negatively by some of these, policy decisions out of Washington.

But we also feel enthusiastic, you know, with challenges come opportunities.

And this is a marketplace of a lot of creative entrepreneurs.

And we know that they can meet the challenge and solve the problems.

And while we also know that a lot of areas are seeing cutbacks, San Antonio is not we're really privileged and that we are seeing, expansions both JCB and Toyota have they have announced significant expansions to their physical plants down on the south side.

That's going to mean more jobs for us, and that greater investment is going to help our local economy.

What are the segments that are doing better and those that aren't?

Well, the members, that visit with us are telling us that they're having problems are the ones that rely on importing, raw materials or components.

And they are seeing increased costs and a lot of fear about, stability for supply chain.

And so we know that they are struggling.

So some of our manufacturers, some of our producers are seeing problems.

And then but the employment market is staying steady here in San Antonio.

You know, we've seen, really positive gains there.

And some of them are still facing labor shortages.

So they're not going to be reducing hiring.

And that's in our service industry and some of our advanced manufacturing.

Though that may change with, federal cutbacks and federal cuts that could affect research and universities and all kinds of different things.

So that though hasn't shown up yet.

That's right.

In unemployment.

Yes.

Yes.

Well, San Antonio has done a good job of diversifying our economy, you know, in the past, we did suffer greatly when we saw Kelly Air Force Base close.

We depended a lot on federal contracts, but now we have really focused on creating more opportunity in our marketplace.

And so hopefully we won't see the same impact.

What is it like now lobbying for San Antonio?

How do you go about that and what kind of effect is it have?

Can our representatives really effectively lobby against those cuts, against some of those proposals that will affect us?

Well, the story we tell is the situation is fluid.

You have to have an open mind and it's about relationship building.

We continue to tell the story of San Antonio and and help them see the value and what we're doing here and see the the impact that they have for some of the decisions that they're making.

And some of the tariffs that are affecting San Antonio, I understand, are not just those from Mexico, but those from Canada, because we have a bigger relationship with Canada as a trading partner and transportation than people might realize.

Yes.

I mean, we have international relationships.

So it's not just Mexico that we're seeing the influence.

What are you trying to do right now in terms of those, members that you have in helping them through this?

What can you do if they're having a really tough time?

Well, we help them tell the story.

You know, we, we have members that pay us for a service of telling the story of San Antonio, and they pay for creating a product.

So we want them to rely on us to help them navigate the decision makers, figure out who can make, who is most influential.

And then we help them craft their message in a way that makes sense.

What about, possible studies of what the impact is going to be?

A lot of people will say, okay, now we're doing well, but 3 to 6 months down the road, we don't know.

It could be really hard.

How do you navigate all that uncertainty?

Well, that's just it.

It's very unpredictable.

So you can visit with three different economists and get three different takes on it.

So we try not to rely too much on forecasting because we don't know what certain decisions are going to be made.

And we're not privy to some of those negotiations that are happening at the high level.

So the idea is to stay very flexible and open minded, and building relationships helps you learn information sooner rather than later.

And I know that some of the studies I've seen recently, and maybe you have done, are comparing us to, say, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth.

Austin's economy has not done as well as it was doing there.

It was gangbusters, better than ours.

And now that's not the case, right?

Right.

Well, San Antonio has has never been the sort of boom or bust economy that we've seen from Austin or Dallas.

We have very steady growth over time.

We're still very attractive for folks to migrate here and to move here.

And that's going to continue to help us.

So we we feel great about San Antonio.

Okay.

And also I wanted to kind of end with there are different groups now helping the economy in San Antonio, the greater chamber of San Antonio, what used to be called the Economic Development Foundation work.

Yes, yes.

Yes, great or SAT and you work with them, but you also have a whole different purpose, I guess.

Not different purpose.

But tell people about that.

Sure, sure.

The difference that we describe is we're here as part of the home team.

So a greater SAT pursues opportunities for, employers outside of San Antonio to move here, to locate here.

And then we're here to help make sure that once you're here in San Antonio, that you can be successful.

And we connect you to those resources.

Well, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Katie Ferrier, vice president of public policy, Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

Let's hope things get better.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

A few minutes ago, we mentioned that the city of San Antonio is going to be going through the budget process later this summer.

But you have a chance right now to give your input on how much money and where the city should spend.

And joining us to talk about that is Luke Simons, who is communications manager for the city of San Antonio.

Thank you for coming in.

Yeah.

Thank you for having us.

We're excited to to share this information and tell us how if you want to say this is where the city needs to spend the money but not there, what can people do?

Yeah.

So the big thing for people to know is that the city works on the fiscal year.

So it's going to start on October 1st with the fiscal year 2026.

Right now, the first step to get ready to budget for that is to get a budget survey out, and that's to let the residents give the city input and kind of tell the city, this is what I feel is most important.

For some, it might be the streets or the sidewalks or I need, you know, street lights here.

Or maybe it's public safety police and fire and things like that.

I love my library or the senior centers.

This is where you get your chance to kind of say, hey, I think this is most important and I want to give my input.

And then what's going to happen is the city is going to take that information from all of the residents, kind of listen and see what they said, and then kind of start to set that out.

And so at the end of June, we'll have a new mayor and city council that will see, and then they will get this information and see it.

And this is what the community says.

And then the budget kind of laying it out with work sessions and then eventually town halls.

That's where we all get to to hopefully setting the budget.

And what's more, and it's more important this year, maybe because there is a projected budget deficit, which we haven't had for the past few years.

Correct.

So that's why it's even more important for people to tell us what is important to them, because basically what ended up happening is the projections for sales tax.

So people just aren't spending as much money.

And that sales, some of that sales tax money comes to the city.

And then property tax values didn't go up as much as they typically do.

And another good thing, I guess, for people and residents that have property taxes, like they took advantage of the fact that, you know, you can protest those property taxes.

And many people did that.

And so what's going to happen is the city is going to kind of have to tighten the belt a little bit.

And that's why it's so important that you tell us, okay, this is what needs to be the priorities, because we're really going to kind of have to watch it and keep an eye on the budget and the whole process is a long one, because the city manager and the different departments, they have come up with the recommendations, but those will be tweaked, possibly in a big way by the city council over the summer.

Correct.

So like I said that we're going to have this survey.

It's going to be done on June 6th.

So people have until June 6th to fill that out and let people know, and they can find that at say speak up.com/esa budget 2026.

And then the next step is once the new city council is in, they will start looking at it and then they'll start having budget work sessions.

The city manager's office sets that up.

It's all public.

People can see it and kind of listen in and hear it.

And then after that, the city will have town halls, and that invites the people, the residents, to come back in here.

What is projected.

This is what we're thinking.

This is how we're going to do it.

They can also give a little bit more of input, and then eventually we're going to have a new budget.

So if we go to that website, how detailed can you be?

Is it just a check?

This is one of the things you want most important.

Or can you do a little essay on what I want so it does give you a chance to rank it.

There's about a little more than 20 items in there.

And then there's also another.

So if there's something else that you feel is more important, you can even fill that in.

But the main thing is to say, okay, here are the things that usually are typically the most important.

You rank them, you let us know.

This is my number one priority.

This one's number four.

And then they're going to look at all of that and take it into account, and then present that and start making decisions on how we're going to do it.

And again the website is a speak up.com/essay.

Budget 2026 I'm glad we have that somewhere on the screen.

Yeah for sure.

But it's a good opportunity.

And if you can't fill that in online those forms, you can also fill it out at like city libraries and in places like that.

So you can get like a hard copy.

If you choose to do that, just make sure it's in by June 6th.

All right.

Well, thanks very much.

Luke Simons knows everything there is to know about the city budget.

And so speak up.

City communications manager, thanks for coming in.

Thank you so much.

Our reporters roundtable this week.

There's a bill racing through the legislature about the Alamo and who should be in charge of it.

Maybe not the day to day operations itself, but in the big picture of it.

And here to tell us all about it is the San Antonio Express-News official title.

Now reporter extraordinaire, Scott Huddleston, thank you for coming in.

You write and know everything there is to know about the Alamo.

How would this change who's in charge?

And maybe the kind of picture we see of the Alamo?

It's a fundamental shift in leadership because the General Land Office, the oldest state agency in Texas, has been the custodian of the Alamo since 2011.

And so, under this new, structure oversight, you would have a five member Alamo Commission led by the governor, lieutenant governor, Texas speaker of the House and one representative of each of the two chambers.

And would that politicize the whole thing more?

I mean, people have been concerned about that with the land office.

And then also with some of the exhibits being developed, the whole issues of whether how big slavery should be a part of the representation in the different parts of the history.

Everybody's got their own opinion, but with all Republicans and all appointed by Republicans.

And what will that do?

Well, that's the way that we're our political power structure exists now, right?

Our governor and lieutenant governor, I believe, will be seeking reelection next year.

And so, we don't really know who will be in office when this bill, if it passes, takes effect in late 27, early 28, when the project, now under way is completed.

So, you know, there will be a responsiveness of the top leadership.

And in the real, the people who hold the purse strings of the state will be able to decide, you know, what are the best decisions for the Alamo?

What agency should be working on these various issues?

Can we adequately fund them?

I mean, it could become politicized, but at the same time, it might be a power structure that really makes a lot of sense in terms of the funding.

And it won't change, you know, for people who don't know, there's an Alamo Trust, which is a private nonprofit, nonprofit.

And what is that made up of that that is working on the whole renovation project.

They're a nonprofit, the 500 1C3.

They have a board and they basically, serve the role that the daughters of the Republic of Texas did when they were the day to day operators under the Land office, for a few years from about 2011 to 2015.

And the, they're the ones also that, went through the process of deciding what's going to be in the museum and how that they're across the street from the Alamo and how that looks.

Is that pretty much done?

Are there controversies over what should be in that?

Done?

Yeah.

I think that, the project is moving forward, and I would invite anybody who hasn't been to the Alamo in years to go out there.

It's quite if you've been out there changes so fast.

Yeah.

There's a whole lot of construction going on there.

It's it's mind blowing to go there.

If you haven't been there and you're not aware that that's occurring, what are the timelines on that project.

So there's an education center scheduled to open in March 2026.

And then basically the centerpiece of the project, which is a $235 million visitor center and museum, is scheduled to open in fall of 27.

And that's across the street right?

Okay.

Those three historic buildings, that's where that will be.

And they didn't tear down that, did they?

Did Library Alamo.

They did.

They demolished it.

As I said, they tore down, I know there were track.

I mean, there's so much activity that wasn't technically a historic building, and I don't know, what are they going to do?

Do you know what that walkway to the right of the Alamo.

Is that considered historic?

It is, 1930 structure.

And so they they have removed or they will remove one little section right next to the church just to give the church the the mission church, some a little bit of breathing room, but for the most part, what they call the arcade that will remain intact.

What do you call that?

Where the gazebo was, they call that the Plaza de Valero.

And, there's there's a big pavilion there now and some open green space.

It's it's a gathering space.

And, so they're making that all pedestrian friendly.

Just a nice area that's now closed to traffic and across from the Plaza de Valero on the west side.

There are still some of the old, touristy areas.

People might think, well, they got rid of all that stuff, the mirror or whatever.

And, museum they did, so there were three buildings that had some of those, that were, are part of the state now, but some of the others aren't.

So there is some touristy stuff in there, right?

The wax museum and all of that.

I think that the focus has really been, in those areas of what's considered inside the the historic footprint of, of the Alamo site, the kind of the sacred space of where the mission was, the, the, the land that the defenders, fought over in 1836.

But most of that other area outside that, that immediate, location, that's still privately owned and the portal or the gate to the south, where they have some of the cannons and things that they put up that was technically temporary for three years, but that could also stay up longer, as I understand it.

Or or, you know, what's going to happen there.

I think that that's a permanent installation.

If you're talking about the the main gate and the lunette exhibit.

The lunette.

Yeah, the cannon platform, the 18 pound.

I think that that's been redone.

Well, thank you very much.

The man with the Davy Crockett hat and who knows everything about the Alamo.

Thanks very much for coming in.

This is Scott Huddleston, reporter extraordinaire for the expressed.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

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

You can watch the show again or previous shows.

You can also download the podcast 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 Duflho.