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San Antonio is a fast growing, fast moving community with something new happening every day.

That's why each week we go on the record with the news makers who are driving this change.

Then we gather at the Reporters Roundtable to talk about the latest news stories with the journalists behind those stories.

Join us now as we go on the.

Hi, everybody.

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

I'm Randy Beamer.

And this week, we start with the latest on the aftermath of what happened with the Valdez shooting.

And there was a public safety commission this week up in Austin.

And also this week, some of the 911 calls we hadn't heard before they have been made public.

The Texas Tribune and probably ProPublica released some of those.

And joining us to talk about the latest in all of this is State Senator Roland Gutierrez.

Of District 19, covers the Valley.

Thank you very much for coming in.

First of all, we'll talk about those 911 tapes now.

A lot of people are just hearing that for the first time.

You have heard some of this before.

What what if people haven't heard those?

What are you what is your description of what that means?

What it tells about what happened?

Yeah, you had Randi, thank you for having me.

First off, I mean, at 1210, the first call came in and we heard that yesterday.

And that article that you suggested, as well as a CNN report, that article came out and we hear Chloe Torres calling him with the first 911 call from inside the classroom.

So we've been told for so many months now that this was determined by one person that it was a barricaded subject.

The fact is law enforcement, whether it was the county sheriff or the chief or the police department or even the Texas Rangers, everyone knew there was children in that room and every one of those police officers chose not to go in.

Even though even though we had adequate fire power and shields and everything that was needed to breach that room, it took an extra 40 minutes from the time Chloe made her first call.

There was indeed two other children in that classroom that were making calls.

That's the state of affairs that we're in.

You know Chloe, she's ten, we should say.

She survived There are also some body camera and some audio issued from the body cams really show the kind of a confusion.

There was some misinformation about whether I think whether Arredondo at one point, the police chief was in the room with the suspect, according to a couple of the dispatchers, at one time.

And then there were or weren't kids.

I mean, it was back and forth.

The communication was misinformation.

It was miscommunication and a huge amount.

Yeah, I think, Randi, there's a couple of things I think that we can all describe.

This is chaos and we've all seen plenty of it.

We've seen officers milling around.

It's interesting to me that as you see this, you never see DPS or anybody really, truly talking and communicating with Arredondo.

And so this notion that he is the incident commander that started very on by Steve McCraw with the Department of Public Safety, well, being his school and he's supposed to be in charge, I suppose that there is that.

But Arredondo never communicated to anyone.

Hey, I'm in charge.

I'm the incident commander.

That never happened.

I think that would truly happen here was that officers began to read off of one another and chose not to go into that room.

And then we've heard the obvious events that have been played out last week in the news media where you have officers fearing for their lives, saying that it's dangerous, saying, hey, I don't want to get clapped out.

That is certainly a breach of their duty and their liability.

In the past week, we've had the Public Safety Commission meeting up in Austin, and I know you were there for that.

Tell us about what happened there.

No.

DPS leader director Steve McCraw said DPS as an institution did not fail directly responding to a person who said one of the men from your valley said you should resign.

What's your reaction to what happened there?

It's simply ludicrous, Randi, that Steve McCraw thinks that the institution didn't fail more than the institution he failed.

And I've been calling for his resignation over and over again.

And he failed because these officers weren't trained properly.

Because this community asked Steve McCall directly for less money to fix the radios, the same radios that didn't work in that room.

And they'd been asking him for seven years prior with continuous, continuous emails to his office and responses from his office.

He failed in that there was no inter-agency training.

There was never DPS troopers training with the sheriff's office, with the ESD or the school police.

If you're going to have this operation along the border, at least cross trained with those agencies, that never happened here.

All of that is on Steve McCraw.

Coming up next, the session of the legislature.

And I know by the way, you've called for him to resign.

A lot of things that you'd like to see happen.

One of the things you call for this week is a fund.

Tell us about that, how that would directly help the people who have been waiting so long now for help in your valley.

So after 911, the United States established a 911 fund for victims of 911 a different kind of tragedy, a different kind of terrorist attack for sure.

The distinction is that in 911, that was really no, there was no negligence on the fault of first responders.

Here we have extreme and gross negligence and conscious disregard for human life exhibited by officers at that scene.

We have institutional failure.

DPS failed.

And when you fail in in any kind of relationship in our society, you have a right to sue somebody.

But cops are protected by qualified immunity.

And the Texas Tort Claims Act.

So I'm asking to create a compensatory fund and one that is also punitive in nature.

The same.

Fund.

The same fund.

That's right.

And how much would it be and how would it be distributed?

Because that's what a lot of people are worried about now that there are funds out there that have been raised, donations, but they haven't gotten to the people yet.

So I've asked for $7.7 million for each family member that has lost a child for each family household.

This lost a child $7.7 million for every one of those 77 minutes and $2.1 million for every child.

That's injured for the 21 deaths.

They will have to face survivor's guilt for the rest of their lives.

They are traumatized for the rest of their lives.

This moment will never be erased from their minds.

Now, there are all kinds of bills that are coming out of this about what may or may not happen.

What's the odds of that kind of bill?

In the Texas legislature, given the politics today?

Randy, I'm going to be loud about this.

I'm going to be constant and I'm going to be dogged about this.

If I have to put it on every bill that comes up as an amendment.

There are no maintenance rules in the Senate.

We can attach it to amendments to just about anything.

So we're going to be hearing from me quite a bit on you, Rowdy, if they don't want to deal with it.

Do you expect that that will be the overarching question?

Obviously, there are so many other things with the Texas grid and this kind of thing.

But how big an issue in the legislature is that going to be or is it is it going to kind of be pushed to the back?

I'm not going to let them push it to the back.

What happened in you Valley, Randy should never happen to any community in Texas, but it did and it was a story of neglect.

It wasn't just a story of a terroristic mad man.

It was a story of neglect of rural Texas.

And that has happened under this governor's watch over the last 15 years.

It is time for us to truly do things that make sense for people.

We have to take care of these folks, and we have to take care of this community and we have to acknowledge our failure.

Well, thank you very much for coming in.

Appreciate it.

Interesting to hear about all of this.

And I know we'll hear more from you in the future.

Thanks for coming in.

State Senator District 19, Roland Gutierrez.

Thank you, Randi.

Just this past week, one of San Antonio's best known educators, longtime superintendent of the Northside District, Dr. Brian Woods, announced he is going to retire at the end of this school year sometime around next June.

And he joins us now to talk about that and the latest in terms of school issues, if we can get him to talk about that now that he's a short timer.

Thanks for joining us.

Really appreciate it.

And congratulations, I guess.

First question I know you get from people is why you're still young.

You still got a lot of work left in you.

What do you want to do?

Yeah, I think very clearly I'll stay involved in public education.

It is my absolute love.

And I don't know if I'll ever completely walk away from from that work.

I have been very engaged in advocating for public schools and for doing better by teachers and in public school students.

And and that is what I will plan to do in some way in the next chapter.

And it had nothing to do with the stress or pandemic.

We've heard so much about a lot of educators, teachers, especially the turnover has been tremendous.

The stress has been tremendous.

With politics entering the school classroom, for a lot of teachers.

Did that weigh on you at all?

Yes.

I mean, I would be telling you a lot less than the truth if I told you I didn't weigh a last two and a half years and to perhaps a lesser degree still does.

I think things are greatly improved.

And for the most part, obviously, we're past, or at least I think we're past the peak of the pandemic.

And that was obviously challenging for every educator.

What setting their brand.

How are things going for you now?

Generally in the North Side District there.

They're really going well.

There are some still some kind of lingering issues with learning lag.

Obviously, there are some attendance issues that school districts across the country are grappling with.

But certainly compared to the last two years, there's a real feeling of normalcy when you walk in a school or in a classroom.

And it is has been a really nice first few months of the school year for sure.

And I think that others would echo the same.

Coming up, this legislature, this legislative season in January, what would you like to see?

What do you think most Texas teachers and educators would like to see from lawmakers?

I think that members will have no choice but to have a robust discussion around school safety and the funding of school safety items.

The tragedy and you've always reminded everyone again of that need.

Schools currently have an allotment for school safety that equates to $9.72 per year.

And that is just not sufficient funding to do the kinds of work that many, many schools still need to get done.

So I think that that's that's clearly going to be on the table for discussion, just like it has there has been in so much of our daily lives.

There's a robust conversation around the impact of inflation on public organizations, just like there is on private organizations and what's happened with regard to funding in schools.

Given that wage pressures are much higher than they were two or three years ago.

What about the move toward charter schools, though?

We've heard some lawmakers are going to push in this session yeah.

I think what you what you heard about is, is some kind of voucher type scheme that they get sold as choice for parents but when we look at the other states have done this until we have data states.

And when you look at what's going on in other states, most of those dollars have gone to fund families who were already educating their children in private schools.

And so essentially what you're doing is subsidizing those folks who can already afford and have an interest in in a private school education.

And that, to me doesn't seem like it's actually helping in any way the children that are advertised as being helped by vouchers.

And what does it do to public schools when vouchers pull away, students in more private schools pull away students, people don't realize what that does to some schools.

The issue, I think, applies both to vouchers to allow families to go to private schools as well as it does to charter schools.

Expansion.

And in our county, we have a very rapid charter school expansion in many cases in suburban areas with high achieving schools.

And what happens is that when a child leaves to go to any of those settings, it doesn't matter which one you are let, you are not able to cut expenditures at the pace that revenue is.

Reduction is reducing.

Right.

So let's let's take an example of a third grade classroom.

That classroom started the year with 22 students one or two leave for various reasons.

Now they have 20 students.

You're not going to cut that teacher, right?

That teacher slot is going to be is still going to be there and the custodian that cleans the cafeteria is still going to need to report to work.

And the bus driver who transports those children to school is still going to need to report to work.

So you see what can happen with with this kind of spreading out public resources into private institutions and corporate run institutions to educate students.

How about a couple more issues here?

Locally, we talked about consolidation over the years of school districts.

Here we see some school districts with a lot of problems and shrinking and some like yours just booming.

Is that is that still something that can be considered now or is that are we long past that?

I suspect that that will not be on the high on the list for consideration.

I think there are some legislators who would like to have that conversation, including some here in the county.

But I think that there just will not be enough oxygen in the room, very likely in this coming session for that to to gain a lot of traction.

How about teacher retention?

That's a big question.

Now, and getting people even into the system after all this stress and people talking about leaving, are you seeing teachers kind of take a sigh of relief and breathe and is it going to be easier to get those teachers in the future after the pandemic?

Now?

You know, I'd love to say the answer is yes, but it's not going to be yes any time soon.

The educator shortage issue had begun long before the pandemic.

And when you look at educator preparation programs, whether that be alternative certification or the traditional university programs, they have been declining in enrollment for years and years.

And so in the short term, at least, if not the intermediate term, there will continue to be an educator shortage in Texas and that is front of mind for a number of legislators, including some of the leadership, because they see how big a problem it is causing in our state.

And there are all kinds of ways to get at that.

Right.

A couple of the ones that I have heard discussed most that I would certainly support are compensation for teachers and making sure that teachers are well recognized for their efforts.

And another one is looking at encouraging people to go into the pipeline, whether that means financial assistance, tuition assistance, grant programs to encourage people to go into these areas that were really struggling, whether it be teachers or a social worker or a counselor, any of these areas where we've had long term employment shortages.

All right.

Well, we appreciate your time and now that you're moving on, I won't say retiring.

I guess it's just transitioning to the next level.

We appreciate it.

Thanks very much to Brian Woods.

Long Time superintendent, Northside School District.

Good luck and thanks.

Good to see you, Randi.

Thank you.

Now is your chance to learn all about how to help things in your neighborhood.

Change the things you want to change as a city of San Antonio.

Is holding a neighborhood leadership academy the beginning of next year.

And now is the time to apply and tell us all about it.

As lawmakers spokesperson for the city of San Antonio.

Thanks for coming in.

First of all, what is a neighborhood leadership academy?

If I want to get involved in that, how much time does it take and what am I really going to learn?

Well, Randi, thanks so much for your time today.

I think the Neighborhood Leadership Academy is perfect for Cayla and viewers, those who maybe want to get a little bit more involved in their city but maybe don't have as much time to attend every single public meeting, every single survey that's posted.

But they want to learn how to be the most effective leader it's a one once a month class that runs over about six months and it's about an hour or two session.

And they'll learn all about how to be the most effective leader that they can be to represent their neighborhoods, represent their stakeholder organizations, and make their voices heard.

The so say they're in a neighborhood association and there's some other leader of that association and are they going to be considered for that?

Or what do they have to do to to get past the application process?

Yes.

How are they picked?

For sure, applications are posted on Speak Up dot com.

And what we're looking for someone who's got a passion for engaging with the city of San Antonio, there's no prior service needed in a neighborhood association.

Maybe somebody even new to San Antonio and wants to learn a little bit more about how their city works.

We have this class that's Neighborhood Leadership Academy 101, and that's your first start.

So getting involved with the city of San Antonio later on, we are looking to have one that's a little bit more advanced.

Actually, you have one or two in the works for next year sometime.

That's right.

Yeah.

If you want to elevate your presence, maybe look to serve on the board or commission.

We've got a lot of those that really influence policies in our organization and for our community.

And so one or two would be for someone who's maybe thinking they're a little bit more advanced and wants to stay involved.

So these are for people that want to know the ins and outs of, say, I have a problem with trash in my neighborhood, or I have a problem with this that the council can help.

But how do you go to your council person first?

Those are the kind of things you tell them.

Exactly.

Yeah, and a little bit more behind the scenes about how services work.

Or maybe they want to find a way to advocate best for a position that they think the city should really tackle.

If they have a policy that they're passionate about, whether it's climate change or policing or fire or whatever that might be.

The city covers a broad range of services that they can advocate on.

And a lot of people have.

We heard from surveys like the city is done, you know, asking people they want to know about streets and drainage.

One of the big issues that people get involved for.

We hear a lot about streets and drainage, a lot about potholes.

You know, those basic city services your city is with you from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to bed, whether it's the streets, you drive on the sidewalks, you walk on the parks, you plan.

And so those are the big issues we hear about all the time.

And city council is going to be presented with some results of surveys this week.

And tell us about that.

City Council will review some results of a community survey that we did.

This is a scientific survey that's done every other year, say, for the pandemic year.

And it tells us how we're doing as a city as a benchmark for our customer service.

See what we can improve on, see what things we do well in.

Those results will be available on San Antonio dot gov.

And now the Leadership Academy.

Back to that.

What are you looking for in a leader?

What would you encourage and discourage in terms of what what they're like, what they can do, what they're allowed to do?

For sure, I think we're looking for candidates for this program who want to be involved, who want to make a difference in their community.

You don't need to want to run for office or want to serve on the board or commission but maybe you really want to see some improvements in your neighborhood or see an area of town that's been underinvested in and you want to make a difference in that.

Make your voice heard and be part of it and you can apply it as they speak up dot com.

How many openings and is it by district?

It's not by district, so it's open to anyone.

The application closes on November 10th.

We're looking for a cohort of about 40 people cohort, a cohort of about 40 people, and we have almost 50 applicants so far.

So be sure to get your application in and.

You go to essays, speak up dot org dot.

Com as we speak at dot com.

That's what I want.

Yeah.

So speaking of dot com.

Sorry, I'm sure it redirects there too.

Or you can call through in 12 and they'll get you directory numbers and.

311 also.

That's right.

All right.

Thanks very much.

Laura Maines, spokesperson for the city of San Antonio.

Appreciate you coming.

In.

Thank you.

On the record this week, a couple of big business stories making news in the San Antonio Express-News.

You may have seen the story about seven sites where a downtown baseball stadium might be built.

Joining us, Greg Jefferson, Metro editor of The San Antonio Express-News.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you.

Nice to be here.

First of all, how close are they now to the deal to sell the missions to a new group of local owners that would then have to figure out how and where to build the base.

So we're starting one.

Yeah.

So the sale is very close actually there.

So there's a group of investors, most of them, if not all of them, are from San Antonio.

They're led by Graham West.

And you kind of made his fortune as co-founder of Rackspace Technology.

He's also heavily involved in downtown real estate through his co-founding of Western Urban.

Anyway, he is really leading this effort They've made an offer to the owners of the San Antonio missions, or minor league baseball team.

That's the Elmore Sports Group.

We're told that the group has accepted the offer and they're just kind of working out the details now.

There's because it's minor league baseball, and that's ultimately controlled by Major League Baseball.

There's a lot of documentation.

There's a lot of paperwork they have to do before this deal closes.

But we're expecting the the the sale to really wrap up in about two weeks.

And you've heard of this month these seven different sites around town that could be used, could be.

What are some of those sites and what are the likely sites?

There was a study commissioned by the city about six years ago that identified some of these spots, about five.

Like, for example, there's a parking lot next to the Alamo down there.

Could be just great stop.

Yeah, exactly.

That would be, you know, would work really well for a baseball stadium.

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about maybe moving the San Antonio Museum of Arts, moving that to a new location and using that site for I mean, what's next to the old San Antonio where the old dad used to like to actually get to take that facility?

The actual museum and to incorporate it into a stadium.

So they like the where you enter the the museum now, like that would be the entrance to the story.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it can't be.

I know it sounds great to the left of it as you look at it could be on the river.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And and the idea is, you know, you could build a stadium there.

It's just a short leap from there to the pearl.

So you got to think that Silver Ventures, which owns and operates the Pearl, they probably love that.

This is not the most likely site, though.

So Western Urban, actually, they're in the process of taking control of Fox Tech High School's baseball field.

And it's it's a land swap.

So they're giving the San Antonio Independent School District two point.

It's 2.6.2 acres of adjacent land, and they'll take control of the field.

I think I think that's probably if there is a new stadium downtown, it's probably going to go there.

Now, if there is a stadium downtown, though, some of these sites don't sound big enough.

Now, when they built the Alamo Dome, it wasn't wide enough for a baseball stadium.

So if you put a baseball stadium in south there, it's still between the structure.

Yeah, it sounds like not enough space and that that would be smaller stadiums.

And like I mean, from what we're being told that and I reported the story with Madison Eisler, a business reporter, and both of us heard over the course of the last three days that you can actually build a really viable minor league baseball stadium on about five to eight acres.

Sounds nuts to me, but I mean, maybe if it just goes up straight to the sky, you know, I mean, sounds like it's it's a much smaller footprint, I think, than you would imagine.

There's 153.

Right.

The question that I have that I really don't have an answer to yet is on a footprint that small, where do you what do you do with parking?

I mean, parking is problem downtown anyway.

So if there is you know, if there's a baseball stadium and really the question is the same for a lot of these, you know, seven locations, any one of them would have parking problem.

Well, it's short and not enough time that we have to talk with you.

So go to the Express News to find out more about the airport story as well as those seven sites, the BuzzFeed story, seven sites where you can build a stadium.

We've got that.

All right.

Thanks, Greg Jefferson Express-News.

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

You can see the show again are previous shows as well as the podcast klrn.org And we'll see you next time.

On the record.

Is brought to you by Steve and Adele Dufilho.