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.

Joining us now as we go on the Record with Randy Beamer.

Hi, and welcome to On the Record.

I'm Joey Palacios with Texas Public Radio in for Randy Beamer today.

Gun violence continues to rise in San Antonio.

We see it almost every day on the news.

And one way the city is hoping to quell some of that violence is to offer a buyback event for guns.

It's an idea that's been awhile in the making for District nine Councilman John Courage, who joins us now to talk about this.

Welcome, Councilman.

Thank you, Joy.

Nice to be here.

So, Councilman, tell us about this gun buyback program.

Note something you proposed quite a while back and it's taken a little bit of time to get it going.

I understand that people can turn in unwanted weapons ranging from handguns to semiautomatic rifles.

So how is this going to be structured?

Well, let me correct you if I can.

It's not a gun buyback.

We're not buying guns back.

But what we are doing is offering a voluntary weapons exchange program, exchanging a weapon that someone may not want in their home anymore or feel like they need for H-E-B gift cards as an inducement to go ahead and encourage people to act on their own safety and safety for the community.

And so you're talking about exchanging gift cards for these guns.

Is there going to be like a level for a certain type of gun that someone might be able to get in exchange for a gift card?

Yes, We worked with HPD to determine what's a reasonable expectation if someone were to buy or sell a gun on the market, so to speak.

And we've tried to go ahead and get gift cards from H-E-B that would go ahead and kind of match that value for the weapons that they exchange.

Is there a dollar for dollar or maybe a handgun gets one or.

Yeah.

What we're looking at is let's say somebody has a an old gun that might not be working anymore, broken or, you know, sometimes we hear about these ghost guns that are created, you know, through the Internet.

We'll give $50 for something like that just to make it safe.

If somebody brings in, let's say, a nine millimeter pistol, you know, then we're going to be offering them $200 in H-E-B gift cards.

If somebody brings in an AR 15, we'll give them $300 for H-E-B gift cards.

If somebody brings in, let's say, an old shotgun or hunting rifle, it would be valued about $150 and H-E-B gift cards.

And so we hope that that extra inducement will encourage people to think more about if they've got additional weapons they don't want or old weapons that they don't want or, you know, a lot of people inherit weapons from family members who pass.

And this is, we believe, a safe way of them to get those out of their homes and make sure that they don't get into the hands that could lead to more criminal activity or harm or death.

So this is the first time that the city is going to be doing this.

Is there a number that you all are expecting or how many people you think might show up to do this?

Well, you know, a lot of it depends on how many gift cards that we can give out as an inducement.

We're hoping to try and get maybe four or 500 weapons off the streets.

So that's our that's kind of my target goal.

We may be able to exceed that.

Initially, our pledge was $100,000 to this effort.

We've already gotten up to about 150,000 plus and more contributors, partners coming in saying we'd like to help provide more funding for more gift cards.

And we're some of the money coming from this.

I understand that your office is contributing a separate amount.

Also, a couple of councilmembers and the mayor are also contributing to.

So where's the source?

The money coming from us.

Most of us along council.

Depending on how long you've been over, time accumulates some additional revenue that was given to the district to be spent on various things.

And sometimes those projects don't always work out.

You know, we may have like any other business, you have employees who leave, so you set aside money to pay that salary and it didn't need to be paid because you were short for three or four months filling vacancy.

And all of those things kind of accumulate a little bit over the six years that I've been on council.

And so that's where the $100,000 came from.

And, you know, some people say, well, you know, you're taking taxpayer money to go ahead and exchange for these weapons.

And I said, well, we spend taxpayers money on the police every day.

So what I'm talking about is just converting the money that we have in my fund that hasn't been allocated into, again, public safety money.

And what happens to the guns once they come into the city's possession?

Well, they'll be destroyed if we find that they don't belong to someone who had reported them stolen.

So I'll give you an example.

Houston's done this, brought in like 4000 guns over the last couple of years, and less than two or 3% of them have been anything other than destroyed.

So 97% have just been destroyed because they couldn't ascertain if they had been owned by anybody in the past and returned.

So, you know, we may see let's say we have 400 you might see 5% of that 20 guns that we can understand who who that was stolen from.

We can return them to the rightful legal owner.

The rest will be destroyed.

So I think you can get some support and pushback for this, you know, support from people who want to see less guns in the streets or be falling into the wrong hands, but also opposition from people who might say that this is government overreach.

What do you say to both of those sides of the coin?

Well, I think almost all of us recognize that the amount of violence in the city and the amount of use of guns and shootings and killings is is beyond the normal expectation that we have as a community in keeping ourselves safe.

So even people who are gun owners and Second Amendment rights, people, I think, understand there's just more guns out there than we should have.

This is a voluntary program.

We're not asking anybody to give up any weapons that they want, that they own, that they feel like they need, that they use.

It's for those additional or unexpected weapons that people may get.

As I said earlier, you know, there's people who pass on who have weapons and they pass them on to their children and the children that those people may not have a use for them.

And they say, well, how do I get rid of these?

Also, you know, there's a lot of people who are living with guns in their home that are concerned today about those.

If you've got a family member who's been having some kind of crisis, maybe it's mental.

Maybe there are former military who go through.

We know a lot of problems with PTSD.

We know there are people who have worried about maybe someone in their family using a weapon against somebody in the family.

There's those things exist.

We know women who have shot by their domestic partner.

We know people who are committing suicide in their own homes.

We know children who are finding guns in their homes and even taking them to the schools.

This is an opportunity for an alternative way to get that gun out of your home if you no longer want it.

And that's going to be November 19th at the Alamo Dome.

So, I mean, the Alamo doing being a city owned property.

I'm wondering, is H-E-B partnering with us?

I know that, yes, it's going to be H-E-B gift cards and that you're going to be buying them.

But is that something that H-E-B is participating in?

Well, they're offering that service as as part of this, but they're they're not taking, let's say, a sponsorship role, so to speak.

And I understand that they're able to provide the gift cards that I think are good incentives to have people join us and share those weapons.

And I picked November 19th as a target date because it's right at the beginning of the holiday season.

And I want to help people who maybe have a weapon or two in their home who don't need it.

Maybe they can turn it in and pay for Thanksgiving dinner for their family, or maybe they can buy gifts for their children or grandchildren for Christmas.

So I think the timing's unique, and I think the needs and wants are there for people to find an alternative way of disposing of weapons that they just don't want in their homes anymore.

So this is just this is a way to help people just get rid of the unwanted guns.

You know, people the city is saying we have to, like bring in more.

We have to bring these in and get them off the streets.

This is optional for people.

Right.

Absolutely.

And so I don't think it's a second Amendment issue.

I think it's a personal decision issue from people who have weapons who don't feel like they need them.

All right, Councilman, thank you so much for your time.

Sure.

Thank you, Joey.

Joining us now is Precinct one Commissioner Rebecca Clay Flores on the Bear County Commissioners Court.

Commissioner, thank you for joining us on On the Record today.

Thanks for having me.

So one of the things I was hoping we can talk about is the expanding footprint of Texas A&M, Texas A&M, San Antonio on the city's South side.

It's really the only major university that we have on the south side.

And there's been a $10 million commitment from the city, the county that you have been backing.

So tell us about this commitment of $10 million that the county is giving to Texas A&M, San Antonio.

Yeah.

So I was working at Texas A&M and something that I really advocated for to support new athletic fields for Texas A&M.

Texas A&M is obviously a new university and we need to make sure we build it up just as we support it and build it up the other universities throughout Bear County.

Specifically, this is something that's really important to me because if you follow any of the work I do, I'm always talking about preventative and mental health.

And unfortunately, on the South side, we have a real lack of places where we can be outside and get fresh air and exercise.

And of course, recently there's been some dog attacks, too.

So we want to make sure that our constituents in Precinct one, specifically on this part of the precinct and south Side, have a safe place to go and exercise.

Bear County.

We are rampant with obesity and diabetes, and so part of preventive health is getting exercise.

I try to walk six times a week and sometimes my walk is cut short because there is a stray dog.

And and it's just really, really unfortunate.

So I hope that this is something that the community is just going to embrace.

When we were in negotiations and talking to Texas A&M, one of the things I made sure that we had a commitment for public commitment was that it would be open, of course, outside of Texas A&M events and games, that it would be open for the public so that we can have a safe place to exercise and walk.

So let's talk a little bit more on that, because are there not that many places for people to do something like that on the south side as it is right now?

I mean, of course, we have our parks and the trails.

We're still building that out because unfortunately, as usual here in Bear County, having grown up here, things start on the north side.

So now they're complete, completing all that on the southern sector of Bear County.

But we do have real issues with stray dogs.

And so we need to make sure that our community is exercising and walking.

And education is so important.

It goes hand in hand.

We can have academic success, but of course we have stress and all these other things.

And so I talk about preventative health because when you're walking and exercising, getting fresh air, drinking lots of water, it's something that is preventative against all sorts of chronic disease, including things like cancer and just stress, anxiety, depression, things that are really rampant in our community.

And we see initiatives like this from Metro Health, for instance, encouraging, walking, things like that.

On the south side, there's a high rate of diabetes.

Are you hoping that providing this type of space, especially where there might not be as many opportunities as compared to other cities, will help kind of reverse that trend that we're seeing of more and more diabetes cases every year?

Absolutely.

And us as a community doing things, I have an annual five K event that I do and I invite people to come out and I tell them you can walk, run or crawl.

We just need to get out outside and have exercise.

So the county has supported other athletic complexes, but if you look at the map, there are only two in Precinct one and I represent the largest geographic area.

So there's definitely an inequity there.

And so that was another reason why I pushed for this, because we need to have more places that are free and open to the community.

And so you mentioned other other athletic initiatives.

You know, this isn't the first time that the city has you I'm sorry.

The county, rather, has used funds for public universities.

Last year there was about $8 million given to UTSA for similar track and field projects.

You know, what benefit does the county see in supporting universities?

I know you talked a little bit about the the the the health aspect of it, but as far as this county putting money towards expanding the universities in this way, what benefit does the county have for that?

Well, it's also part of community economic development.

It creates jobs and it's also sends a message to our young people that you have a place that embraces you, that education is important, that exercise is important, and it's something that we support.

Texas A&M San Antonio is a very young university.

So because of that, we need to help build it up like we've helped build up the rest of the of the universities in town.

Yeah, so it's such a new university.

But some of the longer legacy state universities that we have and it's feeding into the Texas A&M system.

So for you being an elected official, supporting this, you know, putting resources, putting time, putting effort and energy into it, I mean, do you feel that other more other representatives that kind of share that area, share with Texas A&M need to be doing that as well?

I think, you know, you know, some of the council members are also maybe some of the state reps.

I'm pretty sure they are.

But if there might needs to be a bigger push for that.

Sure.

I mean, you know, and I have good relationships with all the electeds in the precinct that I represent.

So we work really well together.

The county is definitely the right place for me because all you need is three votes.

You know, the city, the state.

Sometimes it's harder to to to get all that together.

So but as we work together and support each other, then that's how we get things done.

So as this is going towards athletic and, you know, much like UTSA has been building its athletic program and it's it's a football program over the next over the last few years as A&M is kind of doing the same for its athletic opportunities.

I'm kind of almost thinking in the future we might see like a UTSA little local rival.

Exactly.

Talk about it all, kind of like UTSA and I'm sorry, you two.

You and A&M and Austin in College Station have their rivalry.

I'm kind of thinking in the future we might have the same thing here.

Are you kind of looking forward to that, too?

Yeah, absolutely.

I think those kind of rivalries just kind of give pride in a community.

You know, I'm a proud graduate of high school, and growing up our rival was Burbank.

And so I was just at Burbank tailgate for their homecoming last week and just heard that, like, we're not their rivals anymore.

I'm like, how does that happen?

How do you change that?

So I guess there's generational changes and there's differences and stuff, but I think rivalries really give a pride in the community and it allows us to advocate and and just be excited and gives us things to look forward to.

On that pride in the South side, have you been seeing that growing over the last few years?

You know, you're mentioning about the disparity in the north side, but have you seen more of an emphasis of people kind of going in and putting into that that pride of where they come?

Well, it's something I'm always talking about.

It's something I'm always advocating for.

It's one of the reasons why I ran for office, because growing up here, it was just really discussing to me to not see the growth community, economic development.

I'm coming back from college and my oldest brother was in medical school.

We would kind of sad, sadly joke about nothing's changing in our community.

Isn't that the same, y'know, on the same corner?

And that was one of the things that was really drove me to to run in the first place and to advocate for more infrastructure, more community economic development.

Of course, we just recently made the big announcement about JCP coming to the South side and with that creates infrastructure and with infrastructure, it's going to bring more jobs, it's going to bring more people to come and to develop.

And so we're really excited because I always say that Precinct one is a place where we want to work, live, play and pray.

And it's really difficult when you have to get in your car and drive across town to find a safe place to walk or to go to the doctor's.

Also in that area, of course, we have we're going to be building the new University Health Hospital and next to that, a public health division of us.

So we're really excited that we're really finally getting some things that have been long overdue on the South Side.

Commissioner Rebecca Clay Flores represents Precinct one on the Bear County Commissioners Court.

Commissioner, thank you so much for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

Joining us now for our reporter roundtable is Sharon Brooks, managing editor of the San Antonio Business Journal.

Sharon, welcome to On the Record.

Hi.

Thank you so much for having me.

So one of the things that I love about the San Antonio Business Journal is that it's been really hitting on the breaking news about commercial real estate development, the airport and all the movers and shakers that make San Antonio's business community whole and moving and thriving.

And one of the stories that's just come out of the business Journal is the city planning to annex around 4000 acres on the south side.

And these are plans that started about maybe ten years ago in 2014.

As we often see the city do what these long term annexation plans.

And so, you know, I hope we would talk a little bit about that, because I understand that some of these are about to start taking place in January.

Yes, that's right.

As a matter of fact, the owners about nine years ago, the owners of some property on the South Side had signed an agreement with the city to not annex their land at that time.

But the stipulation within the contract stated that it would be January 2024 and then the city could annex the land.

But the landowners, some of whom we've spoken to, have were not able to negotiate at the time.

And so what they did was they they decided to go ahead and sign.

They signed the paper hoping to later be able to possibly negotiate this.

In some cases, I believe some of them were ready to let go in January 2024, and then others maybe wanted to renegotiate that later or hoped to.

But unfortunately, when they signed the contract with the city, it's coming due now.

Basically, the city's coming to collect as what always is one of the lines in the story by a residential real estate reporter who wrote this, The City in January 2024 is hoping to move forward on the annexation of that area.

And of course, before then, the owners and or they've approached the owners and the owners will have to give up their land.

Now, there are, of course, some of them are more willing to do so than others.

And then some basically are hesitant to give up the property that's been in their family for so many years, for example, or that they're doing business on or that they're, you know, they have their livestock on or something like that.

But the city, the south side, as you know, is a burgeoning area in the city of San Antonio.

And so the city hopes to grow and include, I guess, the south side of the city and make the city larger on that part of San Antonio so that we can have more people and more growth and that they can help benefit from that growth.

So that, you know, years ago I remember hearing the city of San Antonio, especially in some of its early annexation plans won't be that early, but back in 2015, when A.B.

Taylor was mayor, you know, there was a presentation to the city council saying that San Antonio was in a really unique position when it comes to these not being as landlord that other cities like, especially like Dallas or Houston, where they don't have or there's more annexation opportunity and there was this large scale annexation plan.

But, you know, there were so many property owners that were against it saying that, you know, that they didn't want to pay more in city taxes, things like that, or start paying city taxes and some of that regard.

So we see these types of like plans come in pretty often, or at least when annexation comes into play.

So do you think that you might we might see some pushback from some of the landowners out there, especially as the city starts kind of, you know, as you put it a moment ago, or one of the quotes in the story, you know, the city coming to collect.

Yeah, definitely.

There are a couple of landowners, at least one we've spoken to who has or the attorney we've spoken to who is looking to keep their property.

But unfortunately, because the agreements were signed, even though it's been almost a decade since those agreements were signed, it looks like the city has the right to go ahead and move forward with the annexation, whether the property owners like it or not.

And but, you know, it could benefit everyone in the end.

But it could, you know, obviously be detrimental to some people who feel that they're losing their property or they're losing their business opportunities that those properties might give them might offer them.

But, you know, like you said, many cities are landlocked and San Antonio wants to embrace the south side of the city is what the city assumed would say.

And that's why they want to bring them in.

And, you know, yes, they might cost more taxes, but also it could benefit them in other ways as well, like fire, police, that sort of thing.

So, you know, one of the things also I love about the Business Journal and how it does profiles on people that are moving up or getting new jobs, especially with with local companies or or just different different businesses here in town.

And one of those is a story that you did a few days ago on a the chief people officer here at Water Burger.

And there were a few things in there that really kind of caught my eye and said, her name is Peggy.

Peggy Rubins is the chief people officer for Water Burger.

Like you said, we like to call her the Queen of Texas, because, as you know, Whataburger is kind of the Burger King of Texas, if you would, if you will.

But she's moved up through the ranks.

She's been with several prominent companies over the years.

She's moved up through the ranks in human resources as a professional.

She just had some inspiring things to say.

It was a JPMorgan Chase event on October 4th at the AMA Hotel here in San Antonio.

It was a lovely event and Peggy was one of three women on a panel who were talking about their personal boards.

The other two was CEO Rosa Santana of the Santana Group and Summer Barber, or Fabric I'm sorry, of Hair, a biotech.

She's the co-founder and CEO of Hair Biotech.

And these are just amazing women from from either from San Antonio or living in the San Antonio area or, you know, with a San Antonio company like Water Burger is a San Antonio based company.

And they were talking about their personal boards.

And Peggy had a lot of really inspiring things to say.

You know, for me as a person coming up through business and always being interested in what's going on in business and human resources and that sort of thing, I just found her talk fascinating.

And what she was talking about was a personal board of directors.

What a personal board of directors is.

It's a group of people that you have who you can call.

It's not, you know, your company's board of directors at your own board of directors.

And so these are people you can call on if you have tough decisions to make or if you have any personal questions.

You know what I mean?

Let's say you're offered a promotion at work and you're not sure whether or not you should take it, because it doesn't maybe doesn't quite fit in with your life schedule that someone you can call would be a personal board member who you can ask, What should I do?

What do you think?

What's your opinion?

And it just depends.

You have to.

Peggy was talking about how you should have several different people from from a diverse background who are on your personal board, who should and who you can call on and ask for their opinions from kind of removed from the immediate situation.

For example, she said when she had a life decision to make, she called on a high school professor of hers.

This is a man who is on her personal board.

She's known him for years and years.

And so she felt that she could call him and he would give her a perspective that wasn't too close to home.

But at the same time was in her best interest.

And so that's the kind of things she was talking about with a personal board.

Ms.. Santana Rosa Santana, she mentioned her two daughters are on her personal board, which they are sounding boards for her to call.

And some are mentioned and some are Barbara mentioned that she has people on her personal board who she looks up to and admires so that she can give them a calling if she has any questions or concerns.

See that I find that so fascinating because we all have those people that we can kind of turn to or liking or kind of get that advice that we need to move forward in our own personal development and careers and things like that.

So, Sharon, thank you so much for joining us on the Record.

Sharon Brooks is managing editor for the San Antonio Business Journal.

Thanks for being with us today.

Thanks so much.

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

You can see this show again or previous shows as well as download our podcast at KLRN.org We'll see you next time.

Enjoy.

Joey Palacios of Texas Public Radio.

In for Randy Beamer on the record is brought to you by Steve and Adel Dufilho