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At the turn of the century, Mayor Ed Garza wanted to raise city council pay to a full salary from just a few bucks per meeting.  Tacking on increased terms in office was too much for voters to stomach at the time.  They came around on the salary a decade later, and now Mayor Ron…

A few weeks ago, the San Antonio Express-News’ editorial board offered that the initial council bump in pay in 2015 was justified on the grounds that the “responsibilities of the city council and the mayor changed and grew” with the city over the preceding decades. However, a “strong argument can be made they should receive…

In our world of here today, gone tomorrow, this month we celebrate a company that has been in business here in San Antonio for over 100 years:  Little’s Boot Company.    It has been family-owned and operated since 1915, when Lucien Little first opened his shop selling and repairing boots.  From that humble beginning, four generations…

It’s been a long year for the San Antonio ISD community San Antonio remains one of the poorest cities in the United States and one of the least educated workforces, according to the United States Census Bureau.  As the debate over public vs. private school vouchers continues to rage, San Antonio must focus more on…

The city’s “Status on Poverty Report” was released recently, and the response was predictable.  “I just want … some sort of an action plan.”  Council should “better direct” taxpayer dollars “toward helping all San Antonians thrive.” If officials had a decent grasp of history, they’d know the likely outcomes from such efforts: more of the…

“Zero-based budgeting is not about cutting spending. It’s about finding areas where we do not need to be spending money, and then redirecting those funds to better serve the city’s priorities and provide a return on investment for taxpayers.” Those are the words of San Antonio City Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) in a piece he…

We were just wondering if animal attacks were down lately, or if the press got bored of them.  Now District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee Rodriguez has given us a decent idea where to look next. He has proposed giving renters financial assistance for pet deposits for those “who foster or adopt from San Antonio’s ACS…

Thursday March 21st will be your next opportunity to provide public input to the Charter Review Commission.  This is the group tasked with hammering out changes to the San Antonio City Charter proposed by Mayor Ron Nirenberg. They are all held at the Central Library from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Citizens who sign up…

When we were young, one of us asked our respective mom “why don’t you vote in the primary?” “Because,” she responded, “I don’t want to be labeled as a republican or democrat.” Given our non-partisan nature, we can certainly empathized with that sentiment. However, that label means nothing come general election time, when you can…

In 2022, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote that the Texas Public Information Act (PIA) “assures that government entities give citizens access to information about what public servants are doing on their behalf – information they need to gain a more complete understanding of how their government works and hold their public officials accountable.” The…