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HAlamo Colleges District responded to the coronavirus pandemic last week by waiving summer tuition for all currently enrolled students, so long as they have a 2.0 GPA. Full-time students who took class during the spring are eligible for up to nine free credit hours, while part-timers are approved for up to six. H Despite his assurances that Texas is beating back COVID-19, Gov. Greg Abbo ’s reopening of many Texas businesses on Friday came a day after the state reported its highest daily death from the disease. A total of 50 Texans died Thursday from COVID-19-related deaths. The same day, another 1,033 people tested positive, one of the state’s highest single-day totals. H After its fi rst Drive-Thru Zoo experience sold out in two hours, the San Antonio Zoo announced it will off er the in-car safari tours daily through May 17. The zoo launched the fi rst-ofits-kind tours to make up for lost revenue as it hemorrhages cash during the stay-at-home order.
That Rocks/That Sucks
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After a Travis County district judge ruled that Texas voters worried about COVID-19 should be able to send in ballots by mail, state Attorney General Ken Paxton sewed confusion by sending a le er hinting that he may throw the book at county election offi cials who comply with the judge’s order. Paxton also claimed the judge’s ruling is on hold while the state appeals it. — Sanford Nowlin
Brad Parscale
San Antonio techie-turned-Washington campaign manager Brad Parscale was back in the headlines last week after ge ing sideways with his famously fi ckle boss.
President Donald Trump screamed at Parscale on the phone Friday, blaming him for his slipping poll numbers and even threatened to sue, the New York Times and others reported. The call came as the White House played damage control following the reality-show president’s suggestion that ingesting disinfectants just might be that evasive coronavirus cure everyone’s looking for.
But after all that shouting, things were rosy again by Tuesday, the Times also reported. Apparently, Parscale — now a Florida resident — visited the White House armed with a makeup bouquet in the form of “new campaign polling data in which the president’s standing had climbed.” Aww.
Parscale himself weighed in on the ma er last week on Twi er, branding the reports of the tiff “#FakeNews.” Of course. What else? “There’s absolutely no daylight between us,” he gushed of Trump. “We have a great relationship that spans almost 10 yrs.”
The tweet was uncharacteristically warm for Parscale, who typically uses the platform, much like his boss, to take shots at political rivals including “Sleepy Joe Biden” and “WeakKneed Ron Nirenberg” or to label the free press the “enemy of this country.”
For all of that Twi er bluster, it’s apparent there’s one person this assclown doesn’t dare stand up to on social media: his abusive boss.
— Sanford Nowlin
Twitter / Brad Parscale
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YOU SAID IT!
— Mike Nguyen, Noodle Tree owner and lymphoma
patient on why he didn’t open his restaurant on May 1.
Last week, local offi cials began including COVID-19 cases from the Bexar County Jail in their overall count of diagnoses for the disease. As of Friday, there were 1,477 positive tests countywide, a jump of 103 from the previous day. The majority of the new cases — 91 of total — came from the jail, a COVID-19 hotbed. At press time Monday, offi cials have confi rmed 98 cases among inmates and 41 among deputies.
In Texas’ largest cities, including San Antonio, 62% of front-line workers are women, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data by the Associated Press. Those employees are also more likely to be people of color. Workers in professions such as health care, social services and the grocery industry are considered essential workers during the pandemic but face higher infection risks due to their continued exposure to other people. After nearly 15 years of fi ts and starts on the way to development, the shu ered Lone Star Brewery, appears to have a new lease on life. Last week, a bankruptcy judge authorized the sale of the 32-acre complex south of downtown to GrayStreet Acquisitions, a subsidiary of developer Gray Street Partners, for
$14.5 million.
Gina Ortiz Jones Listens to the Experts — and Voters — on COVID-19 BY JADE ESTEBAN ESTRADA
Democratic nominee Gina Ortiz Jones hasn’t been elected to serve the people of Texas’ 23rd Congressional District. Even so, the COVID-19 crisis has inspired her to open a virtual fi eld offi ce to help residents connect to health care and fi nancial resources.
“We are stepping up and, in many ways, serving as a congressional offi ce would,” she explains via phone.
For those who have observed Jones’ solution-driven mindset during her time running for offi ce, the decision to provide weekly updates on COVID-19 may not come as much surprise. The candidate fi rmly believes that leadership is actionable.
During her 2018 bid to represent the sprawling border district, Jones, now 39, was pegged by her party’s far-left wing as a Washington insider and an establishment fi gure. After winning that year’s runoff against Democratic Socialist Rick Trevino, she secured the nomination and went on to challenge Republican incumbent Will Hurd, who ultimately defeated her by a razor-thin margin of 926 votes.
Looking back, Jones’ campaign didn’t have the messianic feel of Beto O’Rourke’s 2018 run for the U.S. Senate. Nonetheless, the a ractive and smart Jones was elevated by a rarely seen lesbian star power that inspired her backers to view her as the year’s Great Gay Hope.
The fact that she came so close to defeating Hurd fueled her second bid, boosting her enthusiastic base beyond the LGBTQ community and onto a higher tier of electability.
“I can’t believe that it’s already been two years. You have no idea how much I want to be at Taqueria El Rodeo right now,” she says, naming the Northwest Side eatery where we fi rst met.
I tell her that I’m holding up two imaginary Gina Ortiz Jones Barbie Dolls, one from 2018 and one from this year. I ask how they’re diff erent.
“Um ... let’s see,” she says, playing along. “To be honest, I don’t think they’re going to be too diff erent. They are motivated by the same things, making sure that the community is well represented. Frankly, I think the Barbie Doll of 2020 would be living through COVID-19.”
That la er premise weighs over everything right now and certainly puts up a “Winding Road” sign en route to November’s election.
Jones says White House offi cials were warned of the oncoming coronavirus pandemic but chose not to act. “No one could have imagined that we could be living through this,” she says. “Unfortunately, much of this is needless.”
I ask her when she thinks the country will be over the worst of the pandemic.
“I’m not a doctor,” she says. “I’m just the one that listens.”
And listen she does. Jones invites Texas’ brightest
minds to appear on her weekly town halls, which she posts on her Facebook page, along with Spanish captions.
I compliment her on the wide variety of experts she’s already interviewed.
“Well, I don’t know what I don’t know,” she replies. “I’ve always said, ‘If I’m the smartest person in the room, there’s a problem.’ I think part of being a good leader, Jade, is recognizing that one doesn’t have all the answers. I mean, who does? Nobody does.”
Nine months ago, a photo of Jones standing at a memorial dedicated to the victims of last year’s mass shooting at an El Paso Walmart popped up in my Facebook feed. It struck me as a signifi cant milestone in her journey as a Texas leader.
When I ask how the tragedy aff ected her personally, she pasuses, seeming to fl ip back a few news cycles. “It was heart-wrenching to think that anybody in our country would be targeted simply because of the color of their skin,” she says. “And it was equally heart wrenching to think that that killer was motivated by the words of our country’s leader. First, I felt I needed to call it what it was, which was a white nationalist-fueled domestic terrorist a ack that caused the largest massacre of Latinos in American history.”
She continues: “It showed all of us just how dangerous this type of rhetoric can be if left unchecked. And that’s why I’ve always said, it’s not just what our leaders do, it’s also what they don’t do. It’s also the silence of so many and then the complicity of so many that are also responsible for that tragedy and continue to be responsible, unfortunately, for what’s going
Jade Esteban Estrada
on today. That was another unfortunate and needless event. It shouldn’t have happened, and we know it doesn’t have to be that way.”
I ask if there’s anything she would praise about Hurd’s administration?
“Praise?” she replies slowly, as if pulling the word out of a muddy pond. I immediately wish I’d used a less celebratory term.
“In all fairness, I have heard in local communities that he has a good staff and they are responsive,” she acquiesces. “That’s a low freakin’ bar, right? If you’re praising somebody because their staff answers the phone and gets back with somebody? That just shows you just how low our expectations are.”
With her eye on the future, Jones says she would like people who a end her town halls to ask a question: “What is the world that you want after this?”
“I think people are dealing with the economic consequences and the health consequences [of COVID-19] in their own way,” she says. “I’m not going to tell anybody how they should feel about this, but people are going to walk away with their own understanding of what this has meant to them personally and what that could mean to them as they decide who their next leader should be — and they have every right to do that.”
I ask her if there’s something she’d like people to keep in mind as we continue down this path of so many unknowns.
“I think we are a resilient people,” she says. “We’ll get through this. [But] I think we’ve absolutely learned our lesson.”
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CITYSCRAPES
If San Antonio needs to fund another round of COVID-19 assistance, here’s where it can fi nd the money
BY HEYWOOD SANDERS
Editor’s Note: The following is City Scrapes, a column of opinion and analysis F or breakfast Sunday morning, COPS President Bea Gallego had eggs, bacon, coff ee, and victoria dulce. She earned every bite.”
So began Roddy Stinson’s Express column on Monday, January 17, 1977. The “sweet victory” savored by Beatrice Gallego and the COPS (Communities Organized for Public Service) organization that Sunday in early 1977 was the approval by city voters of the 10-1 district election plan for city council. The change in minority representation from an entirely at-large council would reshape both the makeup of the body and city policy priorities over subsequent years.
Just a few days ago, COPS/Metro could savor “sweet victory” once again, both for the organization and for the thousands of San Antonians who have had their lives and personal fi nances upended by the coronavirus and the stay-at-home orders. The city council, in a 10-to-1 vote, approved the commitment of $25 million for emergency assistance, to help residents with rent, utility bills, gas, groceries and Internet access.
In the face of the current economic devastation, it’s not much. Hopefully, the money is only a fi rst installment to address needs that are likely to grow over the coming months. Even so, it still took concerted pressure on the mayor and council to deliver on this meager amount.
An initial proposal by city staff , reluctant to commit the abundant general fund reserves and seemingly rummaging under the couch cushions for spare dollars, amounted to just $15.8 million. Almost all of that sum came from federal dollars, both under the current stimulus program and the Community Development Block Grant program.
The possible local dollars were found in the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone funds, including $400,000 from the Houston Street zone and the Midtown and Inner City zones at $1 million each.
These funds are where the city has stashed away the increased property tax revenues from new development around the Frost Tower and San Pedro Creek downtown, as well as along the Museum Reach of the river and the Pearl Brewery developments.
Then there was $3.05 million from the Housing Trust Corporations, and another $2.5 million from the Parking Enterprise Fund, originally budgeted for projects that aren’t likely to happen anytime soon. This all amounted to city hall’s spare change in the face of the
situation exemplifi ed by the lengthy lines for food aid from the San Antonio Food Bank.
At this point, it’s diffi cult to predict the course of the coronavirus locally or the depth of the economic recession locally and nationally.
But if the pressures on San Antonio families continue though the summer and into the fall, the need for public assistance will undoubtedly be far more than the current allocation of $25 million.
So, in the interest of easing the workload of city staff , here are some suggestions for where a few extra dollars might be found.
The current fi scal year 2020 budget includes $2.5 million in “Visit San Antonio Hosting Obligations,” described as “funding for annual contractual obligations to support major conventions, meetings and/or events.” I’d guess (or even bet) some of those conventions and events aren’t happening this year. Surely, that money could be be er used for San Antonians.
And then there is the place where City Manager Erik Walsh, and his predecessor, has been stashing general fund dollars in recent years: street maintenance.
The current budget allots a whopping $110 million to street maintenance. I enjoy the nice fresh asphalt as much as any driver. But, surely, we could make do with a li le less this year, pu ing off those maintenance projects for some months or shifting the spending to the next fi scal year.
We shouldn’t prioritize street maintenance over a local populace scrambling to fi nd food, pay bills and maintain a roof over their heads.
Now is the time to prioritize people over potholes.
Heywood Sanders is a professor of public policy at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
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Coronavirus Crisis Brings Harsh Challenges to San Antonio’s Undocumented Community BY MIKE MCMAHAN
While life during a pandemic hasn’t been fun for anyone, San Antonio’s undocumented population faces unique challenges during the crisis.
Some of those people are essential workers but don’t necessarily receive that designation from the authorities. Nor are they even recognized as such by much of the community. Some in the community may not even be aware of services available to them during the pandemic.
“The undocumented workers that harvest crops are still out there harvesting crops,” said Bernade e Solorzano, a psychologist who works with San Antonio’s undocumented population. “We’d be in trouble without those people and the work that they do.”
Still, these workers are losing their jobs.
“A lot of people are laid off ,” she added. “There’s no unemployment for them to apply for, so that’s worsened their situation.”
Solorzano hopes that the current crisis may awaken more empathy for the group, which has been scapegoated by right-wing political fi gures in recent years.
San Antonio is home to more than 60,000 undocumented people, according to one recent study based on 2017 data. Collectively, the group earns $1 billion annually and contributes more than $100 million to taxes.
San Antonio offi cials appear aware the strain facing undocumented families. For example, the city’s recent $25 million COVID-19 relief package doesn’t require recipients to show citizenship documents.
Solorzano is clinic director of Community Counseling Service, which focuses on serving marginalized and low-income populations including undocumented people. She said undodumented residents have long faced hardships the rest of us are only now experiencing.
“There’s always an element of sustained uncertainty, which we’re all experiencing through COVID,” she said. “There’s always this fear that they’re going to get pulled over and picked up. Then they’re not coming back home again. So, there’s always anxiety.”
In this way, undocumented residents may not see as signifi cant of a change, particularly in terms of their mental health.
“It’s going to depend on if the family is hit by COVID-19. If they have to deal with illness or death of a family member, that will be an added problem,” she said. “Or if they tried to get help but couldn’t.”
Diana Lopez, executive director of the Southwest Workers Union, said her organization has received calls during the pandemic from undocumented people experiencing fi nancial stress and depression. Some worry that they have no fi nancial safety net in the U.S. and no local support system of relatives
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to help out if they lose their jobs.
“It’s something we really haven’t fi gured out how to address, other than staying on the phone with them and le ing them talk about what they’re feeling,” she said.
Walk-in mental health services are available at Community Counseling Service. Immigration status is not something the clinic asks about, and if they became aware of a client being undocumented, it would be protected information.
There is room for non-professionals to help as well. Organizations such as Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) are frequently looking for volunteers, particularly volunteers who are bilingual.
“For most people, helping other people improves your mental health,” Solorzano said. “You’re pu ing change out in the world and you’re making
AG Ken Paxton Doesn’t Want Texans Voting by Mail. Now
He’s Threatening County Elections Offi - cials to Make His Point T exas A orney General Ken
Paxton fi red off a le er Friday threatening to prosecute election offi cials who advise able-bodied voters, who normally wouldn’t qualify for a mail-in ballot, that they may submit one because of the pandemic.
The le er is in direct confl ict with a ruling two weeks ago by a state district judge that states Texans concerned about catching COVID-19 at the polls may request absentee ballots instead. Travis County Judge Tim Sulak ruled that the expansion is justifi ed under the portion of the state election code that lets people with disabilities vote by mail.
Paxton, a Republican, appealed the ruling to the Third Court of Appeals. He maintains that while the appeal is pending, Sulak’s order is essentially on hold.
In the le er, Paxton said the suit doesn’t alter Texas’ existing election code. What’s more, he warns that “third parties” could face criminal penalties if they counsel voters that the risk of contracting COVID-19 qualifi es them as a having a disability.
Paxton argues that the code clearly defi nes “disability” as having a “qualifying sickness or physical condition” that prevents someone from voting at the polls, he added.
However, in the disputed ruling, Sulak wrote that state law is ambiguous about what qualifi es as a disability.
Further, he ruled that the state is barred from “issuing guidance or otherwise taking actions” to prevent counties from accepting mail-in ballots from people trying to avoid exposure to COVID-19.
“Ken Paxton’s le er — which is not binding — gets the law wrong and serves no other purpose than to a empt to intimidate voters and county offi cials,” Thomas Buser-Clancy of the ACLU of Texas told the Texas Tribune.
