Vol. 70, Issue 12
Est. 1981
April 22 - April 29, 2025
THE PAISANO
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community /PaisanoOnline
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District 8 hosts city council candidate debate By Marisela Cruz Assistant News Editor
A
Ivalis Meza Gonzalez
Cindy Onyekwelu
Sakib Shaikh
ll six candidates running for the District 8 council member position attended a debate hosted by the San Antonio Report. At Elevate Events on April 17, candidates Sakib Shaikh, Cesario Garcia, Cindy Onyekwelu, Rodney Kidd, Ivalis Meza Gonzalez and Paula McGee sat and awaited questions from Moderator Leigh Munsil, the editor-in-chief at SA Report. Since Manny Palaez is running for mayor, his position as District 8 Councilman will become vacant. District 8 residents filled the room to formally meet the candidates and hear their positions on city topics and political issues. At first, the moderator questioned each candidate’s qualifications and experience dealing with potential city issues. The first spark from the debate came from Shaikh after he mentioned rumors and accusations that were spread about him by Meza Gonzalez. Shaikh replied, “[It is] unfortunate to say there’s one candidate that has kept it negative. [She] tells lies about me to voters,” in regards to Meza Gonzalez. “I’m here to clear that up. She said things like I don’t pay my taxes, and that I don’t live in District 8. I’m here to clear the air because I’m going to bring leadership that you deserve. Honest and transparent,” Shaikh said. Gonzalez was allowed to respond
but chose to not answer. Following the exchange, the candidates were asked to explain why they should be the one to take on the role to handle District 8 and all its issues, as well as the city budget. For the remainder of the debate, all candidates answered the questions accordingly with little to no disruptions from the crowd. At the halfway point, Munsil allowed a moment for Shaikh and Gonzalez to clear the air for the accusations, starting off with Shaikh’s response. “So when you run a campaign it should be about you, and it should be about the voters and what you’re going to do for the voter,” Shaikh said. “[One] of the things that were brought up by my opponent [was that] I don’t pay my taxes, now what is true is that last year I was behind on my property taxes like any normal person,” Shaikh said referring to his property taxes for the Airbnb business he runs. He then went on to resolve the rumor that he is not a resident of District 8. “[I’ve] lived in and around District 8 for the past 25 years. There’s a portion of that time when I lived outside of city limits, but as soon as I get outside of my neighborhood, I’m in District 8 again,” Shaikh said. Gonzalez responds to the accusation of campaigning negatively, stating, “That’s just not the case.” She further goes
into Shaikh’s lawsuit against him from the city, explaining that transparency about what issues candidates are facing is essential for the voters to know, while also clearing the air that she never said he does not live in the district. This issue was discussed for several minutes, leading to the personal questions that were exchanged between each candidate. Each of the six candidates was asked to explain their position on public transit, Project Marvel, budgeting for District 8 and other topics related to San Antonio. Accusations continued during Gonzalez’s turn to answer her question; she spoke in regards to an ethics claim filed against her accused lobbyist activity. A back-and-forth occurred again between Shaikh and Gonzalez concerning this ethics claim being filed. Consistently, both candidates fired accusations and claims about one another. Near the conclusion of the debate, one of the final questions referred to what letter grade each candidate would give Councilman Manny Pelaez on his work being District 8’s councilman. Varying responses from the audience came when each candidate acknowledged the question at random. McGee gave Pelaez a C, Gonzalez said an A, Kidd gave an F, Onyekwelu said B+, Garcia offered a D- grade and Shaikh concluded with an A.
Cesario Garcia
Paula McGee
Rodney Kidd
Diego Cisneros/The Paisano
San Antonio Report hosted a debate with Editor-in-Chief Leigh Munsil as moderator of the event — all six candidates running for District 8 Councilperson attended the hour long debate with residents.
Voters’ perception of the mayoral race, Fiesta and Project Marvel By Johnpaul Buwule Staff Writer Led by Associate Professor of Political Science and Geography Brian Gervais, the UTSA Center for Public Opinion Research released its latest poll in April detailing San Antonians’ perception of the mayoral race, Project Marvel, the Missions Stadium, Fiesta’s impact on voting behavior and satisfaction with government and its officials. Conducted from April 7-8 with 685 responses, the CPOR found a significant lead among the top nine from the 27 total candidates in the poll, a slight dip in support for the new stadiums and a lessened likelihood of Fiesta impacting voter behavior. From the top nine candidates of the mayoral race, Gina Ortiz Jones leads with a 13% following, a jump from February’s 9.3%. After Ortiz Jones, John Courage comes in with a 7% following and Beto with a 6.6% following. Although Courage remains relatively favored in the poll, he has experienced a slight drop since the February poll, which held him at a 7.9% following. Altamirano has risen three points since February. In addition to candidate preferences fluctuating, the April CPOR found that the number of respondents who were unfamiliar with the candidate or did not know who they were voting for dropped. For unfamiliarity with the candidates, the percentage in February was 20.5% and dropped to 15% in April, which is less than 1-in-7
voters. When questioned about who they are voting for, the number of respondents who said they do not know dropped to 30% from a 35.3% CPOR poll in February. The poll also uncovered Fiesta’s likely impact on voting behavior. As Director of CPOR David Gervias explains, Fiesta has “real, practical implications because it coincides with the entire voting period this year.” Fiesta ranges from April 2 to May 4, and voting begins on April 22 and ends on May 3. The CPOR asked people about their likelihood of voting. 96% of respondents reported that Fiesta would not affect their likelihood of voting, 1% said it would, 1% said it will make them more likely to vote and 1% remained unsure. The poll displayed many voters indicating that Fiesta would not dissuade them from voting. The CPOR poll tracked the public’s perceptions about the various projects approved for San Antonio. First, when asked whether Project Marvel should move forward, 34% approved and 44% disapproved of the project, a slight drop from February, which garnered a 41% approval rating and a 36% disapproval rating. The same trend continued with the usage of the venue tax for the construction of the Spurs Stadium. 40% of respondents indicated they would vote for the venue tax, but 44% said they would not vote in opposition. The numbers slightly shifted from February, as 42% were in favor and 41% were opposed. The final project asked about was the San Antonio Missions Stadium, a $160 million ballpark. In September
and February, 40% of respondents favored the new stadium, and 35% opposed it; however, in April, 34% were in favor and 42% were opposed to stadium construction. Although support for these endeavors has dropped, Gervias explains, “We caution a little bit interpreting this as a real trend, a real change. There could be a lot of reasons why we might see some changes.” Overall, San Antonio residents were more pleased with local government than the state and federal governments. When asked about the direction of the city, state and country, 48% indicated San Antonio is headed in the right direction, while 29% said it was moving in the wrong direction. Respondents’ satisfaction dipped as they moved on to the state and federal government. 33% believed Texas was headed in the right direction, while 53% opposed. 30% believed the country was headed in the right direction, and 62% believed the country was headed in the wrong direction. The next issue they dealt with was voters’ perception of the performance of public officials. Mayor Ron Nirenberg had a 56% approval rating, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai was 40% and Governor Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump accumulated 32%. The results followed the same trend as the previous polling about San Antonians’ satisfaction with city, state and federal government direction. Early voting for the mayoral race runs from April 2229, and the official election date is May 3.
Harvard versus Trump – budget cuts affect university grants By Henry Holmes Contributor Institutions of higher education in the U.S. have become the most recent target of President Donald Trump’s administration. Beginning in late March, the White House has frozen $5.345 billion in grants primarily for university research. These funding freezes come during the Department of Education’s investigation of over 50 universities and graduate programs, accompanied by demands from the federal government over alleged discrimination and Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs. Since the Israel-Gaza war began, mass protests
advocating for both sides took hold of universities in the U.S., peaking in spring 2024, with school organizations placing encampments in high-foot-traffic areas. While many campuses cracked down on these encampments by negotiating with demonstrators, arresting them and closing encampments, the shadow of these protests still remains and, along with DEI, have been placed in the cross hairs of the White House. On April 11, the federal government sent a letter to Harvard President Alan Garber, making several demands to the private university. The letter requests Harvard reform many of its policies, including the way it hires faculty and admits students. It demands Harvard “cease all preferences based on race, color, national origin or proxies thereof,” and disclose admissions and hiring
data to the federal government while making statistical information, such as race, color, national origin and GPA, public information. It specifically states that all DEI programs “under whatever name” be stopped. At the same time, the letter calls for “viewpoint diversity” and that any department within Harvard that does not meet a standard for viewpoint diversity will be forced to hire a “critical mass” of students or faculty to meet those viewpoints. Given that a strong majority of Harvard faculty and students are politically left-leaning, this would force Harvard to admit students and faculty who are more right-leaning, which has raised many logistical questions. Continue reading at paisano-online.com