Vol. 71, Issue 9
O c to b e r 2 8 - N o v e mb e r 4 , 2 0 2 5
Est. 1981
THE PAISANO
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community
@ThePaisano
@paisanomedia
@paisanosports
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Professors discuss Project Marvel benefits, issues
By Jake Mireles Editor-in-Chief
S
an Antonio and Bexar County residents will have the opportunity to vote on Proposition B, concerning public investment into a new downtown arena for the San Antonio Spurs. Prop. B is the first time San Antonio citizens can vote to approve or deny public funding for the greater Project Marvel downtown revitalization initiative. The Paisano sat down with Professor of Public Administration Haywood Sanders, and Michealangelo Sabatino, director of the UT San Antonio School of Architecture + Planning, to discuss potential benefits and drawbacks of Project Marvel. A large point of contention about Project Marvel has been the lack of transparency before and immediately after revealing the initiative in November of 2024. Sanders agrees with this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of community input in public investment initiatives. “The problem is, in the case of Project Marvel, that it appeared almost literally out of nowhere,” Sanders said. “It’s particularly perplexing to me because a project of this scale with this many components and this scale of public investment should really be done with serious community involvement. We’re the ones who will use it. The people who live here and make use of downtown are the people who will, in fact, make this a success or failure.” Early planning and development of Project Marvel was done largely behind closed doors, with the public unaware of the initiative’s existence until its official rollout. Recently, Mayor Gina Ortiz-Jones changed policies for
city employees’ use of Non-Disclosure Agreements when attempting to protect information regarding a pending business deal — setting a $50 million threshold on said deals or projects. This change aims to address public concerns about the project’s negotiations according to San Antonio Report. Sanders also highlighted concerns about investing in renovations for San Antonio’s existing convention center. “In the contemporary environment, convention centers were over-promised, and they under-delivered,” Sanders said. “They rarely achieve the kinds of performance in terms of attracting attendees and overnight visitor days that consultant studies forecasted.” Convention centers have become a highly competitive and populated market in Texas. This trend pressured cities to expand and modernize existing facilities or fund new facilities in high-cost infrastructure investments. According to the Texas Comptroller, these facilities rarely make profit. A key element of Project Marvel is the reuse and refurbishment of existing structures and facilities. Sabatino compares this process to the development of The Historic Pearl district. “You’re taking an existing site that has all of its complexities, and you’re gradually transforming it through adaptive reuse, new fusion of capital,” Sabatino said. “I know the scale is not at the same scale as the Pearl, but what’s really cool about the history of San Antonio is that it has tended to use insights and transform them in ways that are very creative.” Prop. B proposes a $1.3 billion price tag for the new
Shutdown halts funding to SNAP; San Antonio Food Bank steps up By Johnpaul Buwule Staff Writer In the wake of the federal shutdown, San Antonio organizations and government assistance programs have reported experiencing a halt in federal funding, impeding operations. Delayed federal funds have made the future of government assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, uncertain. On Oct. 17, Texas officials warned that if the government shutdown continued until Oct. 27, SNAP benefits would not be disbursed in November. The shutdown has continued and delayed the distribution of $615 million in benefits. This setback in funding has impacted 3.5 million Texans, including 300,000 Bexar County Residents, and the 1.7 million children who depend on SNAP for groceries. President and CEO of San Antonio Food Bank Eric Cooper explains what this delay means for the Food Bank during an interview with The Paisano. “In the last 12 months, the San Antonio Food Bank served about 577,000 people. SNAP serves about 370,000 people,” Cooper emphasized. “SNAP recipients are stocking up. They’re coming to the food bank to get assistance because they do not know when the assistance from SNAP will come.” SA Food Banks forecast an increase in the people they serve due to the SNAP delay. In October, the SA Food Bank said it needs $500,000 per week to serve an additional 1 million pounds of food for a growing population in need. “Delaying [recipients’] benefit will cause them to potentially go without food, and their income is inadequate, so therefore they will surely lean on the San Antonio Food Bank, so that we could see up to 370,000 people, should the government not open soon,” Cooper noted. When explaining the implications of delayed SNAP benefits, Cooper articulates that nonprofits cannot completely substitute where the government left off. “For every one meal a food bank provides a family in need, SNAP typically provides about nine, and so, if there’s a SNAP cut or SNAP delay, we would have to double, triple, quadruple, all the way up to nine times the size to be able to provide the type of volume of food that the SNAP program provides,” Cooper said. He stressed that “nonprofits or philanthropy can’t make up the difference in public support.” In addition to SNAP benefits heightening the organization’s workload, Cooper expects that more federal workers furloughed or working without pay will turn to the food bank.
“We estimate that we’ll see about 50,000 federal workers and their family members,” Cooper posits. “One social security administration worker told me she’s raising her grandkids, and she was worried that they wouldn’t have food to eat, and so she came to the food bank.” SA Food Bank is confident that it will continue supporting San Antonio residents in need; however, Cooper stresses that it cannot support a large portion of residents indefinitely if the shutdown is prolonged. “We only have about four weeks’ worth of food in our warehouse, and so we’re watching it closely,” Cooper said. Funding cuts to organizations have been prominent during the shutdown, with Eagle Flight Advocacy and Outreach feeling the impact. Eagle Flight serves seniors, disabled people and women fleeing domestic violence, also providing food, clothing and baby supplies. The organization has reduced its biweekly food distribution to once every three weeks because its yearly $75,000 grant —30% of its budget —has been suspended. The organization assists 70 families per day and 150,000 people annually. With a portion of its budget gone, organizations scramble to stretch resources to meet such a large population. Armin Suljovic/The Paisano
Food Bank forecasts increase in customers due to SNAP delay.
arena project. However, Sanders asserts that this may not be the final total, forecasting additional funding needs. “Among other things, we know it will require more money, more public money, more tax dollars to improve and refashion traffic flows around [the new arena],” Sanders said. A city council briefing estimates the additional infrastructure upgrades necessary for the Sports and Entertainment District to cost $220 million to $250 million. This additional financial obligation would be in addition to funding already allocated for construction and refurbishment projects in the district. These are estimates for infrastructure improvements which includes funding for additional parking infrastructure. “The city’s talking about building two parking garages totaling 4,000 spaces. And yet, we haven’t seen any serious cost analysis for those or how they’ll be paid for,” Sanders said. “The city has also estimated $220-250 million in necessary infrastructure and traffic improvements to get 19,000 people who go to Spurs games in and out of those garages. According to the San Antonio Express-News, City Manager Erik Walsh expects that San Antonio will be on the hook for necessary infrastructure upgrades. However, plans for how to fund these projects have yet to be disclosed. Early voting for San Antonio’s upcoming election began on Oct. 20 and runs until Friday, Oct. 31. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 4. Polling locations and additional information regarding the upcoming election can be found at bexar.org/1568/Elections-Department.
Early voting now until Oct. 31 By Lori Zaragoza Staff Writer Early voting in Bexar County runs from Oct. 20-31. With local bond elections occurring, residents can vote on possible tax increases for hotels and rental cars to fund improvements to the Freeman Coliseum and a new Spurs arena in San Antonio, as well as school district upgrades. There are two ways for people to vote: mail-in ballots or in-person at voter stations. However, mail-in voting applications must have been submitted before early voting began. With multiple locations across the city for voters to access, UT San Antonio also has a voting station at the H-E-B student union available in room 1.102. Voting will take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. from Oct. 27-31. Proposition A focuses on the renovations to the Frost Bank center and Freeman Coliseum to support year-round events, including the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Project Marvel is one of the measures on the ballot. If passed, it will create a new Spurs arena in San Antonio as part of Prop. B. Texas also has 17 other constitutional amendments being proposed relating to taxation, with multiple school district funding bonds on the ballot. An example of the amendments is Prop. 3, which states that “the constitutional amendment requiring the denial of bail under certain circumstances to persons accused of certain offenses punishable as a felony.” The Bexar County website, bexar.org, provides information on how voting will take place and the required information to present for in-person voting or voting by mail. The requirements for mail-in voting are being physically disabled or having an illness, being age 65 or older and/or being away from the country. Voting locations can also be found on the county websites. A guide for the propositions on the ballot is provided to help voters read through and understand what they are voting for before arriving at a station. To participate in early voting, residents must be registered voters. Stations across the city are open and available for those who qualify for early voting, with designated open times. Voters cannot wear any “swag” or jerseys to the voter stations. The Bexar County Election Department reminds voters that it is the law to not wear logos and will be asked to remove, cover or flip merchandise inside out to enter the voting area. Dressing, supporting and promoting the Spurs is still legal within 100 feet of any voter station.