Former San Antonio Council members make final push to sway voters against Prop B

Former Councilman Greg Brockhouse speaks to reporters in front of City Hall. Credit: Michael Karlis

Politics make for strange bedfellows.

Indeed, three former city council members — two conservatives and a progressive — made a final push Monday to urge Bexar County voters to reject Proposition B, which would help publicly finance a new Spurs arena.

If passed, Prop B would raise Bexar County’s visitor tax to 2% to help publicly finance a new NBA arena at Hemisfair. The visitor tax hike will allow the county to contribute $311 million toward the project.

Approval of the measure also would also validate the city’s term sheet with the Spurs, which includes another $489 million financed by sales and property taxes at and around Hemisfair.

Although the Spurs and its pro-arena political action committee, the Win Together PAC, argue that only visitors will pay for the $1.3 billion arena, the three former council members convened a press conference in front of City Hall to say the deal doesn’t pass the smell test.

“It’s not free money, folks. It’s debt that has to be paid back by you and me here in this city,” said former District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, known as a conservative naysayer. “Don’t let them say it’s going to be paid for [by tourists]. It won’t, because we have to pay for it.”

Perry was referring to what would happen to the debt incurred by the county and the city if revenue from visitors, sales and property taxes doesn’t meet expectations. Indeed, other cities that used similar financing mechanisms, including Worcester, Massachusetts, had to dip into their general revenue funds to pay off a minor league baseball stadium.

Meanwhile, Greg Brockhouse — a former District 6 councilman who ran two populist mayoral campaigns — accused the Spurs of running a politically divisive campaign and engaging in ethically questionable tactics.

“The Spurs have divided our community, and they’re pitting Republicans against Democrats,” Brockhouse said.

Brockhouse was referring to a text message Win Together sent out last month — allegedly to registered Democrats — warning that sales tax revenue would be returned to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott if voters reject the arena proposition.

“Anybody who tells you this is not a tax increase is lying to you, and there are a lot of mouthpieces that the Spurs are paying right now,” Brockhouse said. “Go look at the campaign finance reports. They are buying loyalty across this city with dollars, food, free tickets and transportation.”

Brockhouse continued: “Those are major campaign violations. The Spurs and the people not filing these reports are violating campaign finance laws.”

In a statement to the Current, Spurs Sports & Entertainment Corporation Communications liaison Liberty Swift said the Win Together PAC had local content creators to promote Prop. B. However, she said the franchise has meticulously followed campaign ethics rules.

“These sponsored posts were disclosed by the creators, followed Texas Ethics Commission rules and FTC guidance, and will be fully reported on the PAC’s campaign finance filings,” Swift said. “To be clear, no one was paid to vote or to vote on a certain way.”

Professor Heywood Sanders, a UT-San Antonio professor emeritus of public policy, was also spoke at the presser. He told voters that before the polls open tomorrow, they should think about promises made about the Alamodome and Frost Bank Center, both of which city leaders said would lead to robust economic development in their respective neighborhoods.

“When it comes to this, realize you’ve been taken advantage of before,” said Sanders, who also writes a periodic column for the Current. “You’ve been given unfulfilled promises before. Even if you deeply love and care for the Spurs, now is the time to say, ‘This is the wrong deal at the wrong time.’”

Former District 1 Mario Bravo did not attend the press conference. However, he did air his concerns about the new arena and broader Project Marvel in a recent phone call with the Current.

“There’s a history of the city not negotiating good deals with major corporations, local corporations, and so we can’t just trust the city and give them a blank check to do this,” Bravo said.

Bravo continued: “There’s this religion, almost like a disease, that we need to invest in downtown. We’re going to revitalize downtown and do all this stuff. And investment is good. But, it’s not a smart investment if it doesn’t produce the outcome that they claimed it would.”

Bravo said he tried to print his concerns in a San Antonio Report op-ed, but the publication declined because they said their coverage of the topic had been extensive.

“The definition of comprehensiveness is that you covered all aspects,” Bravo said. “So, the Report’s coverage has been extensive, but not comprehensive, because it hasn’t covered this issue.”

Polls will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday. Information on polling locations is available at the Bexar County Election Department’s website.

The Spurs will host a watch party at the River North Ice House for pro-arena voters, while activist group COPS/Metro, which led the push against Prop B, will hold its election night soiree at Southtown’s Friendly Spot.

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Former San Antonio Council members make final push to sway voters against Prop B

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