San Antonio City Council approves non-binding terms sheet with the Spurs for a new downtown arena despite attempt to pause
The San Antonio City Council voted 7-4 Thursday to approve a non-binding terms sheet between the city and the Spurs over a new downtown arena. The vote fell along the same lines as the earlier failed attempt to pause the negotiations. Follow TPR's coverage of how the days events unfolded at City Hall.
Spurs Chairman Peter J. Holt said he was excited about the terms sheet approval and the upcoming November vote, saying he was glad to be moving with forward momentum.
When asked about the section of the terms sheet that guarantees the city's minimum wage as the entry level wage for full-time employees at the future arena, Holt would not commit to paying part-time employees that same minimum.
The city's minimum wage is $18 an hour, and Spurs Chief Legal Officer Bobby Perez said as few as 700 to more than 1,000 part-time employees currently work at the Frost Bank Arena for any given event.
District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo said she would continue push with local unions to ensure arena workers would be fairly compensated in the new arena.
The San Antonio City Council voted 7-4 to approve a non-binding terms sheet between the city and the Spurs over a new downtown arena.
The vote fell along the same lines as the earlier failed attempt to pause the negotiations.
Mayor Gina Oritz Jones requested that her colleagues support putting a future infrastructure bond up for a public vote.
The city has said the downtown area needs $220 million to $250 million in infrastructure improvements through an infrastructure bond to support the new arena and other Project Marvel Developments.
City Attorney Andy Segovia said the city council did not need to put such bond elections up for a public vote but could do so if it wished.
District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo, who also supported a pause, said she wasn't comfortable with moving forward because of a lack of analysis about how the new arena could impact the city's general fund in the future.
Castillo also called on the city to conduct a displacement study for the neighborhoods around the arena site.
“There will be indirect displacement," she said.
Castillo has raised concerns in the past about how the new arena and surrounding development could raise property values, and therefore property taxes, nearby.
District 4 Councilmember Edward Mungia opposed a pause, but said he still wanted the city to explore conducting an economic impact report over the next several months.
District 6 Councilmember Ric Galvan and District 9 Councilmember Misty Spears — on opposite sides of the vote to pause the negotiations — also voiced their support for an economic impact report during their comments.
District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran said the city needed to move forward so that it could begin more in-depth contract negotiations.
“You either trust this team sitting in front of me," she said, referring to the city staff and Spurs members, "or you don’t. I trust the Spurs.”
In response to a question from Viagran about the Spurs' commitment to engaging the neighborhoods around the arena site, Spurs Sports & Entertainment Chief Legal Officer Bobby Perez said they would immediately begin coordinating stakeholder and neighborhood association meetings after this afternoon's vote to "campaign" for the project.
Interim District 2 Councilmember Leo Castillo-Anguiano said he would not be supporting a terms sheet with the Spurs. He was one of four members who voted for a pause to get an independent economic impact report.“Our District 2 residents don’t want this," Castillo-Anguiano said.
In response to a question from District 9 Councilmember Misty Spears, who voted against a pause, City Attorney Andy Segovia said if substantial new information about the arena arises, the terms sheet can be changed.
District 10 Councilmember Marc Whyte, who also voted against the pause, said approving the terms sheet was essential to help voters make their decision on the county venue tax election.
“There’s really one decision that we have to make today," Whtye said. "And it’s do we want to send the voters to the polls in November with or without all of the terms of this deal.”
Whyte called for unity on the city council ahead of the terms sheet approval vote.
"After today, we've gotta come back together," Whyte said.
Tempers have run high on council in the past few weeks over Spurs arena debates and policymaking disagreements, and conflict has been particularly sharp between Whyte and Jones, who have gone back and forth on the dais and at his recent budget town hall meeting on Monday.
The terms sheet is non-binding for all parties.
An attempt to pause negotiations with the Spurs for an independent economic impact report failed 4-7.
The council is now discussing the next item on the agenda, which would approve the terms sheet if it is supported by a majority of the council.
Given the first vote's failure, approval of the terms sheet seems almost certain.
The mayor, District 2 Councilmember Leo Castillo-Anguiano, District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo, and District 6 Councilmember Ric Galvan all voted to pause negotiations.
We are nearing the end of the public comment session today, with just nine more people signed up to speak.
There have been three hours of public comment so far, with fairly even representation from both sides of the terms sheet issue.
The city council has a Zoning Commission meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. today, which may require the council to delay their discussion and votes until later in the afternoon.
Dozens of members from the Spurs organization, including Chairman Peter J. Holt and former championship-winning Spurs player Sean Elliott, spoke to the council in support of the project moving forward.
“I can say without hesitation that no other professional sports franchise engages the community like the San Antonio Spurs do,” Elliot said.
He said the Spurs’ commitment to the city is what have made so many former players like him choose to stay in San Antonio after their careers ended.
Holt said the $2 billion investment the Spurs were making was historic and led to a positive outcome for everyone.
The arena will be “owned by the public, paid by tourists, and operated by the Spurs,” Holt said — a “winning combination.”
The Spurs arena would be owned by a subsidiary entity controlled by the city, and a large portion of the funding coming from the county and city would be from taxes levied on tourists staying in local hotels and renting vehicles.
Another union has also voiced their support for a pause.
UNITE HERE Local 23 represents local unionized hotel workers.
“We think this could be a good project if it’s done right,” UNITE HERE Political Director Rachel Melendes said. “We just need the information.”
Melina Espiritu-Azocar is the president of the Northside American Federation of Teachers.
She said her union supported a pause to ensure public dollars were being spent well.
“This is not anti-Spurs. It’s pro-community, pro-worker, and pro-transparency,” Espiritu-Azocar said.
Aram Meraz is a San Antonio resident who spoke in favor of approving the Spurs terms sheet.
He said if the city delays, it will just turn into more delays and studies until the Spurs end up leaving.
“Mayor Ortiz Jones, you ran on ‘there is no time to waste,’” Meraz said. “Why is there suddenly time?”
Leaders of several local chambers of commerce, the CEO of the San Antonio Hotel and Lodging Association, and the CEO of the San Antonio Visitor Alliance have all spoken in strong support of approving the Spurs terms sheet on Thursday morning.
Greater San Antonio Chamber CEO Jeff Webster said deals in the past over the Frost Bank and Alamodome were based on “promises,” but the proposed Spurs deal is based on much stronger “commitments.”
The Spurs would be contractually obligated to be ready to break ground on $500 million worth of private development around the proposed arena site before the city issues debt for its contribution to the arena.
The city's Government Channel, TVSA, is livestreaming the debates over the future of the downtown development project.
Watch the free livestream here.
More than two dozen people stepped up to speak to the council on behalf of the grassroots organization COPS/Metro to advocate for a temporary pause.
“It is saying 'yes' to transparency, 'yes' to an independent economic analysis that will keep our people in the know, that will educate and will allow our people to engage in educated dialogue with you — our leaders,” said COPS/Metro leader Jimmy Drennan.
Spurs Sports & Entertainment Chairman Peter J. Holt declined to say whether the team would support the city taking time for an independent economic impact report after repeated questions from Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones during Thursday’s meeting.
Holt said he believes “that there’s tremendous data already” that shows a significant positive economic impact as a result of the Spurs’ multi-billion dollar commitments, and his comments were followed by raucous applause in the city council chambers.
Jones said her effort to pause the terms sheet approval was not because she wanted to stop the Spurs arena.
“Due diligence is not-anti-progress — it’s anti-poverty,” she said.
San Antonio City Council faces two opposing key votes on Thursday morning concerning Project Marvel's proposed downtown arena for the San Antonio Spurs.
Council will vote on either entering a nonbinding proposed terms sheet with the Spurs or whether to pause the process until an independent economic analysis and more public engagement are conducted.
The nonbinding agreement lays out a detailed framework for how the arena would be paid for, built, and owned.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has pushed for a “strategic pause” on voting for the stadium putting her at odds with some of her council colleagues.