SAN ANTONIO – An ensemble of labor organizers in San Antonio met Monday morning to call for a better deal regarding Project Marvel, the city’s planned sports and entertainment district at Hemisfair.
From hospitality workers to educators, several speakers outlined the group’s shared concern about the project on the steps of city hall in downtown San Antonio. They called for investments in education, public transportation, affordable housing and other well-paid jobs.
“It is unacceptable to spend hundreds of millions of public dollars on a new stadium, while underpaid teachers spend their own money preparing classrooms for the working class students of our urban core,” the groups said in a joint statement.
The full Monday morning press conference can be seen in the video player below.
The planned district around Hemisfair includes an expansion of the Henry B. González Convention Center, a new hotel and renovating a federal courthouse into a concert venue.
However, the highest-profile component is a $1.3 billion Spurs arena, which would be funded mostly with public dollars.
Alejandra Lopez, president of the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel, pointed to mounting concerns around poverty, underfunded schools and a lack of affordable housing when she described issues pertinent to the groups present.
“We workers call for a robust community benefits agreement for Project Marvel,” Lopez said. “For a commitment to public investment, and more than sports and entertainment, in the working people who are the lifeblood of our city.”
Lopez later clarified to KSAT that the call for investment is about more than just the Spurs arena funding deal, which the San Antonio City Council approved on Aug. 21.
The non-binding terms, which would serve as the framework for more concrete future agreements, include the city kicking in up to $489 million and Bexar County up to $311 million.
However, it also includes a community benefits agreement that would have the Spurs send the city $2.5 million every year, for 30 years, for a total of $75 million. The team would also pay at least the city’s entry wage — currently $18 an hour — to all full-time employees at the arena.
Two of the council members who voted against the deal — Teri Castillo (D5) and Ric Galvan (D6) — spoke during the rally.
“But what we know today is about is ensuring, as we continue to move forward with Project Marvel, that the who build and make this city run have a say in what it looks like,” Castillo said.
Galvan said he planned to fight for the type of investments the groups wanted, whether or not the arena deal moved forward, “because that’s what our people deserve."
Galvan, Castillo, interim District 2 Councilman Leo Castillo-Anguiano and Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones voted for a now-failed strategic pause on the funding deal last month.
The Labor Day press conference came days after one of the project’s key architects, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston, announced her retirement from her work with the city.
On Nov. 4, Bexar County voters will consider a raise to the hotel portion of the county’s venue tax to 2%, which could help funnel up to $311 million toward the arena.
More Project Marvel-related coverage on KSAT: