SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and Texas state Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins took center stage at a community information session about Proposition A on Wednesday evening.
The goal was to inform voters on the proposition that some people feel is being overshadowed by conversations on a new Spurs arena, also known as Proposition B.
If passed, Proposition A would allocate $195 million in tourist tax revenue to improve the Frost Bank Center, Freeman Coliseum, Freeman Coliseum grounds and the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo grounds. This will show up as Proposition A on voters’ ballots in November.
“Everybody’s talking about the new arena, but some of these corner landmarks, you know these venues, have a lot of history for a lot of people that live in this community,” Bexar County voter Jarvis Soileau said.
Proposition A is called the Coliseum Complex Venue Project, Sakai said. He wants it to be clear to voters that Proposition A is not interchangeable with Proposition B, or Project Marvel. These are completely different propositions on the ballot.
The taxes that would fund Proposition A are taxes on hotel rooms and short-term rental cars. Both hotel taxes and rental car taxes already exist, however, Proposition A would increase the hotel taxes from 1.75% to 2%.
“People are saying, ‘Are my taxes going to go up, are my property taxes going up,’ the answer is no,” Gervin-Hawkins said.
Gervin-Hawkins said it was important for her to attend the informational session and speak at it because, if passed, the proposition would impact her district on the East Side.
“This is a good start,” Soileau said about the informational session.
However, Soileau wants officials to do more to educate voters on the propositions.
“Get into the neighborhoods, participate in those community events, educational tents,” Soileau said. “There’s still a lot of questions, a lot of unknowns that have a lot of people concerned.”
Soileau mentioned he does not want any buildings to become dilapidated.
While public officials are not allowed to tell or encourage voters to vote one way or another, Sakai did tout the possibility for the new venture.
“This is just the start of the beginning of the revitalization of the East Side in this particular community,” Sakai said.
Overall, voters in attendance said they do appreciate town halls and open forums to get direct information without bias so they’re prepared in November.
“This is an opportunity for you to hear directly from the people involved how this will impact your pockets, your lives and otherwise, and that way when you go into the booth on November 4, you can go informed,” B. Michele, a Bexar County voter, said.
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