“When we look at this experience, we are keenly aware that doors were opened, conference rooms were made available and seats were placed at the table for billionaires, millionaires and developers,” said [COPS/Metro] leader Father Jimmy Drennan, referring to Missions investors, such as Weston Urban co-founder Graham Weston, a one-time billionaire."
Dallas Morning News Highlights Dallas Area Interfaith Collaboration with Chief Eddie García to Build Police-Community Trust
After Texas legislators passed the anti-immigrant Senate Bill 4, Dallas Area Interfaith (DAI) leaders didn’t lose hope. Instead, they reached out directly to the Dallas Police Department, engaging them in outreach to parishes and neighborhoods. Police Chief Eddie García responded by joining 50+ DAI leaders for two neighborhood walks, knocking on doors in immigrant communities to listen to residents' stories and reassure them of their ability to trust local law enforcement.
At St. Pius X Catholic Church, Chief García joined Bishop Greg Kelly, Gloria Lam, and Fr. Salvador Guzman, who organized the walk. A second walk, hosted by Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, was led by Frays Angel Rios and Pedro Romero.
As Chief García transitions out of law enforcement, the Dallas Morning News highlighted his involvement in efforts like these as "interactions [that] created momentum" in building trust between the police and immigrants.
Read moreIn Missions Stadium Deal, COPS/ Metro Secures Living Wages, $500K in Relocation Aid + $34M for Infrastructure From Developer
Concrete Community Benefits are Now Included in Tax-Funded Downtown Project
Thanks to the intervention of COPS/Metro, concrete community benefits are now part of a partially tax-funded Downtown Missions Stadium project, thus creating a fairer deal for San Antonio residents, including those who will be relocated in advance of construction.
COPS/Metro had been in negotiations with elected officials, city council members, city staff, Weston Urban, SAISD officials, institutional leaders, community leaders, and local residents. COPS/Metro's complete statement and press can be read below:
Read moreCOPS/Metro Fights for Community Benefits in Missions Baseball Stadium Deal
More than a year after closed-door talks began around a proposed stadium that would displace thousands of low-income residents, the City of San Antonio held its first public hearing. COPS/Metro clergy and leaders decried the secrecy of negotiations and displacement of low-income families, while questioning whether the plan would actually come at no cost to taxpayers.
Leaders presented Council a list of demands: community benefits that would ease the transition for thousands of Soap Factory Apartment residents, guarantee a place to return upon completion of the development, include provisions for affordable housing as part of the redevelopment and ensure living wages for workers involved in the project. Councilmember Pelaez responded from the dais, calling the list of demands "not unreasonable requests" and urging their consideration by Council.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, "city officials pushed the vote back a week [to next Thursday] because of sharp questions about the deal from the public and some council members."
[Photo Credit: Jessica Phelps, San Antonio Express-News]
Council Vote on Ballpark Deal Pushed to Sept. 12 after Backlash, San Antonio Express-News
'Kicking the Community Out': Proposal for Missions Ballpark Development Draws Criticism, Concern, San Antonio Express-News [pdf]
City Council Makes Added Demands to Downtown Ballpark Deal That Will Displace Renters, San Antonio Report [pdf]
COPS/Metro Testimony Starts at 48:59, City of San Antonio Special Meeting
EPISO Leaders Win Millions for Infrastructure
In July, EPISO/BI leaders in Canutillo scored a major victory for sewer infrastructure, working with county commissioners and El Paso Water to dedicate 2 million dollars in ARPA funds for a sewerage project in Canutillo. Additionally, leaders from Montana Vista worked with their state legislator and EP Water to advance the second phase of their sewerage project this February. Both of these wins were decades in the making. Says EPISO/BI leader Suki Perez, "We've worked for years, knocking on doors in the heat and in the cold to get people organized."
Aprueban Servicios de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado, Telemundo48elpaso
South Texas College of Law Recognizes Texas IAF Leader, Pastor John D. Ogletree
Long considered a "champion for God's people and justice" by his peers, Pastor John D. Ogletree received some well-deserved coverage by South Texas College of Law in Houston. As the founding pastor of First Metropolitan Church, his leadership with TMO, Texas IAF and the regional network of the West/Southwest IAF has been catalytic.
[Photo Credit: South Texas College of Law - Houston]
Community Icon, STCL Houston Alumnus Forges Pathway to Justice and Redemption, South Texas College of Law - Houston [pdf]
COPS/Metro Continues Push to Improve SA's 'Ready to Work' Training Success
[Photo Credit: William Luther, San Antonio Express News]
[Excerpt]
"These slower-than-expected results have prompted even local advocacy group COPS/Metro, one of Ready to Work’s earliest and staunchest champions, to criticize the program for not doing a good enough job of getting job commitments from employers upfront.
The good news is that everyone involved with Ready to Work has demonstrated a willingness to learn from mistakes and adapt."
Garcia: By Frustrating Trial and Error, Ready to Work is Changing Lives, San Antonio Express News [pdf]
Texas IAF Featured in National Catholic Reporter
[Excerpt]
"Catholic social teaching isn't ideological," [Bob] Fleming said. "It says, 'Go out to the people, talk with them, understand them, let them tell you what's going on.' "
....[Sr. Pearl] Ceasar shares Fleming's sentiment about the compatibility of Texas IAF's work and Catholic social teaching. In the 1960s, she studied the documents of the Second Vatican Council, which she said greatly impacted her outlook on the responsibilities of individual Catholics and the Catholic Church.
"Vatican II didn't address the doctrines of the church; it addressed the relationships in the church and who we are to be as Catholics," Ceasar said. "Meaning that we are to be engaged with people, we are to be engaged in the community."
For 50 years, Texas IAF Organizing Group Has Drawn on Catholic Roots, National Catholic Reporter [pdf]
CTI: Companies Should Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes, Just Like All of Us
[Excerpt]
“Tax breaks should be decoupled from school funding and from school board decision making, period,” said Rev. Miles Brandon, a [Central Texas] Interfaith leader and pastor of St. Julian of Norwich Episcopal Church...
Brandon said the new program is better than what existed previously because it no longer includes direct payments to schools, which he described as a “perverse incentive” for districts to approve deals despite the cost to the state's overall education system. He also said the decrease in the total size of each tax abatement is an improvement over Chapter 313, as is the requirement that each deal must pass the governor's office.
But he said Austin Interfaith will continue to encourage school board members to vote in opposition to any request by a company to participate in the new program...“As we see how this law unfolds, I think we will continue to oppose" applications, Brandon said."
[Photo Credit: Arnold Wells, Austin Business Journal]
Texas' New Incentives Tool is Ready, Austin Business Journal [link]
EPISO/Border Interfaith Leads Public Outcry Against City Project that Threatens to Demolish Local Homes
[Excerpt]
“Our community has heard from hundreds of residents who are opposed to this route, and many have just learned in the last few weeks that their homes may potentially be lost,” said Lorena Silvestre, a leader with EPISO/Border Interfaith and local resident.
“Of the three routes proposed, this one clearly hurts the most people who are elderly, Spanish-speaking and on limited income. These are families that built their homes with their own hands. We do not accept the argument that this is the “best route” to alleviate traffic.
Read moreThis is just the route [the City of Socorro] thinks people will not fight back. They are wrong."