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 

 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

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]

[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]

[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]

[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]

[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.

This is just the route [the City of Socorro] thinks people will not fight back. They are wrong."

[Excerpt]

"Our state legislators cannot muster the courage to act on the will of the people. Why? They fear the vocal minorities who have made gun possession an idol worthy of greater reverence than the lives of our fellow citizens. This is an abomination before God.

Frustrated by the cowardice and inaction of the state legislators, San Antonio congregations are now working to reduce gun violence. Under the banner of COPS/Metro Alliance, 175 church leaders united to ask city of San Antonio and Bexar County leadership to create a public education campaign emphasizing gun owners’ responsibility to store their firearms safely and to provide safe handgun storage boxes for vehicles.

It’s past time for lawmakers to come to their senses and listen to the residents they represent."

[Photo Credit: Pictures Left: Rev. Rob Mueller. Sam Owens, San Antonio Express News]

Texas Lawmakers Fail the Courage Test on Guns, San Antonio Express News [pdf]

[Excerpt]

The bill would provide six months of Medicaid coverage to qualifying new moms....and could have a massive local impact.

More babies are born on Parkland’s Health’s insurance plan than in eight states. Extending coverage for those families would improve outcomes for tens of thousands of women in North Texas. Groups like Dallas Area Interfaith, a non-partisan, multi-ethnic, multi-issue group of religious congregations, schools, and other non-profits in Dallas, are working to get the bill passed.

The bill would also be a boon to the state by giving the mothers access to primary care and preventing downstream costs.  “HB 12 going to save the state money,” says Dr. Barry Lachman, a pediatrician and ...DAI [leader]. “What we spend in preventive services will pay off for these mothers.”

HB 12 remains in the State Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee.

[Photo Credit: iStock]

North Texas Rep. Toni Rose's Bill Would Add Coverage for new At-Risk Mothers, Again, D Magazine [pdf]