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November 2, 2025 15 mins
The city decides. Vote ‘YES’ on Prop A & B.
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey everyone, It's Dylan Emory, host of the Fanatics every
Sunday ten am to noon on Sports Radio AM seven
to sixty to the Ticket. Enjoyed this podcast version of
the Fanatics right here on Sports Radio AM seven sixty
the Ticket.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Anybody can be a fan lagerable pull up Ray Shepherd,
good for Victor Winman Yama. These guys are Fanatics and
you GSA has opened up by praise scortly. This is
the Fanatics.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Welcome man to the Fanatics on this Sunday Funday edition
right here on Ticket seven sixty. I am your host,
Dylan Emery, along with Shane Carter. We are on for
an hour and a half as we are preempted today
with the Houston Texans taking on the Denver Broncos.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
So we have a lot to get to, so let's
get to it.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
You can find me on the iHeartRadio app, you can
download tickets seven to sixty make it you're number one
pre loaded station for us. Or you can find me
on Facebook live right now as I have people joining
in on my Facebook page. But joining us right now
is counselman Mark White. Good morning, counselman, how are you today?

Speaker 2 (01:02):
Good morning I'm great. How are you.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
I'm doing fantastic because I'm going to tell you this, Mark,
I'm feeling good. I'm feeling real good about what's going
to happen on Tuesday.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
But again, I wanted to bring you on.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
That was my sole purpose over this whole month or so,
is to have you on every Sunday to discuss Prop
A and Prop B because still there are still false
things that are being said out there, and I wanted
to make it very clear on.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
How you know Prop A is and Prop B is.
And that's why I'm going to give you the floor.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
That's right. Well, I appreciate you having me on, because
you're right. The most important thing between now and Tuesday
is to make sure that everybody has the accurate information
here on what exactly we're voting on. So let me
give you the most common questions. I get asked. Number one,
if I live in Autamo Heights or Almost Park or

(01:54):
Shavino or somewhere that's not technically in San Antonio city limits,
can I vote? And the answer is yes. This is
a county wide election, so if you live in Bear County,
you can vote, and we need you to get out
to the polls. Number two, this venue tax, is it
going to raise my taxes? For me, anybody living out

(02:18):
in the neighborhoods or is anywhere in San Antonio? Is
this going to raise my taxes? And the answer is no.
There's a reason this is being called a visitor tax. Okay.
And when you get to the polls and you see
the ballot on Tuesday, you're going to see the language
at the top of proposition A and B, it's going

(02:38):
to say this is a tax. And that's because by
law that has to be on the ballot. But it's
a visitor tax. For anybody that uses rental cars or
anybody that stays in our hotels, they're going to be
paying just a little bit more to do so, but
it is not going to affect the taxes of the
residents of San Antonio. And then number three's could this

(03:02):
money that's raised by by this venue tax, could it
go towards other things in our city like streets and
sidewalks and public safety and all of that. And the
answer is no. By law, there is a state statute
that says this money can only go towards construction of

(03:23):
a venue essentially, so it can't be used for other things,
other city, other municipal needs, and so no, the money
can't be used for that. It has to go to
build a venue. And that's why in this case it's
being proposed that with Proposition A, it'll go to expanding
the Frost Bank Center for and Freeman Coliseum for rodeo purposes,

(03:45):
and for Prop B, it's for the proposed new Spurs
Arena downtown.

Speaker 4 (03:50):
Hey, Mark, I'm curious. I'm curious how you feel about
the early voter because there's breached past one hundred thousand
early voters in the last two weeks, higher numbers honestly
since the mail election. How are you feeling, How are
you feeling in terms of confidence after early voting ends
in the election actually begins on Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Well, I always love when more people vote because this
is the democratic process. This is going to be up
to the citizens of San Antonio to decide what they
want the future of this city to look like. And
again I say San Antonio, but I mean all of
Bear County right this this is our decision on what
we want the future of our region to be. So

(04:29):
I think it's a good sign that people are getting
out there and voting and you know, between now and Tuesday,
I hope people will continue to seek out the accurate information,
make sure that they know all the terms of this deal,
so that when they go to the polls on Tuesday,
they're there they can make an informed decision. And I'm
confident if people do that that we're going to get

(04:52):
something done that's going to be really good for San
Antonio and all a Bear County.

Speaker 3 (04:56):
Now, I know you've been out and about throughout the city.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
You've talked to a lot of voters, and I can
honestly tell you, Mark, you've kind of flipped a lot
of people to vote yes in this situation, because I've
come across people that said, well, no, I don't want
to do it because of my taxes. But when you
start spitting facts, it kind of changes the perspective of people.
For example, I'll let you know, there was a guy
that lived in Detroit. He lives in San Antonio, and

(05:20):
at first he said, no, I'm not going to vote
for this, but he listens to you, he listens to me,
and he all of a sudden says, you know what,
this is actually a good idea for the city, and
this is a good idea because we're bringing money into
the city if this passes correct.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah, absolutely. A lot of people ask, well, what's in
this for me? Right, I don't really go to Spurs games,
you know what's in it for me? And the answer
to that is that if this is done properly and
there's a really good plan in place this time, right,
you and I have talked about how the Spurs are
committed to investing one point four billion dollars to invest

(05:56):
around the new arena, right for shops and restaurants and
bars and all of that. When all of that happens,
when that development is created, the economic impact for our
city will be extremely significant, and that will create revenue
that will go into the city's general fund that can
then be used on streets and sidewalks and drainage issues,

(06:21):
and on public safety and on all the other things
that our city government needs to operate and to make
our citizen's day to day quality of life better. So, yes,
this can be a really good thing for our city
from an economic standpoint and from what we need to

(06:41):
do over the next ten to twenty years again to
improve resident quality of life. Not to mention the fact
that listen, these are our san Antonio Spurs and we
need to make sure that they're right here in San Antonio.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
Yeah, exactly, And the Spurs are five and zero.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
And we've we're on Facebook Live as well, Mark, and
I've got a question, and Jerry Sandoval is in here,
and he wants to know one thing. Has the current
mayor even said why she's against Prop A and Prop B.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
That's also one of the most popular questions I get asked,
is where's the mayor on this? And you know, we've
seen her statements that seemed to indicate that she's not
really for it and why And I'm not really sure,
to be honest with you, you know, and I don't
want to put words in her mouth, but this all began,

(07:32):
the plans for this all began prior to this mayor
taking office. And I think a little bit of what's
going on is, you know, this wasn't this wasn't her idea,
It wasn't her brainchild, and so maybe she feels like
she doesn't need to or doesn't want to support it
like she should, but you know, I don't really know why.

(07:53):
But what distresses me the most, though, is everybody is
entitled to their own opinion on this thing. But what's
not okay is misleading the public in terms of what
the actual deal is. And that's where you know, the
mayor and I have certainly had our issue, and again
it's it's my job. I feel like to get the

(08:16):
folks the accurate information so they can make an informed
decision when they go vote.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
And one of the things that I read that I
just falsely read and I just kind of roll my
eyes out.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
But they're still undecided voters.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
And what they're undecided on, mark is the fact that
this is for the billionaires of San Antonio and the
millionaires of San Antonio and it's not going to benefit
the city of San Antonio.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
How true is that?

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah, it's not true. And I want everybody to remember
again that it was not the Spurs that said to
the city we want a new arena. This was the
city that went to the Spurs and said, hey, we
want to bring you downtown. And the reason that our
city manager went and did that is again because of

(09:02):
what we talked about a few minutes ago, the economic
impact that it could have for our city, which will
then benefit all San Antonians. So, yes, everybody here stands
to win, right, But Let's not forget that the Spurs
are making about a two billion dollar investment in San

(09:23):
Antonio if this deal moves forward, and you contrast that,
for instance, with what's going on in Oklahoma City. You know,
I don't know if people saw that, but you know,
when they went to do a new arena, that ownership
group put in about fifty million dollars and they taxed
the citizens for the other nine hundred million or so.

(09:43):
That's not what's going on here. You know, our team
is investing five hundred million in the arena and then
about another one point four one point five billion in
development around the arena and in community benefits. Since so
the Spurs are really acting as good partners here. It's

(10:04):
our job as a city government not to give the
Spurs anything but to negotiate hard like we did, to
come up with a fair deal where again everybody can benefit.

Speaker 4 (10:17):
Mark White joins us here on the Fanatics on tickets
seven sixty.

Speaker 3 (10:19):
Mark.

Speaker 4 (10:20):
One thing that to this point is being hammered home
again and again, which is another point of false information,
is that people that were wondering why this public funds
can't be used for roads and highways stuff like that,
and you've made this point multiple times. One more time,
can you explain to the public why the money can't
be used for those for these certain things.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Sure. So, there's two pots of money that we're talking
about here. In terms of this venue, the visitor tax, right,
which people are going to vote on on Tuesday, there
is a state law that says that this money can
only be used for a venue or for construction around
a new venue. The other pot of money, when you

(11:01):
talked about what the city is going to put in
at four hundred and eighty nine million dollars, right, that
is going to be comprised really of what's called PFZ
dollars Project Finance Zone money. And again, a few years ago,
the state legislature passed a law that said certain cities
in Texas could use state sales tax money in a

(11:26):
designated area of their city for entertainment purposes to create
entertainment venues. In San Antonio, it's this three mile radius
downtown where the proposed site of the new arena is, right.
And again it's money we either use for a new arena,

(11:46):
we use for a convention center, or else the money
goes back to the state. So it's either we use
it or lose it. And that is a state law.
So you cannot take this money and put it on
the south side or north side or left side and
build streets and sidewalks, etc. It's not permitted. Do you

(12:08):
either use it for entertainment purposes or else it goes
back to the state.

Speaker 1 (12:12):
And last question for you, Mark, because I know voting
is on Tuesday. You know I want to give you
at least ninety seconds here. I want you to talk
to the citizens that have not voted yet. Why should
they turn out on Tuesday and vote yes to PROPE
and prope.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
Sure well. Number one, the San Antonio Spurs are an
integral part of this community. It's not just the games
on the court, it's everything else that they do in
terms of charitable activities and the revenue that they bring in.
There are so many jobs that they create, there are
so many businesses that they support, and so we need

(12:51):
to keep our San Antonio Spurs right here. Number two, Listen,
this city. I've always said our strongest asset are our people.
We have warm, hard working people. We have a culture
here in San Antonio that frankly other cities do not have.
We can keep that same San Antonio culture, what makes

(13:15):
us us right, we can keep that while at the
same time moving our city forward to where I think
we all know it can go in the decades to come,
and that is going to require investment in our city. Right,
We have to invest in ourselves to make us stronger

(13:38):
and really to do all the things that we need
to do as a city, as a municipal government. And
when you go to the polls on Tuesday, right, think
about our spurs, think about the revenue and the jobs
that all of this would would create. Think about how
there's a much much much better plan this time than

(13:58):
there was twenty years ago when the Frost Bank Center
was done, And just have all the facts. Get out
there and vote. We're all in this together. We all
want to see San Antonio and Bear County go to heights,
which we're all dreaming of. And so we look forward
to seeing you at the polls, and I know the
citizens are going to make the right decision, and I

(14:20):
look forward to working with everybody in the decades to
come again to make sure this is the place the
best place to live, work and play in America.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Absolutely all right, countsman Mark White. I appreciate your time
this morning. Everybody, get to the polls. It's very important.
And I'll tell you this, guys, Mark White is just
you want the facts, there you go. He's been spitting
facts and he's been vocal. Now, some certain leaders in
our city have not been vocal. So just think about that.

(14:51):
When the truth is out there, it's out there. If
people are going to hide behind lies, that's what they're
going to do. And I hate to say it, and
I'll say it. This mayor needs some readjustments and we
all need to show up to the polls on Tuesday
and vote yes to Prop A and Prop B. Coming
up next, I've got former Mayor Ron Nurenberg join us
to discuss this again because it's important. As we say, go,

(15:14):
spurs go, and we hit those polls on Tuesday to
vote yes to Prop A and Prop B
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