Longtime activist Graciela Sanchez speaks at Friday’s news conference on the steps of City Hall. Credit: Michael Karlis

During a spirited Friday press conference, activists accused City Council members, including Phyllis Viagran and Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, of engaging in voter suppression by fighting a citywide vote on public funding for a new Spurs arena.

Indeed, the City Hall press conference organized by the Westside Neighborhood Coalition was as much about Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ proposal to put the city’s $489 million Spurs arena contribution on the November ballot as it was a lecture on the city’s history of voter suppression and Chicano activism.

Although City Council is set to discuss Jones’ proposal Monday, at least six council members have said they plan to vote against the measure. Those opposing the mayor argue that San Antonio residents already had a chance to weigh in on the $1.3 billion Spurs arena project last November during a countywide vote.

However, Jones argues last fall’s election was about approving Bexar County’s $311 million contribution, which uses a separate pool of funds from the $489 million the city would put up.

In comments at Friday’s presser, Father Richard Aguilar said the debate isn’t so much about the arena as it is about whether council is allowing the public to have a say.

“I ask the members of the City Council: what are you afraid of?” Aguilar said. “Are you afraid of people voting? Are you an ally of voter suppression? Or are you willing to hold up voting for all persons? It seems to me the Spurs are also afraid of this.”

Aguilar continued: “The reason there was a poll tax is that they were afraid for us to vote. They’re still afraid of us to vote. Let my people vote.”

Meanwhile, Kathy Vale, a local activist and daughter of the late Democratic State Rep. Bob Vale, questioned why her father and other West Side Chicano activists fought so hard to end at-large municipal voting in the ’70s if council members still refuse to listen to constituents.

“I want to put what’s going on right now in historical perspective, and I’ll start by saying I find myself appalled that in 2026, we are having to beg to vote in San Antonio,” Vale said. “There is something broken right now, and it doesn’t matter if the law does not require a vote. The status quo way of thinking has to change. It is not serving our community anymore.”

Before the changeover to single-member voting in 1977, San Antonio voters elected council members who represented the city as a whole instead of independent districts. The result was that the majority of council members elected were Anglo Northsiders, leaving the Latino majority largely underrepresented, activist Rosie Castro told KSAT during a 2024 interview.

Although the city’s various districts now have council members to represent their interests, longtime activist Graciela Sanchez, executive director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, said some council members, including District 3’s Viagran and District 8’s Meza Gonzalez, are not representing the will of the people.

“Phyllis Viagran’s district voted against this in November,” Sanchez said. “But she is the biggest cheerleader in favor of the Spurs arena, and she calls the mayor a liar. She is not representing her constituents. So much for single-member districts if they don’t even pay attention to what the community wants.”

Although it does not appear, as of press time, that Jones has the votes to put the issue to voters three months from now, Sanchez said she and her allies are continuing to lobby those on the dais to “do the right thing.”

“We are hoping that Ivalis Meza Gonzalez and Edward Mungia — who seems to understand and is sympathetic — also change their votes,” Sanchez said.

The group of activists appears to have zeroed in on Meza Gonzalez since her mother, Choco Gonzalez, was a prominent West Side activist who helped lead the charge to end at-large representation during the ’70s.

“Ivalis’ mother worked with [Southwest Voter Registration Education Project founder] Willie Velásquez. She should know about the right to vote,” Sanchez said.

Jones will hold one final listening session on the arena vote issue later Friday. The town hall will take place from 6-7 p.m. at Ay Que Chula, 1503 N. Main Ave.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...