Good afternoon.

The time is now 2.02 p.m.

on Wednesday, December 10th, 2025, in the City of San Antonio B session is called to order.

Madam Clerk, please call roll.

Councilmember Corr.

Councilmember Mickey Rodriguez.

Present.

Councilmember Via Gran.

Councilmember Mungia.

Present.

Councilmember Castillo.

Councilmember Galvan.

Here.

Councilmember Alarete Gavito.

Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez.

Councilmember Spears.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Here.

Mayor Jones.

Here.

Mayor, we have quorum.

Great.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

This V session has one item for discussion.

We, as uh my colleagues know, we have a time-sensitive opportunity to review whether we would like to move the municipal elections from May to November.

Um this is not a decision we make lightly, uh, even with the time uh sensitive deadline imposed on us by the recent changes in legislation.

Uh there is a staff presentation, and then I know we have several um experts, voting rights groups, etc.

Uh, that would like to also uh provide remarks.

So uh with that over to you, uh Eric for uh staff presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

So as the mayor uh laid out, we have one B session item on today to talk about potentially moving the city council and mayoral elections from May to November of odd numbered years.

Uh this opportunity um for cities, including uh our our city is open until the end of the calendar year uh following action from the 89th legislative session.

Uh it's an option, it's not a mandate uh from the legislature.

Uh looking forward to the conversation and discussion this afternoon.

I'll turn it over to John to do the staff presentation.

Uh thank you, Eric.

Uh good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

Uh John Bateric, Assistant City Manager.

I stand before you today because of my connection to the past charter review commission work.

Uh so myself and Ileana and Cam have staffed those commissions, and so there's some connections uh to what you're discussing today.

That's why I'm before you.

Um, so today we're gonna walk through um the the ability to move you all's general elections from May to November.

So in the most recent state legislature, there was a change to the law that allowed for this move.

That that change was filed by four Dallas area legislators, so Senators Johnson and West, Representative Anchia, and Rose, and after Dallas voters approved proposition D, which amended the city charter to hold elections according to state law rather than in May.

So this state law was carried by those Dallas legislators.

Um the folks who signed up to speak on it, uh, there were some Dallas City Council members, so there was a strong tie to Dallas with this law, but it allows for other cities to make this change as well.

So in uh 2024, the the city charters charter review commission rec recommended changes to the city elections around term limits, but did not make any recommendations regarding moving the election date.

Um there were no other cities that were opposed to this bill either.

And so it passed, and it's in effect, and it allowed Dallas to change their date.

So this bill was permissive, meaning it did not mandate a change, but rather it extended a previous deadline in state law for cities to move their election date voluntarily.

So that piece of legislation is highlighted here, and as you can see, the deadline has been extended five times in the past 20 years.

So in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, and 2025.

It was also amended in 2017 and 2023, bracketed to specific cities.

This time it was not bracketed to a specific city.

Um additionally, I would highlight on this slide that if this council passes a resolution by the deadline to move our elections to November.

So just wanted to point that piece out.

So back to our city charter.

There are two references currently to our elections happening in May.

So the first one has to do with when you all take office.

So the charter highlights that you all would begin your terms the first day of June.

So if this resolution is passed, the next time we're able to amend the charter, we would need to change that.

And in this case, we'd change it to say the first day of December.

The second reference is a temporary provision that's in the charter based on our move from two-year terms to four-year terms.

So it references a May special election date in 2031, which will be necessary for some of you.

We would need to change the charter when necessary when we can to November of 2031 so that that's not in conflict as well.

So those are the two current specific charter changes that would need to be taken into account.

Last week there were some questions around runoff elections and how that would happen if this change were to be made.

So the election code specifically states how runoffs are held.

So no look no earlier than the 30th day and no later than the 45th day after the general election, and it excludes holidays.

I know that's been a question.

So the Secretary of State, when we get closer to those days, we'll set out the election calendar for when those runoffs are be.

Austin, so Austin is currently in November of even years.

When they made this change, they take office in January.

Just an example for you to have as a reference.

They hold elections in November of odd number years.

They take office pretty quickly and then have in this example had uh runoffs in December.

So you know they have a the second Tuesday election and then November 17th taking office.

And Dallas, which recently made this change, will take office the 30th calendar day after the canvas.

So there's just some examples of when folks take office.

Last week there were some additional questions asked about school districts that were in odd numbered years of May.

So this list illustrates those school districts.

So North Side, San Antonio, Judson, Alamo Heights, Harlandale, Southside, and Mendina Valley.

I would note that the state election law says that school districts shall, so they must have their elections on the same date as a number of political subdivisions.

So in this case, uh any governing body of a municipality located in the school district.

Um if there is a state or county officers election, they must co-locate their election.

Um a hospital district, uh, a junior school district or a community college district.

So there are some specifics that these these uh ISDs will have to take into effect if this change is made made here today.

Also, last week there were some questions around our most recent elections and the cost of those elections.

So this slide highlights um what we've spent in 2023 for our general election and charter election to include the runoff necessary for that 2023 election.

So you can see the 633,000 followed by the 220,000 for the runoff.

Additionally, we had a charter election in November of 2024.

The cost of that election is 1.3 million dollars, and then the most recent cycle, 2025, 470,000 for the general, and then the 1.1 million dollar estimate that that number isn't finalized yet for the runoff.

The following slide is a chart that illustrates that each of you will need an extra six months in office if this change is made.

The state law allows for this holdover provision, but um beginning in 2029, district two, three, and five would need the additional months from May to November.

In 2031, there's already a scheduled special election for districts one, seven, and ten.

So that special election would need to be pushed back from May to November for those extra six months, and then finally, districts four, six, eight, nine, and the mayor would have that same extra six months in 2033.

So next steps for this item for any change to take place with this current legislative opening, um, December 31st, 2025 is the deadline.

So a resolution would be half would have to be passed by this council by then.

So considerations for today are should this be added to A session for December 18th.

Additionally, the the resolution makes it possible for us to supersede the charter at this point.

So I just want to make that clear.

If this resolution is approved, the communication engagements team would set up a public awareness campaign ahead of the May 29 time frame and then the November 29 time frame to make sure the residents of San Antonio understand what's happening.

Mayor and Council, that's our presentation, and we're available for any questions.

Thank you, John.

Thank you for highlighting the legislation and it's certainly the history of it, but also the legislation.

Frankly, proud of the fact that both for the Senate Bill 1494 and for the House Bill 3546, every member of the Bear County delegation, every member regardless of party, supported both of those bills unanimously.

I will also say not reflected in the in the presentation.

Houston has had their municipal election in November of an off-year for several decades.

Austin has it in November of an on-year.

And then of course, as you heard, Dallas just made the change.

Read about it, read again the very short timeline, but again, the very clear benefits of doing this that were at least worthy of conversation by this body given the significant impact and again the time-sensitive nature.

So before we begin council discussion, I know there are several again folks groups that have worked on this for quite a bit, as well as frankly, groups that have some considerations that they want explicitly to address before this body.

So let me bring those folks up.

And then I would ask my colleagues your uh questions to those if you would keep during your um your council time, which we will get to, but we'll get through all these presentations and then move to uh council discussion.

Um so the first person I'm happy to bring up uh Julia Grizzard, as we know, unlike Dallas, um, who only has one ISD, we have 17.

So want to understand um you know, again, the impact uh to the ISDs.

However, it is yeah.

While it wasn't specifically noted in um in John Peteric's presentation, the ISDs have a different timeline than we do, and certainly there is also their own opportunity to take steps to move their um their elections to November.

Okay.

Ms.

Grizzard, thank you.

Yes, thank you so much.

Um, and I appreciate the time and the consideration in talking about uh the current state of where we are for our ISDs.

Um really my hope is to answer any questions that you all might have.

Um, but the goal is just to share the current state of where we are with our elections, who is in May of odd years.

We do have Southwest on this particular slide, and um I can make sure that you all have copies of it as well.

Um they have elections every year.

Um, as uh John mentioned, um, the requirement to have joint elections.

Um and then I did include um uh there were a lot of questions from a lot of offices um asking about the potential impact.

Um so as uh elections are paid, everybody pays for all polling locations.

Um we pay based on a percentage that if uh the city of San Antonio did move, that percentage would be reallocated, um, or potentially our districts would um not have as many polling sites open.

That those are the estimates.

Um again, it's hard to know um what happens as a result if the city moves and uh and if they decide to stay in May or if they move to November, but that is um some of the questions that were proposed um to me.

But again, happy to address any questions and um thank you again for the consideration and talking more about school districts.

Thank you.

Um go ahead, John, did you want to say that?

No, no, no, no.

I was just gonna help with these.

Oh, yeah, thank you so much.

Great.

I think we'll, if it's okay, um, legally, we'll go through each of the presentations and then allow people again, council members during your question time to bring up whoever you'd like to bring up for additional question.

Thank you.

Um so the next person we'll hear from is uh Valerie Reffert.

Uh she's the co-founder and executive director of radical registrars, radical registrars is a grassroots 501c3 nonpartisan, nonprofit organization um formed after the murder of George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, and other black people in 2020.

In response to these uh tragedies, uh they are working toward youth-led youth-focused voter registration and voter education.

Okay, over to you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for having me, Mayor.

Hello, council.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Um, my name is Valerie Reifert, and I was born and raised here in San Antonio.

And um, like Mayor Jones said, I am a co-founder and executive director at Radical Registrars, where we do nonpartisan year-round voter registration and civic education here in San Antonio.

Um, sorry about that, I was getting a call.

Um, yeah, we have a mission to empower, engage and educate voters through civic education and voter mobilization throughout central Texas with the vision to create a generation of informed and empowered um youth, BIPOC, LGBTQ, and marginalized folks to make sure they're voting and for voting informed every single election.

And I am currently serving as vice chair for the city of San Antonio, Martin Luther King Jr.

Commission.

Um I am here today because I am in full support of moving the elections from May to November.

Um this is something that I have felt was necessary since radical registrars began five years ago.

Um I believe to get something you've never had, you must do something you've never done.

And I believe for San Antonio to be a high voter turnout city, that this is the first step in doing so.

And I also appreciate the potential cost savings that it can have for the city as well.

Um ultimately I believe that people who want to keep the elections in May over November will be benefiting from status quo and not allowing a more diverse electorate to be able to come out and have their voices be heard.

Um and like I said, I am in 100% um support in moving the elections.

I think it's a great move for the city fiscally and allowing citizens to be able to vote because as you guys know, you aren't able to get your jobs or keep your jobs without people showing up and voting.

Um so I hope you all will consider moving them from May to November, and I appreciate your time today.

Thank you.

The next presenter is uh Manuel Garza, he's the field director at Southwest Voter Education Registration Education Project.

Southwest Voter Registration Education Project is the oldest Latino voter registration nonprofit 501c3 empowering Latinos throughout the U.S.

to mobilize voters.

Um Southwest Voter Registration Education Project has registered 3.64 million Latinos, trained 160,000 Latino leaders and one 210 voting rights lawsuits.

Mr.

Garza.

Good afternoon, Mayor Ortiz Jones, City Council members, city manager and staff.

Uh my name is Manuel Gotza.

I'm Southwest Voter Registration uh education project.

I'm a field director and a senior advisor.

Uh as the mayor stated, you know, Southwest Voters was established in 1974 by Mr.

Willie Velasquez.

And we have registered, you know, 3.7 uh million Latinos all over the country.

And we would want 210 lawsuits.

And we have trained 160,000 leaders and to run for office and community organizers.

Um a personal note, I I am a resident of District 5.

My family is a lifelong resident uh San Antonian family, uh 12 generation Tejano, and we're proud voters.

And so Southwest uh voter urges the San Antonio City Council to support the mayor's resolution to provide uh the municipality elections move uh to November and uniform election date on the odd year as per Senate Bill 1494.

By moving the elections to November, San Antonio will enjoy an increased voter participation compared to May.

Additionally, it will save potentially any anywhere from 800,000, 800,000 uh dollars to one million dollars.

Umacted by the Texas legislature, it provides the municipalities the opportunity to move the elections from May to November for San Antonio to implement uh the change.

The council must approve it.

And and it's best you approve it now by then by by the end of the year in December 31st.

Houston has uh conducted their elections in November for decades, and before 1968 that I know of, uh having done voting rights cases uh basically since I was 16 years old.

Um so I know uh Houston does that again.

Austin uh changed their uh single member districts when they change went to it large.

And that was a uh a battle in itself.

But anyway, they changed it.

Dallas recently did that with a vote uh of 70 percent or more.

And so that happened in November.

And so again, the San Antonio uh uh voter turnout will increase, and I think that that's it's about the voters, about democracy in all you know in all words, it's about democracy.

And so uh having one election year per year saves two uh taxpayers uh twice a year conducting elections.

So again, we urge you to support the mayor's resolution.

Thank you very much, and uh answer any questions you might have.

Thank you.

The next uh speaker is Graciela Sanchez.

Uh she's the executive director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.

Buenas tardes.

Um my name is Graciela Sanchez.

Um born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, also in District Five.

Um, I run the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, which is a citywide organization.

And you've seen me here before, and I love my city.

I love my city like you love your city.

I love the people here, and it's uh very working class community, and it's a and and it's predominantly black and brown.

Um I'm loving the council because now we have Asian representative representation as well.

Um we have a low voter turnout, and it's dismal, dismal, dismal, and it has been for many, many years.

And I've been coming to council for over 40 years.

My first job was at Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

I worked with Willy Velasquez.

I also worked at Maldiv.

I worked with Al Kaufman.

I worked with all the greats, these civil rights activists and attorneys, and I learned from them.

I actually, before there were uh computers, I was doing um redistricting for Lubbock, for Midland, for uh Big Spring, for all these communities, uh trying to get single member districts any way to expand the voters, right?

So here we are with this amazing opportunity to expand the voter base.

It's a voter base that's that's democrats, republicans, independents, uh anarchists, it's anybody that we can get to come out to vote, and we want to do as many different things to get the community to come out and vote.

So this is an opportunity that sits before all of you today, and when you vote in a couple of weeks, this is an opportunity.

We cannot lose this opportunity.

It is not a vote in favor or against the mayor, right?

It this has got to be all of us have to understand this is about strengthening democracy, strengthening democracy.

So I I ask you all to consider this.

I think yesterday I was able to go to the District 5 Historic West Site Residents Association meeting, and there were about 50 adults and about five kids, and we talked about this, and at the end, somebody said, let's raise our hands to see who supports this, and everybody's hand stood up, as uh went up.

And I took that picture and I sent it to Terry because I know you all want to hear from your constituents, and maybe this is the only way at this moment, because we have that deadline, and we can't lose this opportunity because we don't know that our state legislation is legislators are gonna do this again.

So why wait?

Let us expand the voter base, let us expand the voice of the people.

All districts, all of us want to have more of our constituents involved and engaged.

So do not lose this opportunity.

Um what we do know is it's about consolidating of different elections.

So, yes, there's the concern about the school districts, let them come in.

They have time to join in the Alamo College districts, all the other elections, they could all come in in November because what I heard yesterday was people feel confused about having to go in March and then in May, and then in then uh, you know again for other moments, and then again in November.

So we can consolidate, we're saving money, but we're also stopping all the confusion because people say I already voted.

No, you didn't vote again, you have to come back again.

I already voted, so they don't vote.

So please help increase if it's 10% today, and all we're gonna do is double it in November.

If it's 10% today, and all we're gonna do is double it in November, let's double it.

That's 20%.

Let's triple it.

It's 30%.

We can do it, and we need you all, every single one of you.

Again, do not personalize it if you like the mayor, if you don't like the mayor.

Think about the people of San Antonio, think about your constituents.

We need all of us to be living in a democratic society, and we want to give more people more voice.

And as Willy Velasquez said, su voto es su voz.

The next presenter will be Professor Melissa Marshall.

Um I distributed a paper to my colleagues that looked at that assessed the uh the impact of moving the elections from May to November in terms of turnout.

Um so she is going to present those findings here for our deliberation.

Thank you, Mayor Jones, members of the council, city manager.

Um it's my great pleasure to be here coming across from Houston this morning to talk about local elections.

Um I just wrapped up a course on urban politics last week at Rice University.

I do a lot of work on local elections both in the classroom and um research, so um it's exciting to talk to folks who are interested in that topic.

I'm gonna present to you some slides with a lot of data.

So, you know, I think you've heard some in passion, please from your your constituents, residents of your city.

I'm gonna bring a bit of a broader Texas perspective and also share some data from across the US.

So I hope it doesn't feel like we're back in the classroom, and I will try not to get too in the weeds.

So I want to touch on a couple of points here.

Obviously, turnout is the main um ticket item here that we're concerned about.

So I'll talk a little bit about that.

Um, contestation is another issue that's linked to the timing of elections and turnout, and that means like are there um are these races challenged or are they uncontested?

That's a big question in some of these off-cycle elections.

I don't have a lot to say about administrative costs.

Um the city managers already kind of presented some data on that.

Um I'll talk a little bit about voter education, registration, and mobilization, and then there's a little bit of data out there on what the public thinks about consolidating elections.

All right, so voter turnout, I think this is a a table that maybe you all have seen.

It's um your uh odd year elections comparing May turnout to November turnout.

And I guess if I had you know, when I saw this table presented in this way, it does seem um reasonable to say why would we want to switch to November when it looks like on average we have higher turnout in our May elections over time over the last few sessions.

Um and so I just wanted to dig into this a little bit because turnout when we look at it as a percentage is often a little bit confusing.

So if we're thinking like what's better May versus November, I think we should step back and say we're talking about um off-cycle elections in general, and there are other off-cycle elections happening in May of even years.

So if it's like, is it May is that makes it better, or is it November?

So if we compare your May odd to your May even, you can see that it's nothing special about the month of May, and you have extremely low turnout in your May even uh elections.

So on average, over the last five cycles, less than five percent voter turnout for those uh races that are happening in May of the even years compared to about 13% in your May odds.

So I think it's just worth stepping back and looking at the other piece of May, because that was left out of that table that you just saw.

So here's a comparison of your three different off-cycle elections.

The May even super low, the May odd where you are right now, looks pretty good, and then you have your November odd, which is somewhere in the middle.

So I wanted to say too that that denominator that's used to calculate the percent, the number of registered voters that you have in your county, is a number that's up and down all the time.

So it's hard to look at a percent when the denominator is changing.

Sometimes we have a lower voter turnout, but that's because the denominator got bigger.

So I just wanted to show you that it's not random either that there is always a bump in turnout when we look at not turnout, sorry, registration when we compare May to November.

Why that is, there are some groups in the room that already spoke to this.

There's a lot of mobilization, voter education going on up to the November election.

So lots of folks are getting registered to vote before the November elections.

That's increasing the number of folks who are on the voter rolls.

So that's part of the reason why the percent is smaller in November versus May.

I don't want to get too much in the weeds, but I just want you to know that.

Um I think it's worth looking at the total number of ballots cast, how many people are actually voting?

That's a, I think a more useful indicator for some of these elections.

So if we do it that way, you can see a comparison of your May even years, it still doesn't look very good.

On average, only about 40,000 people are voting in those elections.

Your May odds are about 135,000, and then November odd.

It's only about a 10,000 vote difference between November and May of odd elections.

Okay, so there's a lot of variation.

Why?

Why is it that there's so much variation in how many people are voting in these different elections?

So I think there's a couple things that we can say about that.

First of all, the number of places holding elections varies by timing.

So the total number of places having elections, municipalities and school districts in your May odd is the highest.

Almost 20 places are having elections in May of odd years compared to only about seven in November of odd.

Okay, and then you have somewhere in the middle for your May even.

So obviously, if your jurisdiction, your city, your municipality, or your school district doesn't have anything on the ballot, they're not having an election, that's a whole bunch of voters that can't vote.

Okay, so the number of places having elections is a really big piece of it, and the number of races on the ballot.

How many people are on the ballot in these elections?

So you can see the November odd is again, on average, there are 70 races on these are total, sorry, that's a I think those are supposed to be totals, not means.

That's misslabeled, uh, number of races.

So lots of activity going on in your May odd year elections.

So the third thing, so it's the number of places having elections, the number of races on those ballots.

A third thing that I think you need to pay attention to is that you, the city of San Antonio, your voters are the ones driving up voter voter turnout in your May odd year elections.

Your voters or your residents represent 88% of all residents in municipalities in your county.

So I don't think it matters when your elections are, your voters are going to be driving turnout no matter when they happen.

All right, so to the question about that graph that I showed you why is turnout look higher in May odd versus May even or November odd, three reasons.

More local governments have elections in May of odd years.

There are more races on those ballots, and your city elections with all the voters, all the residents, you're a big city, are the main drivers of the higher turnout that you're seeing in those elections.

So if we compare you here, San Antonio to the other big cities, you see Houston up there in purple.

Um we are the November odd year.

That's where we are.

We're in a kind of separate category compared to Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio that have these May odd year elections.

So your turnout is considerably lower.

I think you could expect your turnout to be even higher than our Houston turnout in a November odd year, and I'll say a little bit more about why I think that is in a minute.

We have some evidence outside of Texas comparing cities and other states.

We have about 10,000 mayoral elections in a very large sample of mayoral elections in our database.

There's about a third of all elections in the United States in our database at least that happen off-cycle.

We had about 560 cities that had May elections, and about 2,300 that had November odd years.

So this is just a comparison of turnout of those two groups of cities.

On average, those May elections are about 19% turnout, and the November odd years are about 28%.

So it's about a 10% point difference when you just compare the timing of those cities, nothing else about their demographics or anything else.

So turnout is important, obviously, but the reason why it's important is that it's who's voting.

And I think it's very clear from political science research that the smaller the electorate is, the more skewed it is.

These are voters that tend to be high propensity voters, high propensity voters tend to be homeowners at the local level, they tend to be wealthier folks, they tend to be older folks.

These are the people that have the time and the resources to come out to vote at times when other people are working, or they don't even know that there's an election happening.

So there's lots of research that's been done on this that shows that this is in especially at the local level, it means that we have an unrepresented, an unrepresentative group of residents and voters who are electing you all, and you all are elected are making decisions about policies about how you're gonna spend money.

And so if you expand your electorate, that means that your city is better represented, and you should be held accountable to your constituents and their preferences about how you spend money.

All right, so shifting to contestation, this is a little anecdotal.

The question is are these races equally competitive?

Are there people challenging?

So I just compiled some data on your May elections, the total number of races and the total number of uncontested races, i.e.

there's only one person running.

Sometimes those get canceled, they're not even on the ballot, so there might be a bunch of them that we don't see because they just cancel those elections.

But for those May elections, about 16% of those are uncontested.

So there's really no choice, only one person running.

For the November, there's a much smaller group of municipalities that have their elections in November of odd years, about half the number of uncontested races.

So that's a little anecdotal, but there is a link.

So if you are facing going out to vote at an odd time, and there's maybe one race on the ballot that has two candidates, and the other one, there's only one candidate.

A rational person is gonna be like the cost of me going to vote for one person or none because they're all uncontested, it just doesn't make sense.

So it's making the benefit of voting even smaller because there's just really nothing for you to do when you show up there, or very few choices that you have to make.

Um this is data again from outside of Texas, looking at the average number of candidates in May versus November of odd years.

So just want to say that on average there are almost two candidates per race in these November odd.

That means they're contested.

About one and a half in the May elections.

The number or the percentage of uncontested races in these May elections, about 62% of this larger sample of cities that we have are uncontested, i.e., the voter doesn't have a choice to make.

There's only one person running.

About half of that in the November odd.

So margin of victory might be something that you all are concerned about.

I mean, status quo, a lot of times elected officials are concerned about their own jobs.

The average margin of victory is higher in a May election, and that has to do with the fact that so many of them are uncontested.

So you're winning by 100% because you don't have a competitor.

But I want to tell you that in the contested races, when there's two people running in May versus November, the average margin of victory is about the same.

So you would basically see the same level of competition, whether it was May or November if you actually had a competitor.

All right, election administrative costs.

I just wanted to note this is not something that I'm an expert on, but you've had some budget numbers that have been presented to you.

There's some data from the city of Dallas that recently has made the decision to move, some data presented here from your city manager that the cost savings of not having to pay for the polling locations, to pay the poll workers, to bring all that equipment out, is non-negligible.

It seems like a pretty reasonable amount of money that you might save by consolidating your elections and having them in November.

So if that's a concern, that's something that you all should be thinking about.

On the issue of voter education registration and mobilization, I have a couple things to say.

I do a lot of work on high school voter registration.

I'm a Midwesterner, have been in Texas for over 20 years.

I think it's great that the state of Texas has a law that requires high school students to have the opportunity to get registered to vote while they are in school.

If there's one thing that we know as political scientists, it's that to become a voter, a habitual voter, you need to start when you're young.

If they weren't voting when they were younger, it gets just smaller and smaller.

It's very hard to become a regular voter when you weren't voting as a youngster.

So it's really important for us and as Texans, I think, to give those opportunities to our students when they're in school, when they're taking government, when they're kind of a captive audience to come in and give a presentation about why is it important that we develop our civic values, support our democracy, support our constitution.

So the League of Women Voters is a very active group in high school voter registration in in Houston.

I do a lot of work with HISD.

We like to partner with other organizations to go in and do a presentation and have the students peer-to-peer sometimes register each other.

And our county clerk's office loves for us to bring the voter machines with us to the classroom so the students can interact with them and see what it's like.

What does it look like?

They don't know.

They've never voted before.

They don't know what they do when they get in there.

So we have the machines and they get to interact with them.

The problem with May elections is that the machines are out a lot for early voting for these local elections for the runoff.

So they we don't have the opportunity to bring the machines with us to show them.

And there are fewer election officials in the county clerk's office, the registrar's office to partner with because they're running elections oftentimes in May.

So that's an issue.

Students are moving out.

So having elections in May is a really bad time for college students because they're either studying, about to go home or graduating, and the last thing they're thinking about is voting.

So I think if we're concerned about getting our young folks started as voters, getting them registered, mobilizing them, educating them, consolidating the election and having it at a time when they're not super busy doing other important things in their lives, kind of makes sense.

And to that point, a lot of these civic engagement groups, you've heard from some of them already.

They focused their voter education initiatives, including the League of Women Voters, often on the run up to the primary and in the November.

They have limited budgets, they can't be doing this work all year round, so they have to make kind of strategic choices.

And so I work with a lot of those groups, and a lot of them say we don't do anything for the May elections.

We just don't.

All right.

Lastly, um, some public opinion.

I know you're concerned.

This was a rush timeline, I think, for you all to make this decision.

It's not clear to me why the state legislature puts a timeline on this.

Why do we have to decide so quickly?

Home rule cities usually have the ability to decide how they want to run their elections and things like that, but um for whatever reason uh has to be decided by the end of the year.

So if you're concerned about whether folks, Americans in general, have a preference for going out multiple times throughout the year or every year to vote, or having their elections consolidated, federal, state, local, more consolidated at once.

Um the majority of folks in a random representative sample of Americans preferred to have consolidated elections, and that's true for the relatively small sample of Texans who are in that sample, but about 54% of Texans said they preferred to have a consolidated election versus having to go out and vote multiple times during the year.

Okay, so I think um that's pretty much what I had to present to you.

I'm happy to answer questions later.

Thank you.

Thank you, Professor Marshall.

Um so we've heard um certainly from folks that that work on this issue day in, day out, and we have now been uh provided once again with the data that underpins um the benefits, frankly, of moving from May to November.

Uh let me reiterate again.

I know uh we all wish we had you know a little bit more time to engage with with our community, um, but it's quite clear from some of the folks that have that have spoken um again that work on this day in and day out.

The the benefits, not only in the cost savings, 800K to a million dollars, certainly as we are you know staring down a budget deficit, and who knows what that'll look like in 29 any and all ways in which we can save money, we should certainly do that.

Um increased turnout though.

I mean, this is all really based on the premise that our government and our democracy works better when we hear from more people, and I think we should really be focused on how we can help hear from more of our neighbors uh to ensure that we are we are best serving them.

Uh, on a more practical standpoint, I think we all know that you know when it comes to Fiesta or voting, uh, Fiesta always wins, right?

And so when we look at uh how the opportunity to hear from as many of our um constituents as possible, there are many, many opportunities uh to better serve our folks by hearing them at a time when they already associate with voting, which is November.

I also want to foot stomp, it is unclear, right?

It is unclear when we will have this opportunity again, even if we take this up and discuss it as part of the charter review, um, it is it still requires a legislative change, which we are unclear if or when that will happen again.

And I reiterate that you know, um, Dallas, Houston, Austin, these major delegations, even El Paso, they already have theirs in November.

Everybody kind of has what they want and what they need.

So it really is on us to ensure that we are taking advantage of this opportunity, though it be time-sensitive.

Um lastly, let me, I've got a I'm thankful for the number of community folks that have weighed in on this, even with the short timeline.

Again, just because their body of work over decades demonstrates the value of this to the community.

So here's a short summary of the community groups that have at this point weighed in and expressed support for this resolution.

Um the IT folks, if you'll bring up that slide.

Great.

Thank you.

Um, so the five former mayors, uh, Henry Cisneros, Nelson Wolf, Phil Hardberger, Julian Castro, Ron Nuremberg, I think all of the council also received letters from them uh outlining their reasons for why they support this resolution.

Community organizations, uh, Voto Latino, who again a national organization that will look at voting rights um for Latinos all across the country has has weighed in.

You heard earlier from Mr.

Garza with the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, League of Women Voters, San Antonio, Cops Metro, Texas Organizing Project, again, all these veterans, American GI Forum, vote vets, um, all these groups that understand the importance of hearing from as many of our neighbors as possible to ensure our government best serves our community.

And of course, heartened by the support of folks like the Honorable Maria Antoneta Berrizoval, the first Latina to serve on the city council and folks, former head of MALDEF, uh you've got Patricia Castillo, Dr.

Arturo Madrid, um, even the business community.

Um, Jim Pershbach, the head of Port San Antonio has weighed in uh and expressed his support because again, it helps us save money and it helps ensure we're hearing from as many of our community members as possible.

Um, so it is my intent uh that we vote on this by the 18th.

Again, this is a time sensitive opportunity.

We have to do this by the end of the year if we so choose.

Okay, with that, we'll go to council, council colleagues.

Um, councilwoman Yogan.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh uh and thank you all who came out and presented.

Um I do want to take this to the vote, or I I do want to take this to a vote on the 18th.

I want to see the people that have supported this come out and speak on this issue on the 18th.

I'd love to hear from the people who don't think this is such a good idea to come out and speak on the 18th.

Um, as for me, uh former Mayor Ron Nuremberg had brought this up to me.

I wasn't sure it was the greatest idea.

But then Valerie came and spoke to Texas Business Women's, an organization of mine with her radical registers and just talked about what are we gonna do and how are we gonna get creative to get the youth voter out there?

And so when she came up and spoke, I was like, those are all my speaking points is that we kind of need a change.

Everybody is used to that November date where we're gonna go out and vote.

And we knew this was coming, Jeff.

I'm um, you know, and I was here and you gave us the updates about what was coming, but it we we were in the middle of a charter regarding our four-year elections.

Uh we were in the middle of having conversations about what do we do as we move forward.

So this wasn't something we really push forward, and after it came through, I really felt like you know, if the majority of the council wants to do this, we'll do it.

If not, we'll just sit here.

But whether it's it's the 18th, whether it's two years from now, and we have to go to the state ledge, I am in support of moving this election to an odd number November year.

And I'm gonna give you just three simple reasons.

One is the fact that uh the publicity that we will not have to do because everybody talks about a November election, it's our election day, the League of Women Voters are promoting that.

I I think is a good idea.

Two is we still remain nonpartisan.

Nobody cares if we're R or D as long as they get their trash picked up and we fill those potholes.

So it continues to remain that on the those odd number years.

And three, I think we have the opportunity to help our school districts move and get that bigger date for that November election, and that that's what I would be committed to as we move forward to this is making sure because you you guys were gonna have to absorb some cost in terms of the school districts because we're moving from two years to four years.

Let's try and help us all get on the same page for a November election.

So uh I think this has been a great conversation.

I put out a survey.

I'm looking forward to hearing from my community.

Um, and this this was my be, this would be my vote if we had taken this along the charter with along with the charter last year.

This would be my vote um here and in the future if we're moving forward.

So thank you, Mayor, for bringing this forward.

Thank you, council colleagues.

I look forward to your conversation.

Councilwoman Aldarte Gavito.

Thank you.

Thank you to all the presenters and speakers today.

So we did have our um District 7 town hall on the um on this topic.

I believe it was Monday or Tuesday, and I would say the general consensus was that a lot of residents left having more questions and answers.

And so I want to uh raise some of those questions today.

Um, you know, I I did mention at that town hall that I'm not necessarily opposed to May or November, um, but I do what want to make sure that we assess the pros and cons.

Um, Graciella, to your point, I want to make sure that if we were to change that we do it right so that we can strengthen democracy.

Um so I I also do want to note that we were we did receive several emails from residents, and I I think that information is just not clear because when they were emailing in support of it, they were thinking that they were emailing in support of November of even number years.

So they were saying, hey, it when I go vote for president, I like to vote for you.

So that's hard to count that as support because it's under you know false pretenses.

So I just want to make note of that.

Um so I do just have a a few quick questions.

Julia, thank you so much for being here.

I had a quick question for you.

Um were our school boards and um our partners uh on the school boards consulted before this memo went out.

Um not that I know of.

Um I I do know that there has been a lot of conversation since then.

Sure.

Um asking, and I think uh part of the maybe the the thing that helps, um again, always happy to offer information is that the requirement for joint elections is in the education code.

Um and so a knowledge of the requirement to connect the two, um, unless you're digging through the education code might not come about in kind of the first review of the of the statute.

But but not that I know of upon the first.

Okay, no, and and that's helpful because you know, again, I do think that we need to be mindful of our stakeholders of our stakeholders and our partners in elections.

I could see, you know, I used to be the chair of Move Texas uh many moons ago, and I can see that voter fatigue is is a problem, but I also don't see that changing if school boards were to keep their elections in May and then we move it to November because the voters still gonna have to come out May and November.

Um so just wanted to check in on that.

Um thank you, Julia.

Uh Professor Marshall, uh, I had a quick question for you.

Thank you so much for all of that information and data.

You mentioned that May um is a tough time for um young folks to come out and vote because of graduation and stuff.

If we were to move this to November, what what impact do you think the holidays would have?

Because you know, they're gonna be Thanksgiving break and December, and you know, I I also see it, you know, as a as a working mom of two little ones.

We had um, I believe her name's Jill from the League of Women Voters at the town hall, you know, she was saying, yeah, you know, it's in December.

Any working mom will tell you school calendars in December is nuts, you know.

And so finding time to get out and vote, it would would be crazy.

That that's just my initial thought on that.

What are your thoughts?

I mean, I think partly it's November is election time.

The first Tuesday of November is when we have our federal elections.

So that's just something that we're kind of accustomed to, I would say.

Sure.

And and I'm sorry, if I could clarify um what I was meaning to say is runoffs, because most of us when when councils elected, most of us in our first races face runoffs.

Right.

Which is a good thing.

Um, we're having runoff right now in Houston.

So we had an at-large special election on our November.

Early voting is going on right now.

Next Tuesday is the final day.

So it does run up to the end of the school year and the holidays coming up, that's for sure.

But I guess the the counterpoint to that would be when you have your runoff in May, you're looking at June.

People are going on vacation, kids are out of school, working moms have kids at school at home now.

So the kind of summer routine is already started in June.

You know, so I think it's it's the same question about fatigue and how many times do we you know want to do it?

But I think um at least in November, high school students and college students are in class at the actual time, they're still in class right now.

So that problem I think is a little bit less severe in the December, November versus the May and June.

Okay.

For young folks.

That's interesting.

Okay, thank you.

Um I had a couple questions for uh John.

Um is and and if you have to get back with us with the information.

I know that we talked about other major cities in Texas already passing this.

So um do we know that from my understanding where these where this was passed in Austin, El Paso, and Dallas, other major cities, this was voter approved before it was passed.

Is that correct?

So I would need to do more in-depth research, councilwoman, but for sure in Dallas, the the council um recommended that a charter change go to the voters, and that went to the voters before this change happened in Dallas.

Okay.

Um I believe that's true for Austin as well, but I would need to I would need to check myself on El Paso and other places.

Yeah, and I know that um our team did some digging, and we did see that in other major cities it was voter approved, but I just want to make sure that our information is is um, I'll double check for sure Austin Dallas, that's true.

Okay, and one one last quick question on the slide with um the cost breakdown.

Yes, ma'am.

Um just a quick question right now.

Put the the the costs up there, but we all had at our town hall, we all had the same question.

Is this really saving the city any money?

Uh oh, it looks like I asked a million dollars.

No, no, I just was looking at Eric.

Go ahead, sir.

So councilwoman that so councilwoman, um the uh and the professor had it on the slide.

I mean, part of the part of when the mayor asked me about this several weeks ago, um, one of the things that I said, and her question specifically was on the cost impact.

Um you know, I shared that my estimate at that time was between 800 and a million dollars, knowing what we spend.

Um, but it's also dependent on who's on the ballot.

Sure.

And and just like the school districts are maybe concerned about the cost allocation, and as the the uh Dr.

Marshall kind of laid out, um, the cost of the elections is administered and borne by the county elections office.

And so um we don't have a breakout or details about what future is.

We can show you what the past is because the future is based on on who walls on the ballot.

So what the question or the answer is it depends.

And you know, at the end of the day, this isn't necessarily, I think the way this has been set up, this isn't necessarily a cost saving.

We're not we're not reducing the budget and balancing the budget.

Cost is a factor here, but uh it's uh it's more a policy conversation about uh election policy from uh from your perspective.

Yeah, thank you for that.

Yeah, because I I just you know it was I think that there had been some information that this is a cost savings, and and so you know, based off of that chart, you know, it looks like the costs are all over the place, and there is so many dependencies on that.

And so um I just want us to be careful with that talking point because if we're not certain that there are cost savings, and I'm I'm talking to General Wee, um, then we we we we need to be clear with the public.

Those are all my questions.

Thank y'all.

Thank you.

Eric, based on your initial assessment of 800 K to a million dollars in savings.

Um, is there a would you like to provide a revised estimate?

No, it can't, Mayor.

I mean it it's it's so we'll go with the number, the initial number?

It depends, right?

It's it's got it.

It's what I said that day is that um my guess was uh 800 to a million based on what we budgeted.

Yeah, but it depends on who's on the ballot.

Yep, got it.

Thank you.

Councilman Corps.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, thank you all to everyone that came out and spoke today.

I want to make one thing clear.

I mean and my team have been working really hard over the last couple of weeks to truly understand the ramifications of this decision.

I understand we haven't had the time to do a lot of community engagement because we just discovered this too late.

So that was a condition of this conversation.

But at the same time, we are discussing two issues that I think it's really important to understand and make sure that those things are true without negatively impacting any other entity in our community.

And so that's what I've been trying to research and find as much information as I can to help make those decisions.

And I think Councilman Aldratekavita mentioned on some of them, but I'm gonna reiterate.

So the first thing is do we actually see increased turnout in November odd year elections, right?

And the I heard the argument that we don't know what we what would happen if we've never done it.

So November odd year elections, we look I appreciate your data, Professor Marshall, and I didn't get the honor to uh be in your class when I was a political science major at Rice University, but um I really appreciate you sharing this because a lot of this is what I have been asking for.

So I have a some questions for you because I've been trying to dig into Houston data.

The only other city in the state that has an odd year election is Houston, and they've had it for a very long time.

We don't have data to compare from Dallas because they just did it, or Austin, because Austin is uh uh even year election, which we know is a completely different ball game.

And I think that's a part of the challenge, right?

Even your election, we could a hundred percent guarantee we're gonna get increased turnout.

There's other challenges with even year elections, but what we need to look at is odd year elections.

So based on your data, I have a couple of clarifying questions for you to help us understand what this impact would be.

So my first question is just looking at Houston turnout because when I looked at Houston turnout, I saw the number of Harris County that you have on this slide where you're comparing the counties in the Houston Metro, which was in November of 23, when you all did have a mayoral, a big mayoral election.

I saw Harris County's website showing me a 17 and a half percent turnout, but then on the chart where you're comparing it to San Antonio, um, these don't have uh page numbers on it, it's showing like 23 percent.

Yeah, so that's the city itself, not the whole county, because the whole county is voting in November on the constitutional amendment elections, but a lot of the folks in the county don't live in the city.

Got it.

So when we can, we look at actual turnout among the folks who are voting in the mayoral election and not the other parts.

Right.

Okay, so thank you.

So I want to mention that.

Houston's mayoral election in November of 2023 had the turnout about 17 and a half percent, or also Harris County, let me call Harris Counties.

And in June of 2025, this year, for our mayoral runoff, we had a very similar, it was 17.01%.

So the turnout was pretty similar to what Houston saw for their November city election.

And so that being said, you also made the comment we drive the turnout, right?

And um, I noticed that in the data too.

And for your total registered voters when you're looking at um even odd, the alpha cycles, you're looking at all of Bear County, right?

Not just city.

So I think there's a little bit of a discussion to be had there with the data.

There is uh two that city voters are the ones that vote in our municipal elections, but we're looking at total county voters as well.

So it's not apples to apples all the time.

Correct.

I mean, I think what I was trying to get at with the variation in the turnout in your elections is that it's are the uh are there things on the ballot that the voters care about?

Are there candidates running?

And so I maybe I didn't highlight that your council elections and why I think you will have higher election on your November odd than we do.

You haven't had a single uncontested council race since 20 years.

I mean, in fact, it's not two people running, it's three, four, five, twenty.

Like the fact that there are a lot of people running, and that means there's a lot of interest and excitement and engagement around this set of folks who are running for office.

So if you move that from May to November, nothing changes.

Right.

What changes is that there are the whole county has the possibility to go out and vote, and some of them but the whole county doesn't vote for the municipality.

Of course.

But when they're making a decision in May to come vote, it's like I'm gonna vote in this municipal race or nothing.

But I also should go and vote in this constitutional amendment election, because actually the turnout there, if you compared the November odd year turnout in Harris County for the folks that don't have anything but those constitutional amendments on their ballot to the ones in Houston or their other um cities that have odd year uh November odd year elections in Harris County as well.

So what does that so that I hear that, right?

So city voters are gonna vote for city elections, right?

We had I had nine people on my ballot, we had 27 on the mayoral.

Those people are going to vote.

But the thing that I'm looking at right now is you mentioned consolidated elections, and everyone that has called me has said we need less elections, and I agree, no one would disagree that we need less elections.

But by us moving us unilaterally, would we not just um the ISDs that stay that are in our boundaries that stay in May?

Won't we be cannibalizing their voter base?

Because folks, if they're coming out for us, are they just gonna come out for the ISDs?

I mean, I don't have a map of your boundaries, so I don't know what share of those ISDs that are not in the city, you know, pieces of them.

Yeah.

So I would say it's a broader argument, you'd have to look at that.

But I think I mean it's a question of whether you want to sacrifice potentially widening, broadening your electorate and gaining more representation among the folks who are voting for you to sort of address the concerns that you have for the ISDs that that's gonna potentially lead to fewer folks voting.

And I think if they have the chance to move, you're right.

It's it consolidating requires everybody shifting, and then maybe you don't have this May election.

Yeah, you know, I mean, you're gonna vote, people are gonna vote in the primary, then they're gonna come in May, then they're gonna have a runoff in June.

There's a lot of voting going on in the spring.

So if you could just get rid of one of those and have it in November, there's not a lot of things on the November odd year ballot.

I mean, we had 20 constitutional amendments.

This I mean, those are a lot, but when you get down, there aren't a lot of other things.

So it's not like the Austin problem where they might have 90 races on the November even, and then people get tired by the time they come to the municipal.

That's not happening in the November odd year.

So I think in a way, it's an opportunity to highlight yourselves without getting lost in a super long battle, uh ballot, but also saving folks the trouble of having to keep coming out.

Yeah, yeah.

I appreciate you.

Thank you for coming down.

Um the last comment, oh that's all I have for you.

The last comment that I'll make is on the costs, right?

And and we just discussed it.

The costs for the May 2025 election that we got, I got an invoice from, and it was mentioned on there was 470 70K.

And our runoff was 1.1 million.

So runoff we're gonna have to bear anyways if we have a mayoral election because we're the only ones on the ballot, but our portion of the May election was only 470,000.

So it that the savings number to Eric's point is very ambiguous.

And we actually, at least I had the wrong interpretation of how we split the dollars.

So we actually thought we were split based on the number of items that are on the ballot, but it has nothing to do with that.

You split a cost based on the number of registered voters.

And in November for an odd year, because they have to open every single location, we have to split the costs for every single location site in Bear County.

So it wouldn't even just be in the city boundaries like our runoff was this year, you have to split the cost for every single uh location site in the county.

And so whether we save enough money, so whether we save that 800 or a million dollars is very questionable in my opinion.

But the most important thing is we are representing our tax base.

And if even if we're saving the money for the city, which I understand our fiduciary responsibility is to the city, but at the same time, our taxpayers are gonna have to increase their cost for their school district elections.

So at the end of the day, it's like shifting the expense from one person to the other.

And I I have looked at the financials of I think there's three districts at least that have adopted deficit-based budgets the last several years in our area, and they don't they don't have um they they are I think in a much more vulnerable financial position than we are as a city.

And so all of that to be said, if we could get everybody together and move from May to November, I would support it because then I think we would all benefit.

So we're gonna try hosting a meeting early next week with all of the districts that are on the ballot in May.

It also has to be some of the cities are also going to be affected because i.e.

Buck on his heights, they are governed by the state.

So the state tells them they have to have elections in May.

Um and so they would for sure be cannibalized, but you know, let's focus on the ISDs.

So if we can see, like if there is appetite and room for the ISDs to say, yeah, okay, we could do this together, so we're not negatively impacting them, I would totally support it.

So that's our next step is to try to see if we can make that happen.

Uh, because I don't want to do something that we would think would be good for our city with um hurting our school district board members and our school district board members, we have one up here previously.

Man, that is that is a much uh is a really important job, and they have a really tough task.

So we don't wanna we want to make sure we continue to get really good candidates in those positions, which we also know that the state has been trying very hard to control as of late.

So um that's where we're gonna do next and in advance of the meeting on the 18th.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um, in case it addresses anyone else's questions, um, Julia, can I ask, have you done an assessment of um, because you you don't have to stay in May.

Um, in fact, the legislation allows you even beyond uh the end of the year to consider moving your elections to join in November if you'd like to do that.

Um have you all done an assessment of the cost savings to the handful of ISDs?

Um I know you because you have you represent some ISDs that that vote in November, right?

You have some that vote in in May.

Um have you all done an assessment of the of the cost savings to those ISDs if they were to move to November?

So um uh great question.

We did investigate how uh the city and then also um other smaller municipalities are currently paying for the election.

Um so when we look at how we are sharing the cost in the May election, because we have a lot of our municipalities, um, because over the last few years we've had the Alamo Community Colleges bond along with COSA, um we actually again, depending on how many uh ISDs moved over, if COSA um moves over with us, if any of the other municipalities move over with us, but if say just the ISDs moved along with COSA, um we don't have an analysis of what uh that savings would be because it does say it does look like we would potentially be uh it would cost slightly more.

Now, that to be said, um if we were looking at limiting um the polling sites that would be available, um, because that's a choice of entities when they go into a particular election day, as I understand it, um, they could cut down the potential cost of uh uh of uh going to an election where less entities were dividing the cost of November.

I know that's not probably a satisfactory um answer, but it depends on all of those different entities, and if they also decide to move along with an ISD or along with um COSA at the same time.

Yeah.

Okay.

Um but again, there is nothing preventing your ISDs from moving to November as well.

Okay.

So oh go ahead, please.

Go ahead, go ahead.

Um so uh the the yes, we have uh there was a bill that was passed this last legislative session that um if an ISD did want to move their election, um they could do it before 2030.

Um, because of chapter 11 and the education code for our districts that don't share municipal bounds um uh with other municipalities, um they would have to move if COSA moves in particular way.

So that would be the only time-sensitive thing that would potentially uh uh impact our decision making ahead of 2030 um if they did uh want to move or or maybe didn't want to move and felt like they needed to because of some of the changes changes.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Uh councilman Galvan.

Thank you.

And just want to start off my comments by saying thank you to the mayor for bringing this to our attention and bringing this to the council for a conversation.

I think it's always worth evaluating how we can increase turnout here in our city, particularly in city elections, how we can make our community more representative of the folks that we're uh claiming to represent, make sure that as many folks as possible are engaged in our city elections at every level of government in particular, but of course here, um, is important to me and always has been.

Uh folks who may not know me in my full past, I one of the first things I did in my political journey was knock on my neighbors' doors, asking them to vote in a 2016 election.

From there, I became a voter registration or voter registrar.

From there, I became uh deputy field organizer for the Texas Stream Network, doing this exact work of trying to get folks out to vote.

Talking to renters, talking to communities of color, talking to students, organizing year-round at UT Austin, at UTSA, here in San Antonio.

Like there was a lot of things that I've done in my past that this is feels like a very good culmination point for this particular conversation about how do we get our folks to turn out?

How do we get our folks to get stay engaged?

How do we follow the legacy of Olive Alaska is how do we follow the legacy of the folks who are still here with us who have been doing this work?

How do we follow the legacy of our Edgewood folks in District 6 who crossed old Highway 90 and efforts to try to make things more equitable in our community, not only in education, but at large.

That that is at the root of this, and I think that's where my my heart is here.

And I and yet I I have a lot of concerns here.

And I'm gonna get to all of them, but I also want to thank everyone who spoke today.

I want to thank everyone who's made their voices heard to my office through emails, uh through phone calls, through our survey.

Um we'll continue to have those things open as we continue on with this conversation through next week.

And so I really want to hear from our residents more about what they're thinking um on this particular issue.

Um I I don't think I can say anything better than Councilmember Corps, who really engaged in the data on it because it's something that her and I spoke about very frequently.

It's something that we both care about.

And I think it's I don't know what the right word is for this, but I guess it's very uh lucky in a way.

Today we had a really good conversation at the Education Opportunities Committee about how we can continue to collaborate with our ISDs, um, how we can make sure that we are moving the needle in educational uh actions.

Um and it's something that I it's something I ran on, frankly.

It's something that I ran on, which was uh trying to fight in ways to strengthen our public schools.

It's something that I'm grateful that uh the mayor's trusted to appoint me to be chair of that committee, uh that she newly formed as well.

Uh so there is this renewed focus right on public education here within our city.

And part of that responsibility for me has been to work as much as I can with the ISDs and other educational partners in our communities.

Um I really appreciate all the folks that I've been able to speak with, the superintendents I've been able to speak with, the board members in my community, and the folks who are here, of course, today from North Side ISD.

Um of course, thank you to Julia for all the work you do every single day.

Um and so I I I get stuck at this moment, and I'm gonna say that out loud, as unpopular as it may be to do so, in that I feel that this is a good thing to do.

I feel it somewhere in me.

I feel it's a good thing to do because it makes sense to make sure that our elections are consolidated.

The voters I talked to for months on end said, okay, is this in May?

When is this?

And we have to constantly remind them that's our campaign's job, we can do that.

But to make it as easy as possible is what we should always try to do.

It's something that I've tried to do my entire, well, most of my entire life, and it's a short life so far.

So nonetheless.

A big portion of it, right?

And so I I but then I get stuck with this kind of how do we make sure that we are moving as a body here with the other groups that we're trying to uplift and uphold and strengthen, and it comes with making sure that we're communicating as much as possible.

And I wish we had more time.

I know it's not anyone's necessarily fault on the except for maybe the way the law was written, um, to make this the way it is right now.

I still would like to find ways to engage more on this so we can move all together on this and continue to build that relationship with our ISDs every step of the way to ensure that as we're working on some of this work, uh, an educational opportunities committee and in general with educational achievement, that we're not doing so without every folk, everyone uh who does this work every single day at every step of the way with us.

I think that's the biggest thing that uh I've heard from educational leaders, and I won't say anyone who, but have talked to me about this isn't the first time the city has really engaged a bit in health education or education in general, but sometimes, and even other places too that cities traditionally get into, we do so a bit hastily without engaging the right folks, and that we do so we it becomes a bigger problem later on.

And so I want to make sure that we're being deliberate in our actions.

I I'll say that broadly there just because I think that's a a big crux for me at this particular moment.

Um another crux particularly that's important to me too, um, is the conversation around turnout representation, again, incredibly important to me.

And I think about moving these elections.

I I struggle to find research, and even within the report uh the study today, right, of how the off-cycle elections are particular will make that any better.

I understand we can increase the city the constitutional amendment election turnout if we move our election there because we're the drivers in that turnout every single time, whether it's contested or not.

We still these are higher than that election, uh, unless there's uh very special November ballot.

Uh local ballot proposition that's on there, which I think also deserves its own credit and praise about local ballot propositions uh in the data and the literature, which I actually am grateful, Melissa, that you have that within your own research in 2018, uh most recent, or I think it's 2018, most recent report that you had had a kind of conversation, a comprehensive look at it's not just timing, it's also competitiveness, it's also ballot propositions, it's also this thing.

And so I I get stuck there because if we're trying to make sure that more working class voters are coming out to vote, which I believe is the intent.

If we're trying to make sure that more communities of color come out to vote, which I believe is the intent, and it is my intent, that even folks who have lower educational achievement are coming out to vote too.

I don't think off-year elections do that.

That doesn't mean I'm against this move, but I want to be clear on what we're talking about here.

We know very clearly, presidential and midterm elections bring out the most folks.

And and it's again, the state law is very restrict on what we're doing here, and it doesn't allow us to even talk about general midterm elections, but I think we owe that conversation a bit because it's worthwhile.

It's worth thinking about how we actually increase this turnout.

And I still don't feel that this one's going to do it.

Maybe it does marginally, and I can appreciate that.

I wasn't elected to work on margins, frankly.

And I and I don't think that still fits within this context that we're in, so I'm trying to figure that out for myself, and I'm being honest about it because I think that's what I owe everyone here and my voters in general, my residents in general.

And folks have been doing this work, right?

Are we doing something meaningful here or not?

And I I I struggle to fully agree on it whether we are or not.

Do I think it's detrimental if we move this?

No, I don't think that either.

I don't think it harms in any significant way.

I think we can still work on educational work.

I think we can still build the world trying to build, but it I I get stuck in this moment of just like, is this the one that we need to do?

Can we still do a public vote on this as well?

Because I think that's also important, having our residents engage in this in a way that's more direct.

Can we still find ways to get this available for our residents here in our community?

I think that's still worthwhile to ask our state legislators and see if it's possible.

And I get that it's tough.

And so I I that's where I get stuck on it, and I'm I have to make a decision by next week, and I'm glad to do that.

I will personally say I enjoy having a uh vote yes or vote no because that's what we have to do.

So anyway, though those are my thoughts at the moment.

So again, thank you to everybody for this conversation.

Thank you to the mayor for bringing it up, and I will continue to go through this with my survey as well with my residents.

Thank you.

Thank you, councilman.

Um, in in case it informs anyone else's question, um, Professor Marshall, if you if you'd come up, please.

And IT, can I ask you to bring up the slide that says total ballots cast in Bear County off-cycle elections.

I don't have a slide number, sorry, but the title is Total Ballots Cast in Bear County.

Off-cycle elections.

Thank you.

Yeah, great, thank you.

Um Professor Marshall, again, in case it it it comes up in um in other people's comments or or questions, the point that the councilman just raised in terms of what exactly is the you know the potential benefit between May and November of an odd year.

And if I uh captured your comments on this slide correctly, um, one you pointed out there is actually less engagement by voting groups around May, right?

Because they they're focused on November and then the primary related to that.

So there's actually so there's less engagement in May.

Um there is certainly not an association of voting with May.

On top of the fact uh in May, we have potentially um more distractions, if you will, at least locally, we have this wonderful party called Fiesta.

And so despite that, to your point, um, there was just a 10,000-point difference between May and November.

And so it would make sense then.

You tell me if I'm wrong here, it would make sense if you had the benefit of voter voting in groups engagements and people associated voting with November, and you had um uh frankly not the competition with uh with Fiesta.

I think this is the point that you were making in that you could actually see higher turnout as a result of those things to include potentially surpassing as you describe Houston.

So while when you look at this by itself, it looks oh it's higher there.

Well, that doesn't mean it could not in fact be higher in November because people associate it.

People associate November with voting, and two, you've got groups like radical registrars and others who are actually talking about and helping people engage in the voting process in a way that they might not in May.

If I have mischaracterized anything that you've said, um please correct me.

No, I think that's correct.

I think it's worth noting that National Voter Registration Day is in September and Constitution Day is in September, and those are big days on college campuses and in high schools to get folks registered, and it'd be great for them to be able, you know, to vote and do more when they go out to vote.

Um I think the the issue with young folks in high school is that in September for National Voter Registration Day, not very many of them are 18 yet, which is why we try to go in the spring to get them when they're mostly have turned 18 to get them registered.

So those are different challenges.

But I just want to add too that you're completely correct.

We're talking about off-cycle elections.

The reason that off-cycle elections were implemented during the progressive era was to reduce voter turnout of immigrants to get rid of the party machines that were viewed as corrupt.

The legacy of the progressive era was to reduce the intention of off-cycle elections was to reduce voter participation among the working class among immigrants, and that's exactly what we see.

So you're right, we're moving from like really off-cycle to a little bit less off-cycle.

Um, but that's the option that you have, you know.

It makes it a little bit better potentially to your point.

And I just want to add that no one's really mentioned that the constitutional amendment elections happening in November obviously affect all of us as residents of the state.

So I think another argument would be that do we want our cities to be better represented in what the state's doing on those where the turnout is often extremely low.

And I think our voices in general as an electorate are not heard in those elections as they should be.

I mean, some of the turnout is less than five percent in those constitutional amendment elections, which is ridiculous.

Uh Councilwoman Castillo.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you to the members of the public, Graciela and Manuel for giving your public comment.

And uh what I value about Graciala's public comment is every time she comes to the podium, I learned something new, so it's great to hear the connection to Southwest voters and that history uh and and your relationship with voter engagement.

Um doubt elections are the bedrock of our democracy, and this is a conversation that I don't take lightly, nor do I believe it should uh be one that we have uh an expiration date on.

And I'm hopeful beyond this conversation, we continue to talk about what voter engagement looks like and how we continue to educate the uh public to ensure that we have well-informed uh voters going to the polls, whether it's a May or November election.

Um, but when I received the memo from the mayor um about the work that the city of Dallas had did and how they adopted this unanimously, I reached out to a Dallas City Council member to understand the context in which this was initiated and the work that was done.

Uh and what Adam shared with me is that there was a lot of legwork put in terms that their city council took this to the voters of Dallas.

Um so I I Jeff, if you don't mind, can you walk us through uh the a bit of the history of the initiation of this bill uh and some of the work that the city of Dallas did leading up to the vote to change their elections from May to November?

Uh sure, councilman.

I think mostly you you set it up perfectly.

The the um the Dallas City Council decided to put a but an item on the ballot for Dallas voters and they approved it.

The item on the ballot talked about moving from the May elections.

I'm trying to remember the exact language, according in accordance with state law.

And my understanding is the intent was to move it to November, but because at the time the deadline in state law had not been extended, they couldn't say November, they couldn't move it to November without enabling legislation to do so.

So four Dallas members, two senators and two reps uh filed the legislation to uh extend that deadline in state law.

And uh and uh the Dallas City Council person came up and testified in support, and ultimately, as the mayor said it it passed um the legislature.

It no other cities engaged for or against.

It's what we call a permissive bill, meaning it doesn't require us to do anything, it gives us a choice, and in a home rule city like ours, that's the choice you're discussing here.

So thank you for providing that history, Jeff.

And I think what's important in terms of those are the comment questions for you, Jeff, uh, is the importance that Dallas did take this out to their voters to have a say, right?

I appreciate the hand raising at the neighborhood association meeting, but I think there's value in going to the ballot box to express your position uh in terms of is this something that we're comfortable with moving forward or not.

Uh and while it did pass overwhelmingly in Dallas, I do think San Antonio residents deserve the same type of engagement, input, and opportunity to go to the ballot box.

Uh now, in terms of the impact on municipal elections with their ISGs, I want to thank Dr.

Corps for her leadership uh in ensuring that she uh works with the ISGs on how we could potentially mitigate impacts.

This is a primary area of concern for my team as well.

Um, four out of our five independent school districts in District 5 uh have their elections during May.

Uh and while I understand that this could potentially drive voter turnout, my concern is also to ensure that we're not passing the bill to our ISDs, which are already severely underfunded uh and always um you know looking for more financial support to support our kids.

And I wouldn't feel comfortable making a move that's gonna potentially remove funding from out of the classroom uh because of a change that we made here at the city.

So I want to be sure uh with the discussion that's taking place, I'm equipped with all the information before I make a decision next week.

Um, but that is a priority, and I'm not I I know it's a very short timeline.

Uh I don't know, Eric, have you heard of any school district that's had the time um to to crunch numbers to see what that financial impact would potentially be for their school district.

Uh no, ma'am, I I haven't, but I have also only spoken um as part of the follow-up uh primarily with with Julia because there are 15 or 16, 17 school districts, but I'm not aware of that, but we could follow up on that.

All right, thank you for that.

And also want to thank uh Mr.

Kraft for being here, superintendent uh of Northside FT, and I think North Side ISD rather.

Um, but to that point, right?

There are school districts in District 5 like Northside uh that have several counties that intersect, right?

So we're not just talking about the impact to Bear County.

Um, there's Bandera and uh Medina County that also intersect with that school district, that's ND5, and I want to ensure that uh we're being mindful when moving forward with any policy change that may impact uh our school districts.

And I just want to thank Julia for this one pager um that shows that there will be costs associated with changing um our elections from May to our ISDs because I think that also uh goes to the point that I'm hearing uh from constituents of those that have expressed that they are supportive of changing, they believe that it's going to save the taxpayers' dollars.

And as council member Dr.

Sitcorr mentioned, at the end of the day, if you're a property owner and you look at your tax bill, the majority of that bill is for the ISD.

So ultimately, San Antonio residents who own property will continue to have to pay for whatever change we make uh regarding a local election.

So I just want to be sure um that yes, it will likely could potentially, we don't have the exact number, um, can save the city of San Antonio money, but ultimately City of San Antonio residents will still continue to foot the bill for elections.

So I think it's important that that uh key point is emphasized.

So another point, and I just want to thank the professor from Rice University for her presentation because my team had also been looking at data, and similar to the point that council member Dr.

Korr raised, is when we look at uh Houston, right, which has had odd November elections for quite some time, their turnout uh in Harris County, Harris County wide was at 17%, which is similar to the City of San Antonio's June 2025 runoff election.

So again, right, we know the intent is to uh engage more voters, but when we look at cities and counties like Harris County, Houston, um, there there's not much of a shift in participation.

Um I I hear the concerns about a voter fatigue, um, but for a district that has over five independent school districts, my residents are still going to have to continue to um go out and vote in May.

Uh, but I do believe at the core of this conversation is more of voter apathy, right?

When we talk to San Antonio residents and folks who may be registered but aren't participating, uh they've have eroded trust with government uh because they feel that decisions are made for them and then explained to them later rather than engaging, co-creating policy and moving together uh on a decision.

And I think that's the responsibility that we all have, whether we're a bureaucrat or an elected official to continue to rebuild that trust and engage community.

And I think an example of that is Patrick, a district five constituent who came to our office on a Saturday.

I happened to be there in a Saturday just cleaning up the office, and he needed some assistance.

And we sat there together, we caught a whole list of folks that could potentially provide assistance, and that day we weren't able to connect him to the resource that he needed.

But I'm grateful that Patrick Steck was able to follow up and get him connected to the appropriate resource.

Come May, it's already too late to vote in municipal elections.

And he said, Terry, I registered to vote.

I want to vote for you, I've never participated before.

And I was like, Patrick, election day was it just passed, right?

But point B, right?

That's the work and the role of whether you're Patrick with the Department of Human Services, right?

Or the council member, it's to engage community to rebuild that trust and encourage them to participate in elections.

And I think that should be part of our shared responsibility.

Um I think what's important to emphasize there's a Harvard study that highlights you know typically, if we were to not specific to San Antonio, of course, that if you move the election dates, it's typically still the higher education, high hydro higher educated and white uh individuals that continue to participate.

So I think it's going back to the voter apathy part and how we re-engage community and rebuild that trust that's been eroded with uh San Antonio residents, and that same study takes a transnational approach and finds that the trend is an issue of voter turnout is not unique to San Antonio, Texas, or the United States.

Uh, it's something that uh many countries are are are grappling with on how to rebuild that trust and increase voter participation.

Those are all my comments.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilman Spears.

Thank you, Mayor.

I really am glad, Mayor, that you put this on uh for discussion because I care about the very same things that y'all we're all talking about.

We want maximum turnout and we want the most cost savings.

And um my first question though is for Jeff how can you tell me how many times this is gone before the legislature to move an election?

Yeah.

Um I have a backup slide.

I think it's 16, Cliff.

Thank you.

So I I don't know the question about how many times it's gone to the legislature because there undoubtedly were bills filed that didn't pass, but the first year that this section went into state law that that said essentially that a political subdivision can move from May to the November if they do it by a certain date, was 1993.

Um over the past this is what uh 32 years, 17 legislative sessions.

There have been 11 times there had been a change that passed the legislature to extend that deadline.

Um, if you look at the uh 2015, the 84th legislature, that's the last time prior to this past session that it applied to all cities.

Uh the deadline was 2016 and it sat that way until 2025.

But there were some other cities that went and got bracketed bills done that specifically applied to them uh to allow them to make the change.

So the the long and short of it, I hope I'm answering your question is 17 legislative sessions.

It the deadline has been extended 11 times over that period.

So it's I would say fairly commonly done across the state.

I think I'll I'll let the data up on the slides for a second.

Yes, that's that's the history of it.

Thanks, Jeff.

Um I want to thank Professor Marshall that for your for your study.

There you are, there for your study.

Um, because it really did help bring some data for us to look at, and I found it so interesting to see that overwhelmingly Texans and Americans prefer consolidated election, correct?

Which requires it be an even year election.

If you're with federal and state.

I mean, I don't think there's any place that has one election for everybody, like once every two years, all of the state, federal, local are on one ballot.

So consolidated can be partially, right?

There's some federal, there's some state, there's some local, or there's state and local together, or there's local and federal together.

But not just local.

I mean, in May, it's been consolidated.

I mean, May is just local, right?

So your slide here.

I don't know what slide number it is.

It's consolidated, meaning more than one legislative body is on the ballot.

Or just government level.

Government level.

Yeah, federal, state, local.

Federal state.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

Um, so that brings me to kind of what I want to say is that if we're looking at maximum voter turnout, it's unequivocally moving to an even year.

I understand that this legislation says only an odd year, but that doesn't prohibit us from going back to the legislature and asking for them to help with us getting this move to an even year.

And in that time frame, we're able to go out to our constituents and talk to them about what that would look like.

Um, get their feedback on adding six months to our term.

And um voting that I want to remind everyone that would mean we would vote on an additional budget.

And that's important to point out that we would vote on a budget and then leave office potentially.

And I want to be able to communicate that to my constituents.

Um I'd like to be able to see data on running November odd with November even years and also May odd with November even years, and look at how this impacts other suburban cities and ISDs, the Almo Community Colleges, the other taxing entities.

I I think ultimately we need a vote from our residents before we move any elections around.

I want maximum voter registration voter uh participation, and uh there's it it's moving to an even year.

We'll see that uh the numbers are are just exponentially higher in an even year.

Um it would eliminate potential voter confusion.

Um I think an odd November election is just a May election with colder weather.

And uh but maybe even, I don't know.

It's been pretty warm in November.

But but to me that that that's the impact is in an even year, and there's there's a lot of data showing that we definitely can go, especially if this past one with Dallas was unanimous.

We can definitely go back to them and say, hey, uh, we're interested in moving our elections and we want the maximum turnout and we want the maximum cost savings and uh an even year election accomplishes that.

And uh trying to see if there's any I really I I feel we've got to have a little time to talk to our const more time to talk to our constituents and collect a lot of really solid data.

I mean, we haven't even seen this this would allow us a little time to see what happens in Dallas as well.

So um I really appreciate appreciate your study.

This is a lot of good data in it.

But um, I would I would say we need to move on our legislative priorities and look at moving to an even year election cycle and talk to our constituents about how they feel about that.

So thank you, Mayor.

Councilman White.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I I don't have a lot that that hasn't already been said, so so I'm just gonna make it quick, but uh, and really just highlight a few points.

Um we got this memo from the mayor on November 25th, if if if I believe it was the it was the Tuesday before um before Thanksgiving, and the suggestion is that we vote on December 18th, so less than a month here to discuss this with each other with the citizens of San Antonio, and and frankly that just strikes me as wrong, as was highlighted earlier, right?

Dallas, I guess really did it the right way.

Um they took it to the voters.

I think it was proposition D on the Dallas ballot in November of 2024, and the voters said we want to do this, and so consequently their legislators, their state legislators went to uh went to got into session earlier this year and they moved the bill through without opposition, right?

Is that you you said it was a permissive bill, right?

I think if you look at the for and against in the committee hearing, there were there were a couple of folks signed up opposed and a couple in support.

Um but as the mayor said, it was largely a bipartisan bipartisan bill, and it went through.

And and this is something that um has happened now, I guess 11 out of the last 17 uh legislative sessions.

So, you know, it appears to me that we're talking about our 2029 election.

There's another legislative session in 2027.

Why would we not take the next year or two to talk about this with the residents of San Antonio?

Maybe we put it on on a ballot here for our residents to weigh in just like they got to do in Dallas.

And then if this is something that the citizens of San Antonio support, just like the citizens of Dallas did, then it's something that we we ask our legislative folks to do in 2027.

And then we don't have this rushed process where we're being asked to look at something and do it in four weeks.

And you know, uh Councilwoman Castillo brought up voter trust.

She she was talking about apathy and how it's due to the lack of the citizens' trust in what goes on in city government.

And I think doing something like this, moving the elections without even talking to the residents, just adds to that voter distrust.

It's it's another instance where the citizens say, well, they're doing whatever they want.

They're extending their term in office because they want to.

They're getting to go through another budget session.

Right?

Because they want to.

We got no say.

And so um I think this is an interesting discussion.

Uh as Councilwoman Aldrette Govito said, and and I'm with her on this, you know, I I don't know that this is um a bad idea uh to move the elections to November.

Um I really don't.

I think we need to look at it further.

I think we need to talk with the citizens of San Antonio and then decide.

And we are not being held at gunpoint to make this decision a week from tomorrow.

We can talk about it, we can decide in 2027, and if we make the change in 2027, our 2029 elections can still move forward in the new manner, if that's what the citizens of San Antonio want.

Thanks, Mayor.

Councilman Munguel.

My apologies, Councilwoman Mesa Gonzalez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um thank you, everybody, for being here to speak on your work and to Professor from Rice, thank you for being here and sharing uh that report with us.

I you know, I'll preface this by saying we were all elected in May.

Um, and I believe we are probably the most diverse council in the history of this city.

Um and I think that's a lot uh that's that says a lot about this community um and and who elected us.

Um I think voter engagement is embedded in who I am and what I grew up learning, and um I'm that friend that everyone goes to about where do I who do I vote for, where do I go?

Um, and so I believe in this um fully.

Um participation is key in our democracy.

Um and with that, I'm concerned that this is not necessarily a bad idea, but it's a rushed idea.

Um, and it's an idea that deserves input from stakeholders who are the most affected.

And those are our ISDs.

I see Dr.

Kraft here uh with Northside ISD and Dr.

Carlo Dudan, Northside ISD board member.

Thank you for all the work you do for our uh community and for our children at Northside um every single day.

I know you have a very busy busy schedule, a lot of other things you could be doing, but um, so I have some questions, and I don't know if Julia can answer this, but can you explain or help us explain how we could start to estimate the cost of this election?

I know we don't have our elections administrator here, right?

And I don't know if we've been in dis we don't have she's on here, so or if we've been in discussion with her, but if I imagine you might be the one to help me explain, you know, where could we start to estimate the cost of these elections?

Sure.

Um so uh when this first came up, uh we started engaging with all of our ISDs as to how much it was cost um for each ISD, um, could we understand um if they wanted to stay in May um and there had municipalities that they could partner with in order to stay in May, what would be the differences of cost for the polling stations?

Um went through uh a lot of the city charters and talked to a lot of the other minor municipalities to see who's on uh May and versus uh November odd years.

Um and so after actually going through that exercise and looking at a lot of the invoices, we're able to connect with the elections administrator who shared that as Dr.

Core mentioned before, Councilwoman Corr mentioned, um, that we uh as all entities share the cost of all polling stations across Bear County.

Um and so for May, we currently have 10 other municipalities besides COSA that share the cost um of the May election.

Um and so if uh say uh North side, and I know if Dr.

Kraft, if I get anything wrong, you just throw something at me.

Um but if say North Side wanted to stay um in May, um they uh would have to still share the cost of everyone left over, um, and then decide if they wanted to give the same kind of voter access that we have uh previously um allowed for during May odd years.

If Northside wanted to allow for that along with the other entities because it would be a group decision, um then that cost could potentially increase 32 percent.

That's the offset from COSA or potentially even more depending on if we lose any other entities, right?

Because still potentially open, and again, if we wanted to open all of those polling stations.

Now, if Northside and other entities wanted to say, okay, we can't afford that change for Northside that is up to a difference of potentially um several hundred thousand dollars.

Um that's you know, a couple teachers, that's a difficult budgetary decision to say the least.

Um, but let's say if um North Side wanted to cut down cost, then they could pick out which polling sites they thought would be appropriate.

Um so unfortunately that would cut down on the access or the benefit we have right now with countywide polling places.

So that's why it's difficult to assess what the differences of cost would be.

You have to work with the entities that are left in that May date or the entities that are joining November.

So in November, for example, there are instead of May, we've got 10 municipalities, as I was able to see.

Um in uh November, we have six municipalities.

Um, and those municipalities um just by doing kind of some quick um uh review of their voter registration, have less voters, um, and so they're responsible for less cost of that election, which would potentially put more cost on the larger groups that would come into that election.

Again, if they're coming one at a time, it would be different as it's been pointed out if everybody goes um together.

Okay, thank you so much.

Yeah, um I guess so I go back to I know we we've talked about this uh November 2025 election with the Spurs, but I think if it's if it tells us anything, it's the amount of money that it takes to bring those folks out, and that's what it takes for anybody that's on a ballot.

And so uh that increase in turnout, I think there are so many factors that we haven't even touched on.

Um and I I don't want that to be um I don't want that to just to assume that that November 25 it's almost like an anomaly in a in a lot of ways.

Um, and that was a a very well-funded uh machine uh that brought those out, and we know that's what you have to do to bring folks out.

It's it's it's knocking on doors, it's sending mailers, it's texting them, it's it's a whole list of things that we have to do to bring folks out.

Um, and so no, no.

Um so I I just I want to make sure that before we make this decision, um, what are our options?

I guess in general, right?

If not now, what are other options?

I don't know if Eric or Jeff or can answer that.

Thank you for your question, Councilwoman.

I mean, obviously, I think um there's been some exploration of this idea at the DIS, so I'll just kind of articulate it as I see it from this position.

Um so I think there's an opportunity in the next legislative session um to advocate for a change that maybe voters have considered this council has considered, right?

Um and that might open the window again.

Um so there is a way forward that could happen before the the the 29 election cycle, which is the first time this would affect this body.

So I think that's one path.

Um so okay.

Um and I guess when we talk about Fiesta, I know my my colleague to the right of me has mentioned and has had conversations, I think, with the Fiesta Commission, we could always move Fiesta.

That is an option, and we might want to consider that.

Um excuse me.

Oh, well, we should.

I'm all for that.

Let's do that.

But I I think we should have those conversations, right?

Um, we cannot move the holidays, November, December, cold weather, Christmas parties, we can't do any of that.

Um the other concern I have too is moving to this November.

I think we might lose a Saturday in that process.

Does anyone have the calendar of a November election relate, like early vote election day?

We get in this May election, Saturday, a Saturday and early vote, and then are obviously Saturday election day.

So do we lose a Saturday in moving to November?

I have not done that math, Councilman, so I can try and do it.

I have, and I think we do.

I have, and I think we do.

So that's that's early vote Saturday is what you're saying, correct?

Well, election days on Tuesday, right?

It's on Tuesday, so we lose that election day, but do we do we get it in that early vote?

I'll confirm.

Yeah.

Okay.

That's a concern of me because obviously working families uh depend on those weekends to vote.

Um, and so I want to make sure that we we think about that as well.

So ultimately, I I again I think I'm not saying this is a bad idea, um, but I do think it's rushed, and I think we have the responsibility to bring our stakeholders to the table.

We are very lucky in this city to have the Bear County Education Coalition, which is the largest coalition of superintendents in the state, and they're housed here in San Antonio.

We have Dr.

Woods, former and I uh former superintendent who is now director of Texas Association of School Administrators here in San Antonio.

We even have the government affairs uh director for Texas Association of School Boards here in San Antonio.

We have these folks at our disposal, um, and we need to bring them in sooner than later to have these conversations because I do not want uh this to fall on uh the students and teachers um in the community that I represent.

Thank you.

Councilman Mugheo.

Thank you, Mayor and I want to thank everybody for being out here.

Uh thank you, Manuel, for being here.

I what was the first election you ever worked in?

Was that George Washington?

What was that?

Yes, sir.

It was which year?

Oh, yeah.

1968 election.

That's amazing.

Uh my first election in 2009, uh, very uh when I was in high school, uh, much like Councilman Galvan and I started off in a mayoral uh campaign, and I just showed up and I was uh phone banking and block walking and calling folks and uh thinking how it was different and interesting how the election and the city was in May and that November at that time back in 2009, uh just seeing uh, you know, of course, President Obama win that election, and it was very optimistic time.

So was on the board of Move Texas for some time also.

I was a school board member who stood in a November even year election.

I don't even know if that's the best.

I had one guy said, I'm just here to vote to vote for Beto, and that's it.

I don't care who you are, I'm just here to vote for Beto.

So we did lose some votes, right, in that election also.

Um but just to say, you know, I think it's it's a very good conversation that's being had up here and by the folks that have showed up today.

I think everybody here, no matter what side of their they're on, wants people to show up to vote and wants the best decision for everybody in our community.

So I think everybody's coming from the best place of heart.

I did happen to look at some information in district four, right?

And this is very personal to me because district four is traditionally the second lowest voter turnout district in the entire city of San Antonio.

And so when we're talking about changing the election and we're trying to get more folks to the ballot, it's extremely personal to me as well.

So you know, we have a very low turnout.

I would say that it we did the data, right?

It peaked in May 2021 at 8,000 or 17% of my community.

Of course, at that time it was a very controversial and highly contested Prop B on the ballot.

This past November we actually saw the greatest turnout in District 4 at 19% with 10,000 plus voters coming up to vote, mostly I am sure, uh, on this first proposition.

And I understand the costs was very different, right?

My campaign was nowhere near $7 million as the other campaign, but I can guarantee you $7 million was not spent just in District 4.

And yet we had a high turnout.

And I think something, you know, someone mentioned, right?

People really come to the ballot for voter issues and propositions and ideas, and that's where you see high turnout no matter what uh month the election's in.

I do think, however, consolidation into November is where we should be.

And I would strongly recommend the rest of the school districts that are not in November to consider why to stay in May at this point.

Why not go to November?

We have a list here uh of school districts that are of course uh in May, including North Side ISD, Dr.

Kraft, thank you.

You're it seems like you're in half the city, you're right of North Side ISD.

Uh, and so I see you know a couple of my districts in here also, Southwest.

Um, you know, they have their own separate election issue, which I think is is also needs to be fixed over there as well.

And we have, of course, South San ISD, which is in November.

So can you tell me which other schools, Julia, are in November currently.

Yes, uh, we have one uh district uh that is in November odd years.

That's uh that covers some of Bexar County and a little bit of San Antonio that shirt sibilow.

Um we have uh four that are in November even.

Um so that is uh South San Antonio, East Central, uh Somerset, and Edgewood.

Um, and then we have one district that is May um even, that's Northeast ISD.

Um we do have some outer edge districts that impact there like I said earlier, they're one of the entities that we would split cost with.

Um so that's Comal ISD is in uh uh May, if I indicated on the um the sheet, Medina Valley is in odd uh May years or May uh May of odd years, um, or maybe odd Mays.

I don't know.

So um that was a terrible joke.

So it's um uh odd odd years um in May, and then also COMAL.

Sure.

So it's just a consideration again in terms of dividing cost or the cost of uh joining or um exiting the May election.

Sure, absolutely, yeah.

I think that's something to consider, right?

I'm obviously very sensitive as a former school board member, right?

What that does to our budgets, but I do think it's worth looking into the vast majority of our elected offices are going to be in November, right?

Uh all the federal level, your state officials, your county officials, right?

All that is in November.

Uh and that's okay, you can sit down.

That's all the question there.

Thank you.

You don't have to stand there.

Um, and so I think it's also about consolidating where the rest of it is.

I think May is probably, I don't know the origins of why we're in May.

I I have uh have to assume that it's trying to separate or segregate us from the larger political discussions at the federal and state level.

But as we know, and as we take votes up here all the time, we are as connected to those levels of government as ever before.

We are products of those governments, as a matter of fact, right?

The state tells us what we can and cannot do.

The federal government has uh the bill of rights and all that.

So I think to say that we are somehow special and different that we have to have our own election to focus just on municipal issues is also undercutting the fact that all of these municipal issues are tied to state and federal legislation and policies, and to elected officials who are elected at the state and federal level also.

So we are as connected to them as ever before, and I think it's time for folks to understand that and realize that.

And I think consolidating to November shows people November is the election time.

Um, you know, I would also say if you look at the data, right?

So the total ballots cast in Burr County off-cycle elections.

Sure, you can say May odd is higher than November odd, but that's because the city's also not on there.

Right.

And so that's the no the May odd, the November odd being 124,000, 10,000 or so shy, without the city being on there shows, right?

If the city were to be on there, there could be an extra amount of voters on there as well.

And so I do think, yes, it's a tight turnaround.

Yes, the state, you know, had this provision, but we're here to make a decision.

I think we have all plenty of stakeholders that have weighed in, the people that have been doing this work for decades back when there were uh poll taxes, right?

You were involved in that back then.

And so these are folks that have been on the ground for years trying to get out the vote, right?

And it's not about, you know, well, there are more Republicans at this time of the year, or there's more Democrats at that time of the year.

It's about just getting all of San Antonio to come and vote and understand that November is election time.

Uh and so trying to hold it in May and say, no, it's it's gotta be this way, this the way it's been.

We have to continue that is not the best argument uh in the 21st century in this time of the year.

So that's sort of where I come from.

I think everybody has some very fair points across the board, and I think that uh we do owe it to residents to consolidate and try our best to get as many people to vote as possible.

This is a good better best situation.

It's not the ultimate best situation for us to get out voters.

Obviously, we know even November is the highest turnout, but this is a step in the right direction.

Um so I appreciate the discussion.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Councilman McKee Rodriguez.

Thank you.

And uh thank you, and uh I do want to start off by apologizing to Councilman Mesa Gonzalez uh for interrupting you if you brought up uh Fiesta.

Um I had that reaction because uh several council members ago in district two the idea of reversing the MLK march uh came up and there was uproar in the district, and I can only imagine if we brought up the idea of moving Fiesta, what that would uh what that would do and look like, but uh didn't mean to interrupt you or disrespect disrespect you in that way.

Um I have been thinking about this issue for a while now, and I've had varying opinions on it.

I've especially when thinking about even versus odd numbered years, and I know this is one of those times that uh requires us to move with a sense of urgency, uh, but it is one that is popular and creates an opportunity that is an improvement for our democracy.

With regard to taking this for a vote and the need for community engagement and adding multiple steps along the way, we were all elected by our communities to make this make decisions on the minutiae of city government, the contracts, audits, appointments, and land use.

Uh, but we were also elected to make very big decisions, sometimes under time constraints.

And the reason that we do the daily work of outreach, ongoing outreach every single day, is so that in moments like this where we're under a time crunch, we already understand our residents' needs.

And if we need a town hall or a survey, we can absolutely get that done quickly.

I feel like uh some of us have done great community engagement thus far.

And uh I'll say that in the first seven hours after my office posted our survey, a simple one, but that that primarily aimed to be clear that elections would not be aligned with presidential or gubernatorial elections, we received nearly 200 responses from district two residents.

I know others held town halls and have done surveys, and we've all absolutely been receiving calls, emails, and social media comments, and I want to make clear people are paying attention, they are engaged.

And for years now, from the last three elections that elections that I ran in, and two that I worked on before that, we've heard the same thing at the doors.

People are tired of having a different election every six months.

There is research showing that aligning municipal elections with November increases turnout, reduces barriers, and engages more working class families, elders, and young people.

And I've heard colleagues express frustration that you know, studies are commissioned and data is gathered, and then the recommendations are ignored.

This is one of those moments where the data and the community align.

I'd be interested in uh definitely y'all's takeaways from your engagement you know next week once this is all done, but in our survey, 80% of residents agreed with moving the election, 10.3% disagreed, citing a number of reasons, 3.8% said it didn't matter, and 5.8% were unsure and needed more information.

That is overwhelming support from the community, and we are still actively reaching out to respondents, particularly those folk who have shared that they would like more information to provide it, uh, and get their feedback.

A little bit responding to why it matters to my constituents.

You know, I represent the historically black side of town, a part of town with a deep civil rights history.

We are well aware of barriers to voting, voter suppression, and efforts to keep turnout low.

And I'm supportive here because this will reduce barriers to voting.

It'll address voter fatigue, improve turnout, consolidate costs, uh, and respond to what my residents at least keep asking for.

And so I'm gonna name a few barriers, and some of them have already been named, right?

So one, Fiesta.

If someone believes that if you have to choose between attending Fiesta or going to an election where you believe that your one vote does not matter.

We've seen people choose to go participate in Fiesta.

And when thousands of people feel that way, it has a significant impact on our elections.

The second one, I represent UIW, and currently both May and June elections take place during finals in a time when my students leave town.

Students do have a right to engage in elections, and you can't in one breath say that young people don't vote, but then make it more challenging to do so or allow it to continue to be more challenging.

I say we give the students the opportunity to just rise to the occasion.

And then three, councilman Via Gran mentioned there is a psychological barrier that is ingrained in us from a very young age that elections happen in November.

Moving our elections makes it more likely that people make the connection that when we tell them elections are coming up, that is uh that is in the time that they've been taught that elections take place for as long as they can remember.

We're gonna see in a in a little bit, a bunch of yard signs are gonna start going up from January all the way through the November elections.

People don't see a yard sign and think out of nowhere, oh, an election's happening in May.

They don't.

They know an election is happening in November.

So to that point, I just wanted to address a few of those barriers, right?

With regards to ISDs, I think this has been the most compelling part of the conversation, right?

There are some valid questions about the impact on ISDs.

Uh, but I do want us to keep in mind out of 16 or so school districts, only a few currently run elections in May.

Some may choose to align, others won't, and at the end of the day, that would be okay.

In the event that this is approved, uh I will say that in the event that this is approved uh and we do move on this, we should adopt in our legislative agenda uh the stance that we support them in any legislation they seek with regard to their ability to move election dates should they need to.

Even if after you know they receive all the information, some of the the ISDs choose to keep their elections in May, we're still relieving hundreds of thousands of voters from voter fatigue because we do have 763 school districts in our city for whatever reason.

I have five school districts, two of which are not aligned with our election, one of which doesn't have a school board, and only two of which that have elections in automate.

Most ID ISDs have elections not aligned with ours, and they're being asked to come, those voters are being asked to come out in May for us.

So if we move, that eliminates the need for those hundreds of thousands of people to vote in May.

I've reached out to a couple of my counterparts on school boards in my district and received indications that at least one likely wouldn't move, and this isn't something they feel particularly strong about whether we do it or not.

I've also received information from SAISD that they're going to be discussing this on Monday at their board meeting to get some of their questions answered.

And I will say that because we moved council elections to four-year terms, and it's been said a couple times, most ID ISDs are going to have to confront this question during our off-year regardless.

And this is an opportunity for them to address that need in a way that they didn't anticipate or have an opportunity to uh to do so.

They could also do their election in 2029, see what turnout looks like and make a decision based on the impact, based on that impact of whether they want to move or not by 2030.

We remove that opportunity if we don't move for those, at least for those that uh are not aligned with us, or that uh don't have another city that's gonna move.

I do look forward to the meeting with uh the superintendents and board presidents, and I uh I agree we do need an understanding of total impacts, intentional and unintentional, and what will ultimately be best for each entity in their constituency, including ourselves.

Uh so I want to say thank you to Councilman Corps uh for arranging the meetings.

One of the way the ways that I describe Councilman Corps' uh problem solving approaches, definitely as a convener, and I love that about her.

Uh with regard to us being in office for another six months, I'll just say this.

If council is going to continue to be the way that it has been for the past few months, I am not interested in that.

So for me, this decision has nothing to do with us, whether or not more Democrats or Republicans show up, any of that.

My constituents have been asking for fewer elections, and many of the organizations and leaders I respect who do this work are supportive, and I'm with it.

Uh all that being said, I'll likely support this on uh next week unless my constituency changes their minds.

Thank you.

Councilman Gauban.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I just wanted to end with two quick points, uh, for at least for my thoughts currently.

The one thing that I just keep getting stuck with too is that I was getting there and I'm maybe pivoted to a different direction, um, as my brain does sometimes.

One of the things that I think is important, right, when I talk about representation and uh turnout in that role or in that in that place, is when I think about city elections comparing to even November elections, there's constantly within our city and nationally, right?

We know folks are wealthier, folks who are uh have a higher uh educational achievement in terms of degrees, um, who are more connected in terms of stuff, uh come out at higher rates regardless.

However, it's an odd elections that we see odd year election that we see that the most, May, November alike.

And that's what really frustrates me about this entire conversation, and it's not to anyone specific, but overall, right, that it's a it feels like a conflation of what November is, and yet when I have repeatedly, year after year, in constitutional elections, I'm one of the few young people voting in that in our entire city and state.

And I when I ask my peers to go, it's not that it's November, it's that it's with everything else.

And while there's some drop-off, I understand that this drop-off in my own election that was decided by 28 votes, a significant amount.

Um and it's and it's interesting, right?

What we always ask why do people vote in this way?

Why do they not vote?

And it I think for this particular point, right?

We talk about young people coming out, we talk about working class people coming out to vote, we talk about communities of color coming out to vote, particularly in our city.

It it's in terms of just rhetoric and talking about this issue, it frustrates me when it's very clear in terms of the data that moving this election to November may have a somewhat increase of the folks who are already voting, and maybe some folks who are around them, but not necessarily at large.

And that's what frustrates me.

Again, I'm still in this mode of I think it's the right thing, but there's some parts in it that just don't feel to be the most truthful, or at least the most impactful, maybe it's not most useful, most impactful.

So I'll I'll leave that point there with that.

Um, because I think that's just a clear data point.

I did want to ask, uh, I know Dr.

Kraft and Dr.

Jan have been here uh almost all day.

I don't know if Dr.

Kraft, at least for the educational community as well.

If you all like to come up and share any kind of insights you have specifically, I know Julia's done a great job representing a lot of the uh the perspectives, but uh being the largest school district in our community, I wanted to make sure that you have a moment to speak on that.

Um of course your diverse array of districts here that you also overlap with.

Um, what are some of the impacts you you would see from this?

What are some of the logistical challenges or opportunities that you see if this were to move or not move?

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you, Councilman Councilman Gavon, uh Mayor Jones, uh City Manager Walsh.

Um thank you for this discourse.

Uh it's not every day we had the opportunity to engage in uh such an interesting uh policy uh discussion.

Um currently, uh as Julia's articulated, I'll provide some context real quickly.

Uh we are odd year May election, so we're looking at 27 and 29.

Uh that being said, the greatest impact that we're obviously uh concerned with are the potential financial uh implications.

Um now I can't speak for the board.

Um, and Dr.

Ron, being the board president, um, as we've engaged in these conversations just here in the last several days.

Um if we were to maintain a May odd election cycle, we would obviously incur additional cost.

To Julia's previous point, it's really difficult.

Uh and to Mr.

Walsh's uh point, it's really difficult to project exactly what those additional costs would be, but we would incur additional cost.

A lot of it would be contingent upon the logistics of polling sites, um, of course, hours, uh there are other things that have to be taken in consideration.

I always look at things uh through the lens of especially uh still operating a budgetary deficit, uh 100 million dollar deficit budget last year, a 32 million dollar deficit budget this year uh as allocations.

90 percent of our operating budget is in personnel.

And I particularly look at it in the sense of how many teaching units, how many teaching allocations are are we talking about?

And so we can just do some quick math.

If it's a 220,000 uh or 250,000 dollar uh election cost rather than what we're uh typically accustomed to, which ranges between 90 and 120,000.

Um, you know, those those three to four teaching units.

Um and so that's our primary concern.

One other concern um, and it's not again, it's a logistical concern.

Uh as it was mentioned, I believe by John.

We we would have to work through board policy, we would have to work through holdover doctrine, we would have to work through the restaggering of terms, um, which can all be done.

But one of the things that we would also have to work on is kind of the onboarding, particularly of new trustees.

Uh if a new trustee is elected, particularly in November, think about budgeting, think about uh personnel.

Uh we're very uh cyclical in this and how we operate.

Uh hiring, higher hiring season is May, budgeting.

Uh we're a fiscal year uh end date of August 31st.

What a May election does is particularly for new trustees, uh they're able to be onboarded, and one of the first actions, which is incredibly important, uh, maybe the most important, uh, is signing off on the approval of a fiscal year budget.

Um also uh as important, setting the tax rate uh as already articulated, about 50% of our residents, uh our constituents, they pay in school taxes.

Um and so a new board or a new trustee uh that is onboarded, that's one of the very first actions that they can actually put their thumbprint on.

If you kind of think about the budgeting process, if we don't change it to a July fiscal year, which I don't anticipate we would, uh, because there are also implications associated with that uh change, they really don't have the opportunity to put their thumbprint on that budget.

Uh if you kind of think about the onboarding process uh following a November election, that budget is set, and in fact, we're two months into the fiscal year.

So it's an entire uh new budget cycle before they have the opportunity uh to really go about the request and and allocating dollars that are gonna have the greatest impact on our students and student achievement.

So that's just another nuance to uh as you're uh in conversations and thinking through that hasn't been mentioned.

I do want to add that I a lot of the folks in the room here raised me and I learned from then on how to block walk, how to run for office, and how to increase voter turnout.

So ideally in a perfect world, I'm with you.

I want more folks at the polls and voting for us, right?

But for us and my responsibility as a school board is first to my constituents, and so the expense starting oddly in the middle of an academic year would provide a lot of logistical problems for us.

But also when I've asked folks, how do you feel about this?

They've asked, well, we barely vote now because we don't know who's on the ballot.

We don't know what the issues are, so there would be a lot more work for us to do, which could be done should you decide to move to the municipal race, right?

But that just think about the voters, like how if we can right now influence their vote, how are we gonna get them to do it?

I get that.

If we all were to move that ideally in a perfect world, I'm with you.

But right now, my responsibility to the school district is cost.

I'd rather have an additional teacher or two and not lose that ability to do that rather than invest that in changing our dates.

So that's just one of the closing arguments that we have, and thank you all for having us here.

Any other questions?

No, it's my my time.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilman Mesa Gonzalez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I was gonna ask what I was gonna ask Dr.

Kraft that that question as well, but um it was stated earlier.

I don't know why ISDs wouldn't move to November.

And so I think you answered that, but essentially it's um the cost, right?

And not just the cost, it's more uh governance of the board and um your budget and all of the implications of that.

So um I won't ask you the question again, but if there's anything you would like to add, um please do.

Yeah, absolutely, Councilwoman Gonzalez, and thank you again.

Uh and thank you also for your partnership.

Uh I had the opportunity to uh uh attain a lot of knowledge this morning, particularly with pre-K education with our educational opportunities committee, and so thank you for your work and your continued partnership.

You know, I again the biggest driver uh for us would be the associated cost, um, particularly in these very, very taught budgetary uh times.

Um but again, the the there would be a year of transition that we would have to work through quite a quite a few different logistics, um, which can be done.

We're accustomed to to change.

Um, but it would be a lift.

It we it would be a pretty significant uh lift.

Um and like I say, uh we want to continue to be great partners as we already are, and I appreciate the opportunity to engage in this very important topic and conversation.

Uh you know, I'm not a political scientist, and I've again I've learned a lot just here in the last couple of hours.

Uh but I am familiar with elections, whether it be a board election, whether it be a bond election, um I will argue that whether we're in May or November, there are two really factors that uh I believe uh, as I've seen uh that get people to the polls.

Uh and and voter turnout is incredibly incredibly important.

Uh but it's voter education.

Uh individuals have to be educated on the topics that are gonna be on the ballot, uh, whether it be a candidate or whether it be a facility uh matter.

Uh the other piece though that is equally important is motivation.

Are they motivated and what motivates the voters to get to the polls?

Uh, as already mentioned, uh we work very diligently to register our seniors, particularly those that are of 18 age, and they do increase that number increases uh by the spring uh leading into a May election uh versus a November election.

Uh but ensuring that our voters are educated about matters, and then like I say, what is the motivation that will get them actually to the polls to cast their vote?

My two cents.

Thank you.

I would argue uh being a superintendent in Texas is kind of like a political scientist.

Um I had a question, this recent election, November 2025, um, and I was able to get this from our elections administrator, uh, cost us four million dollars.

Um so that would be the the cycle that we would be moving into.

So let's say we moved we we we moved there this month, and so those ISDs and those smaller municipalities uh took 1.17 million of that total four million cost, um, and the county uh paid the rest, the 2.7 million uh because of those uh constitutional amendments.

So I would argue that potentially is gonna save Bear County dollars if we move there without anyone else because it helps them share that cost uh versus the cost savings that we talk about, the 800 to a million, but it it's very clear that the county taking on this 2.7 million dollar uh amount, we would jump in to help the county with that, not necessarily uh cost savings on our side.

So I just want to make that point.

Uh again, I I don't think this was a mandate by our state legislature, and I don't think we should put any unintentional mandates on um on this community.

So thank you so much.

Councilwoman Vieken.

Yeah, thank you.

Um I I am looking to uh have this on the agenda on the 18th and further this conversation, Eric.

Uh what I do want to make sure that's on there is um we have moved our election to every four years.

So our next election is 2029.

So while I appreciate the conversation we're having about school districts and their odd years, we are not running every two years on the odd years.

So there is already going to be a cost increase to them.

So please include that in whatever material you have.

The other is I think we've stated in more on on one effect is that we do not think that this is a a terrible idea.

So I think we need to prepare because if this doesn't move forward on the 18th, I think you are going to see council colleagues have that conversation that we take this to a charter review and we move it to November because we think November is a better idea because there are big races that happen on odd years in November that make the national news cycle that will remind people in San Antonio, hey, I've got to go vote.

So I think we need to have those conversations here.

I understand the wanting the more time.

I understand wanting to get more engagement.

I I I understand do we take it to the voters, do we not take it to the voters?

What we have here presented in front of us is an opportunity.

And if you've been doing this for as long as I have, and I've been doing this for a long time, and I am a political science major, is that I know my community, and I know the public.

And right now we're putting out a survey and it's yes, no, it doesn't matter.

And that's where we're at.

If you uh if we decide on the 18th we want to take this further, then we'll take it further.

But we need to have this conversation.

This makes sense.

I don't care if it's $50,000 we save.

Because that's $50,000 I can use to fill potholes, or program something for Metro Health.

So there it may not be the cost savings that you will spit out there, but it's going to be some cost savings because we are splitting the elections with others.

And my plan is to bring my districts, Harlandell, South Side, East Central, SAISD, try to bring them along and talk to my state representatives, because I believe the state has the money to help me move these elections to odd number years.

But that those are larger conversations we're having.

And right now the conversation is let's we we've communicated our efforts.

Now let's get some input via email from our voters, and then on the 18th we decide and then we move forward from there.

But um I appreciate the conversation and the efforts, but I think we made this a lot longer than we needed to.

Thank you.

Councilman Wungia.

Thank you.

To make it longer by a couple more comments.

No, but I agree.

Um, I was just gonna make that point.

I'm sorry, Dr.

Kraft.

You said your next election is going to be winning.

Yes, sir.

Uh we're odd uh May, so May 27 and then again May 29th.

Okay, you have staggered terms.

Okay, sir.

For your terms.

Okay, yeah.

So it's for board elections.

Gotcha.

So to the couple of points that my two colleagues made, this next election you're gonna have, the city will not be on that ballot even if we decide not to move the election.

That's correct.

So this May we will not have uh an election next May, May of 27, we'll be with the other municipalities that will be hosting elections in May.

Right, yeah, but we make the transition.

Right.

But the city of San Antonio won't be there, right?

Our next one will be later on.

So that's going to have to be a little different already for you.

And we will see some increased cost as a result.

Uh that's probably the question.

Yes, regardless of what we do next week.

Absolutely.

Gotcha.

Okay.

Yeah.

And that's why our our election cost they vary.

We can look at 23, we can look at 25, we can see that it varies again depending on registered voters and as already articulated uh the county elections office really drives and dictates our our cost share portion.

Yeah.

And you made a good point about elected officials coming in on budget process very similar here.

Do all the other school districts have the same uh fiscal year timeline?

Most are in August 31st, uh, but uh districts do have the opportunity uh to move the fiscal year back to July.

The the challenge in doing so is once you if you kind of think about the incurrence of um uh operational uh cost.

So for the first year that you do the or you make that transition, you're saving electricity, et cetera.

But once you move from August, you back it up to July, you're really stuck because if you go back to the opposite or you go the uh to the other end of the spectrum, you're now incurring those costs times two in essence.

Absolutely yeah.

My point is being that some school districts that have November elections have the same fiscal year as you all.

Most are on August 31st.

I can't I can't speak to all uh districts in uh Bear County, but uh the a July one is the other option.

Thank you, Dr.

Craft.

I appreciate that.

Absolutely.

Uh and then the other thing too is if we're interested in in helping the other government entities save money for election, we we can still keep our bond elections in May.

Is that correct, Eric?

Councilman, I'm sorry, we were just talking about the schedule.

Go ahead.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, so my point was that if we were interested in putting elections on to help other government entities save money, we could keep municipal bond elections in May odd years.

Right, but those happen pretty infrequently early.

Right.

Yeah, exactly.

But I'm just saying that we have propositions that we are the city do, we can put those in May even if we change to November.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

That's all.

Councilman McKee Rodriguez.

Thanks.

Um I want to address a couple of points.

Um the charter review that was done in Dallas, the reason they had to do that, they had to bring it to the voters to update their charter because their charter required their election uh to be in May.

So that's why they had to do that, just to lay that flat.

Um I really also want to make sure that we are um we we caution against the assumption that the ledge can just can just bring this up again, right?

Um that is a critical assumption, and as is just mentioned, this is an opportunity that we may or may not get again.

Um, but we understand um that there is a savings, we might not know the exact amount, um, and has been laid out there will be an increase in turnout, as the data also clearly lays out.

Um moving moving Fiesta, um, which seems novel, uh moving Fiesta doesn't necessarily mean people would now associate May with voting, right?

So um I can understand the the logistical, I mean that seems like an even larger logistical lift than doing this, but just because you move Fiesta doesn't mean that people don't more associate voting with that month.

On the um on on the cost savings, let me reiterate, while we don't know the exact amount, and I certainly appreciate again.

I put ARA, the city manager on the spot, and he gave me an answer of 800K to a million, and we don't know exactly what the savings would be.

Uh, we know there would be a savings.

We know that for certain.

Um, and as we face fiscal challenges, we owe it to ourselves to not only again benefit from that savings as councilwoman Viegran mentioned, um, because even if we only got half of what Dallas got, Dallas estimated a savings of 432,000.

Even if we only got half of that, that's 215K-ish, right?

I mean, you know, if we got that, um, you know, you know, Councilman White, this is how we pay for more cops, right?

I mean, there's much better ways to use these resources and have the benefit of hearing from more of our folks.

Will you support more cops?

Yeah.

Well, we gotta have the money.

I mean, there's the idea, and then you gotta pay for it, right?

So this is where we have to be fiscally responsible, um, understanding there are benefits to be had.

Um when it comes to the um uh let me on this idea of well, we got to move it to the even years, and and we know that is you know the ideal um for some.

The uh while there is again, yes, undeniable highest turnout is in November when people are associating it and in on years, um, the legislation doesn't allow for that.

So we have to, I think, again, deal with the opportunity that we have, imperfect as it may be, but I think this does for others um preserve what we also find to be important in these races is that they are nonpartisan, right?

And this legislation with that, um, not only the time frame, but also again making this only apply to municipalities that have an odd year election, um ensures that there is nothing to say that we cannot still move these to November and then to your point, work with the state delegation to to work toward that.

Um that to me seems highly implausible, however, uh given the state legislation, um, and frankly, some of our our state leaders are are looking at redistricting right now in a way that dilutes the voice of the exact voters that this change would help.

Okay.

To the ISDs.

Um I'm a proud product of Northside, right?

Proud product, and I understand this is not a decision to be made lightly.

One in ten kids in the country calls our state home.

Understood.

Fourth largest school district in the state, understood.

Um I come back to the fact though that if we are all concerned and committed to what I think is our mutual business of raising an educated citizenry that participates, then we reduce barriers to doing that.

I think there again, we there are cost savings, there are cost savings to the school districts of also moving to November.

There are also benefits intangible, but benefits of hearing from more voters in November.

I understand the logistical considerations that the uh that the superintendent raised, which have obviously been addressed by those other school districts that already have their elections in November.

So not an impossible task.

I understand a lift, but if we are as committed to an educated voting citizenry, then we have a responsibility to do that.

Because as you point out, those those if you stayed in May, right, those those costs would increase.

But that is optional.

That's a choice that your school district would be making.

Um, and is one that again when we balance hearing from more municipal voters, right?

What is in the the greatest public, um we balance that with again the opportunities that you also have.

And frankly, the more time you have to make this, we have just a couple of weeks uh to to make the decision to save money and hear from more voters, um, and you have much more time to to address that.

Um great.

Um, thank you again to everybody that took the time to um share your expertise and help us have a really robust conversation here.

Um, as we are, frankly, this is not just about what is happening here.

I think we are all also cognizant of what is happening in general on the voting landscape and our responsibility to ensure at least here in San Antonio that we are doing everything we can do possible to reduce the barriers to voting for our constituents.

Okay.

Um thank you again to everybody.

Going to exec session.

Yeah, okay.

Um I'd ask my colleagues to remain seated while I take us into exec session.

The time is now 4.34 p.m.

on December 10th, 2025.

The City Council of the City of San Antonio will now meet in executive session to consult with the city attorney's office pursuant to chapter 551 of the Texas government code and to deliberate or discuss the following items.

Economic development negotiations pursuant to Section 551.087, the purchase exchange lease or value of real property pursuant to section 551.072, and legal issues related to litigation involving the city emergency preparedness and collective bargaining, all pursuant to section 551.071.

Good evening.

The time is now 5.26 p.m.

on Wednesdays, December 10th, 2025, and the City of San Antonio City Council public comment meeting is called to order.

Madam Clerk, please call roll.

Oh the time is now 5.26 p.m.

on December 10th, 2025, and the San Antonio City Council will now reconvene in open session.

No official action was taken in the executive session.

The time is now 5 26, and the meeting is adjourned.