Good afternoon, everyone.

The time is now 2 08 p.m.

on April 7, 2026, and the meeting of the Transportation Infrastructure Committee is now called to order.

Madam Clerk, can you please call roll?

Councilmember Corps.

Councilmember Mungia.

Present.

Councilmember Alderete Gavito here.

Council Member Spears.

Chair McKee Rodriguez.

Present.

Chair, we have Corn.

Wonderful, thank you.

Um, just for the uh out of respect for each of the applicants' time, what we'll do is we'll start off with uh the presentation and then we'll give a few minutes for Councilmember Spears to get here because I would pre much prefer everybody be heard by all council members, and then we'll um begin the interviews at that point.

Oh yes.

Okay, item one is approval of minutes from March 3rd.

Do I understand a motion for approval?

Motion to approve.

Second call.

All in favor?

Aye.

Motion carries.

Sorry.

Good afternoon.

I'm Jamie Nietel, Assistant City Clerk.

I will be presenting background information about the airport advisory commission and our overall process.

The airport advisory commission advises the aviation director on matters affecting the city's airports and air transportation initiatives.

The commission is composed of 19 at-large members representing the aviation industry, travel and tourism industry, ground trans ground transportation industry, airport business community, large business community, and the general community at large, including a member of the Alamo Area Council of Governments, and a non-voting representative of the federal aviation administration.

Each member serves a two-year term with appointments staggered from year to year.

The Office of the City Clerk opened applications on December 18th, 2025, which is 90 days prior to the expiration of the current term.

The communications and engagement department released a web and social media posting on February 2nd of this year.

By closing date of March 5th, we received a total of 60 applications.

The city attorney's office vetted 60 applications, and 53 were eligible.

An ad hoc committee was formed by the chair, and that included District 4 and District 9 council members.

The ad hoc committee review reviewed all 53 applications and shortlisted to 16 applications.

The committee will interview those applicants today and make a recommendation to the full city council.

City Council will vote on the full board appointments during an A session.

After the vote, the city clerk will notify the appointed individuals and ask them to complete the proper forms, administer the oath of office, and invite them to complete the municipal leadership institute training.

Once those steps are completed, they can be seated on the board.

On this slide, you find the list of individuals that have been placed on the short list for the different categories.

Please note that anyone that is listed under the community category can serve in other categories.

Juanita Supulveda is not here today and did not provide a written statement.

The process today will begin with each applicant providing a two-minute opening statement.

For an applicant for any applicants who are not able to attend, a written statement has been included in your packet.

If the chair would like the city clerk's office to read the statement, I am prepared to do so.

All candidates will be sequestered during the interviews and will not be able to listen to each other's answers to the questions.

The council committee will interview all applicants, then move into exec session to deliberate.

No formal action may be taken in executive session.

Afterward, the committee will reconvene, and a community committee member will make a motion for a recommendation to be forward forwarded to the full city council for appointment.

This concludes my presentation.

Thank you.

Councilmember Aldrey Gavito.

Thank you, Jamie.

And Jesus, this might be a question for you.

Okay.

Because I know before running for council, I was part of the airport systems development committee.

Is this the same committee or is this a different one?

And if so, if it's different, how do they interact?

Can I make a correction?

I'm sorry.

The ad hoc committee was district four and one, not nine.

Members uh um so historically, we've always had an airport advisory commission and an airport service, air service development committee.

Uh of which those are being joined.

Some of those members have been um asked if they were interested to be in a part of this airport advisory commission to have one singular commission working towards the goals of the airport.

So historically, the Air Service Development Committee was established and put together by Mayor Nuremberg to help get where we are today.

We are now have broken ground uh with a new terminal.

So that was an effort completed, done well by that air that ASDC committee.

So super proud of everything that's been done there.

Now we're working towards you know the progress of the airport, so it'll be one singular commission, and that would be the airport advisory commission.

Yeah, that's super helpful uh for the context.

So just to make sure I'm clear, ASDC, the Airport Systems Development Committee that yes, you're right, was um commissioned by Mayor Nirenberg, is now folded in with this airport advisory, and it's just gonna be one singular one.

And then how often are they gonna meet?

And then, and I'm assuming they'd still meet with you and your executive leadership team to give feedback and input.

Absolutely, councilwoman.

So we'll continue to meet on a quarterly basis.

We'll elect officers and continue to have those conversations uh as we continue to move forward.

Sometimes if we have special meetings, we'll we'll add some additional meetings in there, but uh for the most part, we'll meet on a quarterly basis and have information that we'll be sharing with regards to all of our progress.

Okay, thanks.

And and it uh it's I think it's exciting, especially for business leaders and community members to know and have a full understanding and appreciation of the airport operations and all the dynamics that we're dealing with with the airport.

So thank you, Jesus, for being willing to work with this um committee so that way we can all have what's the best interest for our airport in mind.

That's all thank you, Chair.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Yes, Councilmember Corps.

Gotcha.

We'll give it about two more minutes, and if Councilmember Spears is not here in two minutes, we will begin the interviews.

So what we'll do now, I think we can uh begin transitioning uh all each of the applicants to the outer room.

Um so I'll ask all except for the first applicant who I believe is Alita Smith.

So everybody but Alita Smith uh will be escorted to uh the conference room.

Oh outside, okay, perfect.

Into the hallway you go.

And again, thank you all for being here.

Are any of these things when we do this also there for exam?

Okay.

Okay, yeah, it's been two minutes.

We'll uh so um each applicant is gonna have a two-minute opening statement, so that'll be the first thing that you do.

You can introduce us, tell us about yourself, why you want to uh serve on the commission.

Um, and then uh council members will have questions.

I realize Councilmember Mungia just left, and so once he gets back, I'll ask you to start.

And he's back.

All right.

The floor is yours, Ms.

Smith.

Great, thank you so much.

Thank you for the honor for speaking before you today.

Uh my name is Alita Smith.

I go by Ellie Smith.

I'm a lifelong aviation enthusiast, homegrown in San Antonio with aviation experience and relationships extensively in the field as uh an aerospace engineer, working for the FAA's federally funded research and development center operated by the MITA Corporation.

I also come from a proud military family which instilled service as a hallmark of life.

These two attributes drive my genuine passion to see our city reach the next level of opportunity, providing a state of the art passenger experience at our beloved international airport, which is at the heart of the city's economic development, central to maximizing our industries and lifting our community.

The airport provides the city's first impression of San Antonio and must reflect 21st century passenger expectations, while also maintaining what makes us uniquely San Antonio.

I have some relevant experiences I'd like to share that I hope sets me apart.

Airlines are a key airport partner, and I understand their business, including what they value for their customers, how they want to optimize their fleet, and what they need from an airport to support their operations.

From carrying out overnight repairs up high in the tail of an airplane to having personally brief most U.S.

carrier CEOs.

I can help advise on what will attract and retain their business here.

I have depth and breadth of aviation knowledge from understanding airfield designs and the application of new technologies that can make our operations safer and more efficient inside the building and out.

Not only do I understand the FAA's future airspace vision, as well as the modernization efforts underway, I understand the emerging aircraft vehicles entering U.S.

markets as part of our advanced air mobility and most importantly, the implications those changes will have upon our airport.

Finally, I'm an avid traveler, having traveled to an airport in all 50 United States, as well as through 20 international airports.

I enjoy the traveling experience and seeing the destination's culture expressed through modern airport design amenities and retail options.

This experience empowers me with advising on best of breed design ideas to help ensure a seamless passenger centric travel experience.

Simply put, I hold experience and insights as a travel consumer and as a trusted aviation industry professional.

I believe this would be a strong asset to the AAC.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Ms.

Smith.

Uh, Councilmember Corr.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and if we're press your mic.

Rookie mistake.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

That's such a great question.

Um it really is a consideration of eco, an ecosystem of stakeholder needs, desires, um, sometimes limitations.

I think that um, you know, helping to kind of bring those different perspectives to bear and ensure that um the community or other stakeholders included as the AAC is considering different decisions and advising on um airport executives on what to make is the the way to go.

But uh it's really um, you know, it's a it's a balancing act of um understanding from a data-driven perspective what what the trade space is and then making informed decisions to go forward.

Thank you, Councilmember Mungia.

Thank you.

What skills, experiences, or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

Well, um, I work, I have over 25 years in the aviation field, um, but I also reflect a lot of different perspectives.

I've had a a career um with uh aircraft manufacturer, I've had a career um doing uh systems engineering maintenance operations for an airline.

Um I have a career advising the FAA on airfield um operations and safety, and then my own personal experience is having been a consumer of travel and um a user uh of the San Antonio Airport pretty much all my life.

Uh so I think that that makes me unique in terms of kind of bringing that set of influences and perspective together to accommodate that balance and thinking about um how the airport needs to be positioned both to attract um businesses to to set up shop here, um, thinking about uh, and and that's part of the seamless passenger experience, certainly, right?

Um, the easier it is to get in and uh to be welcomed and to get a taste of San Antonio.

Um it really sets the tone for a lot of people's travel, a lot of people's trips and stays here.

Um so we need to use that to market ourselves for um business operations that want to set up here.

Um that's uh that's a big component of a lot of their decision making, as well as people that want to spend their uh disposable income here and as part of the tourism industry.

And so thinking about the retaining our our cultural heritage, um the things that um give us our our San Antonio charm and set us apart.

Uh those are things that as a resident of San Antonio haven't been homegrown.

I I'd like to bring that into bear with uh with the engineering side, the aviation knowledge that I have thank you, Councilmember Aldrey Scarito.

Thank you, Chair.

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community, and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

The airport is this airport is um unlike some other airports across the United States in which we have some limitations that pose uh restrictions on how we expand.

And um certainly I know that noise um is considerations in the community tend to be uh very important to them.

Um there are engine technologies that can help, you know, reduce that.

There are procedural elements that be can could be considered in terms of um you know, max takeoff speed uh during certain parts of the early mornings or late at night.

Um that is typically one of the the biggest concerns about people that are living just north of the airport, the you know, uh Churchill Estates, um kind of over by Phil Harburger Park, as well as um coming over downtown over here by North Star Mall.

Uh I think that um considering that is uh would be a big big uh and I'm I'm sure that the uh the director of the airports and his team are are always looking for those opportunities to help make sure that that that is um optimized um as best as possible.

But I think um that is one, and then my other answer to your question um councilwoman would be um for how the airport can be the gateway um to our community to basically put uh travel um dollars of visitors into our local economy.

Um, thinking about um the retail options that the airport might want to pursue, um, making sure that um there's a bit of a shop local uh component.

Um those help elevate our uh business uh folks.

Um those are the two uh the two things I would come to mind with that question.

Great question.

Thank you so much.

That concludes the interview.

I really appreciate you for applying, and uh we'll get through the rest of these interviews.

We'll go into an executive session and make a decision, and we'll have a recommendation, hopefully around a little bit before four.

So you can stick around or you don't have to.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Wish you a good day.

Thank you so much, you as well.

Up next, we have Brett Finley.

Thank you, Mr.

Finley, for being here.

Uh we're gonna start off with a quick two-minute introduction of yourself.

Tell us about you, tell us why uh your ex what your experience has been and why you want to serve on the board, and then we'll have uh questions from council members.

Okay.

Well, good afternoon, Mr.

Chairman, uh, members of St.

City Council.

My name is Brett Finley.

Um, I have the privilege of serving as a present CEO of the Metro San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

Uh, we're an organization that represents more than a thousand uh businesses across the entire Greater San Antonio community, everything from a small business mom and pop locally owned and operated uh store to a middle market company to uh some private uh large-scale corporations.

Um I've been a proud resident of the Greater San Antonio area for more than 12 years now, or I've had the opportunity to raise four uh very young uh but happy and healthy kiddos alongside my beautiful wife Valerie.

Um I think that inevitably leads me to my why, um, which I've I've chosen to apply for the AAC today.

Um I've had the opportunity to serve under um a retired Major General Angie Salinas's leadership on the airport uh services development committee for the last couple of years and have seen the tremendous amount of growth, uh momentum and upward trajectory that our airport um has.

Um I think continue to see and utilize um our airport as a community asset, something we can be proud of, something that I look at it as four A's affordability, accessibility, advancement of our local economy, and also something that is aesthetically uh local San Antonio.

Um I think aesthetically uh you know, it was really encouraging to see a rendering most recently of the new redevelopment phase of the airport that looks a whole lot like the riverwalk.

It just doesn't have a body of water flowing through, and that's because they've been incredibly strategic and intentional about the design concept that it makes sure it feels like San Antonio airports so often are the front doorstep for folks who are coming back from personal or business travel or folks who are traveling here internationally or domestically.

Airports so often are the front doorstep for folks who are coming back from personal or business travel or folks who are traveling here internationally or domestically.

We want this to be a first and long-lasting positive impression for all of our patrons and residents and citizens who are traveling or something we can be really proud of.

I think from an accessibility component, we just had the groundbreaking of the ground transportation center, something that's probably not generating enough notoriety, and it should was how thoughtful they were with those sensory improvement areas that are state of the art, first of its kind, that you know it can be really hectic for airports across the country, folks with um challenges both on the mental and physical health side, having sensory breakout rooms they can go to.

Um again, accessibility is key.

I would say affordability is also something that's incredibly important, making sure that we are offering competitive rates.

It pains me every time someone pulls me aside to say, hey, I traveled to Austin because it was more economically feasible.

Um we're chipping away at that, and I know I feel really confident that we're gonna continue to make strides, um, be able to suppress the airline uh market rates down, make sure it's a competitive but fair process for our airline providers, but then also most importantly for the travelers, whether you're connecting here, it feels like San Antonio, or you're you're flying out of here because you call San Antonio home, making sure it's as pleasant and reasonable process as possible.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh, we'll have a few uh questions.

Councilmember Corps.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

Yeah, you're exactly right, Councilwoman.

It can be uh conflating at times.

There are competing interests.

I think just a unique perspective that I could present to this this body is my interface, not only with my own personal lived experiences.

I was fortunate enough in years past to be able to travel across the country and frequent in a business capacity, um, airport stops, whether it's connecting flights or destination travel, but then also my day-to-day job, my full-time role with the chamber right now, being able to interface with business owners, with employees who live and reside in each of your council districts, taking their input.

Sometimes it's it's good, bad, or otherwise feedback, but making sure that we're delivering those uh responses in the council to the airport staff to make sure that all their their tough questions and expectations are are being answered or being reasonably met, and trying to you know come up with some sort of objective um picture of of what you know we could you know be proud of to call our airport, you know, home and uh and making sure though that you know looking at it through an objective lens with a filter and not having any sort of preconceived notions or or any sort of underlying um you know objectives along the way.

So thank you.

Um what skills, experiences or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

I think on the regulatory side, I mean I think we do a really good job with our partners at the city of San Antonio as a community partner and a business community stakeholder, um, understanding some of the challenges that you know oftentimes I think just unknown to the public are a lot of the funding mechanisms that you know they're really tied by the FAA and some things are just quite frankly out of um the city and and the airport's control, and so they've got to make sure that they are playing ball, so to speak, with the federal government as it relates to any sort of regulatory guidelines.

And so I think just making sure going into any sort of conversation where hey, this may not be necessarily a change impacting us that um you know we like, but we have to just because of the funding and and just ultimately the the cost of doing business associated with that.

Um, we're military city USA.

We always have to be incredibly thoughtful about how we take care of our veteran community, whether they're active duty or retired military service, and so um just being very incredibly thoughtful about the services and the ways that we're taking care of those individuals, um, understanding though that again there's some uh changes that could come down the the federal pipeline that again may not be necessarily something that city council can even control it, maybe out of our uh jurisdiction necessarily, but we need to wrap our hands around it, make the best of that situation, and uh and then I think be able to effectively communicate those changes to the broader public, um, certainly with the help of of the AAC and then also with council district offices.

It has to be kind of a true um effort uh play in and play out.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Aldorite Capito.

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks, Brett.

What do you see is the most important role the airport plays in the community, and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

I think as an economic um catalyst, you know, we talk about advancing our local economy in my opening response, um, being able to truly leverage it as a as an asset, something that for whether it's uh for corporate relocation, business retention purposes, um, something that we can truly harness.

You know, we talk about uh the city budgetary challenges currently, making sure that we are able to just again be able to catalyze uh from an economy local uh perspective, making sure that we can we can take care of things here.

You know, we talk about uh the city budgetary challenges currently, making sure that we are able to um just again be able to catalyze uh from an economy local uh perspective, making sure that we can we can take care of things here, um, and again, it can be something that that we're proud of and share back with our citizens uh from an ease of use perspective, whether that's you know your parking on-site or off-site, um, you're going through baggage claim, navigating TSA checkpoint lines, uh, making sure that it's got the local flair though, um, having small businesses uh there to represent it so it's got the flavor, um, whether you're there you know permanently uh in your your home stop or if you're connecting there.

I think about when I travel through Nashville, and I may just be a connecting flight, but it it looks and feels a whole lot like Nashville.

We've made tremendous strides in progress and from that perspective where I think it really feels like uh San Antonio, which we're so uh proud to call home.

Um and I think we're continuing to be thoughtful about the renovations and improvements um along the way to make sure it still feels a lot like San Antonio.

Thank you.

That concludes the interview.

Uh, we have eight more interviews to go, and then we're gonna have an exact discussion, and we'll come back out with a recommendation.

You can stick around or you can choose not to.

Okay.

All right, thanks so much.

Thank you.

Up next, we have Michael Gibbs.

Thank you for being here, Mr.

Gibbs.

We have uh we'll have we'll start off with a quick two-minute introduction.

Tell us about yourself and your interest in serving on the commission.

Uh, then we'll have uh three council member questions.

Good afternoon.

Um you all have my resume.

I'll just do a quick recap on that.

Straight out of high school, I went to college and grad school.

My uh my first job, I worked for a large electric utility in Atlanta as a supervisor in the environmental affairs department.

Then I worked in a couple manufacturing companies before transitioning to uh a company that uh designed and built pharmaceutical clean room production facilities.

I was a VP of operations.

Um all along through those jobs.

I had to work with lawyers from time to time.

I was not impressed.

Frequently found them unhelpful.

Um so at age 38 with the help of my wife and went to law school.

Uh I finished my legal career at Whataburger as executive vice president and general counsel.

Um I worked there almost 18 years.

I navigated the sale of the company from the Dobson family to a private equity firm out of Chicago in 2019.

I remained with the company for about 30 months, um, retiring in 2022 and when I hired my replacement.

I was tapped by Mayor Nuremberg in 2018 as an initial member of the airport system development committee.

Um I was on that committee until it recently disbanded.

My experience on that committee, my the relationships I made, um, and my elementary construction experience may be of some benefit to my participation on this commission.

I've been invested in the city ever since I helped move Whataburger's offices up here in 2009.

Uh I personally invested my time and talents in this the airport project as a way to contribute to this great city.

If you think I'd be a fit, I'm at your service.

If not, no hard feelings.

Thank you, Mr.

Gibbs.

I will have questions from council members, council member core.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, and nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

I'd have to first I'd make it clear to define where the competition is and where those pain points are, then we would have to balance priorities.

Um I'd hate to pick a winner and a loser right now among those competing interests, other than I would recognize that you will have competing interests, and that sometimes it's going to take some compromises and some sacrifices.

Uh but if it's you have to balance those against your overarching goal, which is a new airport.

So there will be some there will be some pain points.

I don't have a process other than to define the problem and then analyze the problem and come up with different solutions and get input from all the different parties.

Thank you.

Councilmember Munga.

Thank you.

What skills, experiences, or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

I have a little bit of construction experience.

Got to learn the language.

So I think that helps.

Thank you.

Councilmember Aldoretsky, raise up.

Thank you, Chair.

Hey, how are you?

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community?

And how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

So as an overarching concept is transportation.

And transportation of goods, transportation of people, and that translates into commerce.

And so it especially with an airport where you have such a long horizon.

If businesses are here and they're they're people can't fly where they need to go as a constraint.

And you want you don't want your transportation to be a constraint, whether it's on goods or on people.

It's part of the reason Whataburger moved its offices up here is because they couldn't go anywhere from Corpus Christi really, except to here.

So then they have to come here and then they have to go to Dallas.

Um just as an example.

So I think it plays a huge role in uh bringing tourism, um, allowing for business to operate nationally and internationally, um, and actually bringing in a lot of goods.

So it's it's a it's a key part of any large city.

Thank you.

Uh that concludes the interview.

We're going to have uh seven more interviews, and then we'll go into exec for a discussion, and we'll come back out with a recommendation.

You don't have to stick around, but you're afraid to.

Thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

Um next we have Earl Jackson.

Hello, Mr.

Jackson.

Hello, thank you for for having me.

For sure.

We're gonna start off with a quick two-minute introduction.

Uh tell us about yourself and your experience, and then we'll have uh questions from council members.

Okay.

Uh I'm Earl Jackson Jr.

I've uh born in San Antonio.

Uh my experience in the aviation uh period with uh uh has been as an air traffic controller for over 40 years.

I don't want to tell it all because you'll get the whole story about how old I have, but the majority of it has been here at San Antonio.

Uh grew in my career with several of the senior staff at the airport.

Ryan, I was a supervisor, he was a supervisor.

I wound up being an operations manager.

Um operations manager did some other jobs in terms of leadership at the airport.

Uh Mr.

Tim O'Cromley and I also did some uh working with some uh tedious things with deconfliction with airports over at Randolph and Kelly.

So my uh my interest is number one, this is home, but number two, I've seen our airport growth from a little spindle terminal to this uh uh tremendous uh plan that's taking in everything that's gonna put us on the map and really make sure that the city of San Antonio goes forward in a uh a tremendous manner.

And uh quite frankly, uh also want to attribute a lot of that to our current current manager.

He really uh has uh done a great job for us supported by uh the uh city staff and the city manager's office.

So uh I've been around, I I know where a few of those uh bodies are buried, and uh I have the relationships on the airport uh and and in the city that uh could be beneficial to the committee.

Thank you, Mr.

Jackson.

Let the record show there are no bodies at the airport.

We'll start off with some uh questions.

For the record, yeah.

Councilmember Corps.

Thank you.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

Well, in terms of uh, and and this is I want to say this.

Uh we are uh the advisory committee really supports a professional team that uh works those works all of those problems, they're paid to do that, and quite frankly, they're uh um internationally noted on the AAE and things of that nature to work that through.

Uh so that's really not my ballot.

My area is to uh assist and advise and help uh guide in areas that I think that would be more beneficial that you know enhance the uh direction that the management team is working towards.

I and and I don't say that flippantly, but I just you know uh especially working so closely with these uh with this team, and they've taken on some tremendously uh uh difficult and could I say gnarly things that uh they could you know receive uh uh bad press or whatever it is, but they do it in a tremendous manner while also getting information from us and our views on how to how to how to best move forward.

So my my place isn't to tell them what to do.

My place is to assist them in doing it the best way that they can, and if I can afford any uh any help in helping them get to those directions, that's what I want to do.

So I I'm not I'm not I'm not the manager, but uh I'm excited to be working with the team and uh I know them to be credible and uh experienced and effective.

Thank you, Councilmember Mogueen.

Thank you.

What skills, experiences or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

Uh skills, skills.

As part of my duties in the Federal Aviation Agency, I was a uh mediator for the Alamo Area Executive Board.

So we work through some issues and with grievances and things of those natures.

Uh additionally, uh as I mentioned in my statement, I have relationships with uh various entities on the airport long-term relationships, HEB, Valero, Millionaire, and uh know how all of those those situations uh uh affect our airport in addition to the importance of the uh military bases and traffic flow and things of that nature.

So uh uh that's really where I come in again.

There are no bodies as uh the councilperson said no bodies, but uh uh I tell the youngsters a lot of times that you you can't teach experience.

Some stuff you have to live.

I've seen the conflicts with the military and things of that nature.

I I've seen the difficulty of uh final fours, and we've you know the last several have been tremendously managed to uh a high level, and uh I can tell you for a fact it didn't start out that way.

So the my experience, my background, and actually knowing the operations from the inside is where my value is to the committee.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Chair.

What do you first off, thanks for applying uh or reapplaying?

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

The most important role, quite quite frankly, is um getting the word out in terms of what we're what we've what success that we've had here at San Antonio.

I've worked through maybe six different airport managers.

And uh I remember before uh Seuss came in, the there was a big talk about Austin and people going to Austin because the fares were cheaper.

If you'd uh the the fact of the matter is it's minuscule right now in terms of what's going on, and uh our services in terms of how we work with our rental cars and things of that nature, we're we're above that.

And they they've really taken some pretty big hits on that side, and quite frankly, many of them are trying to jump ship to our team.

Am I right?

So one other thing I'd I'd like to make mention of is that we've we've gone uh we've we've broadened our uh we broaden our audience.

Uh I bet some of you all wouldn't know that many people from Intercontinental drive all the way to San Antonio to take flights rather than deal with that intercontinental.

That's because of the uh our uh TSA.

We have we've won awards for putting through.

Uh even with all of this going on now.

Uh our TSA is still winning awards year after year in terms of how we're doing that thing.

And something else you might uh might not know is that our airport has even made specific areas to help the TSA.

I I was we were there at one meeting, and uh they had brought CPS in to uh help uh delay bills and things for the people who weren't getting uh who weren't getting their uh salaries.

And and those types of things you don't uh you don't find.

And it's those types of things that uh quite frankly we need to let people know and understand the uh jewel that we have right here in the city that you don't have to drive 45 minutes to to get to an airport.

Okay.

Thank you, Mr.

Jackson.

Uh so we're going, we have six more interviews to do to go, and then we're gonna have a discussion executive session, and then we'll come out ideally by four o'clock with a uh with a recommendation.

You can stick around, you don't have to, we won't hold it against you.

Uh probably won't be sticking around.

No, I you know, so thank you so much for uh the opportunity to present to you.

And again, uh I want you to know uh the type of job that uh your team at the airport complete team is doing.

They're doing something special, and we're on our way.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Jackson.

Up next we have Ryan Fender.

Which one is he?

Hello, Mr.

Fender.

Uh, we're gonna start off with a quick two-minute introduction of yourself.

Tell us about you, your experience and your interest in the commission, and then we'll have a few questions from council members.

Perfect.

Thank you very much.

Well, good afternoon, members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Thanks for allowing me this time time to introduce myself.

As you already know, my name is Ryan.

Um I currently serve as the general manager for the Grand High at San Antonio, which is our largest hotel um in our central business district.

Um, just by way of very brief bio, um, I am a graduate of Hotel School Hague with a bachelor's in hospitality management.

Um and for the last 20 years, um, I have uh worked for Higher Hotels in a range of leadership roles um all across the country.

Um most recently, before moving to San Antonio, I was the general manager of On Bas Fifth Avenue in in New York.

Um of the many things that I have learned in my tenure in San Antonio thus far is uh really quite how reliant the city is on our inbound travel.

Um and in turn, the city is very reliant on the hospitality sector.

Um the hospitality sector here accounts for one in eight jobs.

Um it is one of the largest revenue generators for the county.

And I really feel that the airport is such a mission critical piece of infrastructure.

It can really serve as either a choke point or a bottleneck to that inbound arrival experience, or it can serve as a welcoming gateway to that inbound experience.

So suffice to say, the fortunes of my industry and in turn the city are so closely intertwined with that of the airport and the success of the airport, I should say.

And really in my community engagements, including potentially in support of this body, I am really laser focused on trying to help fill the funnel of demand for the city of San Antonio.

And the airport is really one of those earliest critical touch points, not only for potential conventions, but for potential tourism's tourists, of course, but also corporations who may look to conduct business in the city.

And so suffice to say the airport really fills that funnel.

And in closing, uh with the exciting investments that are going on with the development of Terminal C, I think now is such a critical juncture for business leaders such as myself to really invest time and attention in supporting and uh stewarding the airport as the gateway to one of the largest metros in the country.

Um thank you for your time and attention, um, and uh hope I have the opportunity to be of service in the future.

Thank you.

And that's very much a native Texan accent I hear.

I I wasn't born here, but I got here as fast as I could.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Uh Councilmember Corr.

Thank you.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

Um peting interests.

Um I think what people look for to some extent is actually universal.

Um whether you are a multinational corporation or you're a um multiperson family, right?

You want convenience, you want ease of access, you want affordability.

So I think actually probably uh some of the critical success factors for an airport are probably universal regardless of the stakeholders.

Um I'm sorry if that didn't answer the question.

Do you want to elaborate a little bit further?

Okay.

Um so uh yes, I can certainly appreciate and and also I should just add the airport serves every facet of our community, right?

All of the ones you just listed.

So I can certainly appreciate that there may be differences of needs and opinions.

Um, but at the end of the day, um, you know, this is we are we live in a connected world, right?

Um, you know, everything uh impacts um locally, even things that happen internationally.

Um San Antonio last year attracted two and a half million international travelers, right?

Um so there's really nothing that we do that exists in a vacuum.

Um so I think a city really of any size, but especially the sixth largest in the country, needs a really successful and thriving airport that's going to allow it to be that gateway that I spoke about earlier.

Thank you, Councilmember Mungia.

Thank you.

What skills, experiences or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

Yeah, great question.

Um I do serve on um I have served in other markets on um boards that support local development.

Um and also here in San Antonio, I'm very involved with Visit San Antonio with the TPID, um, and and that actually I think is a perfect example of something that um really aligns very closely when I think back to what I shared about that demand funnel, right?

You know, um, how do we get as much attention and as much access for people to make San Antonio an easy choice?

So this is not just one touch point that I would like to be involved in to drive that demand, um, but you know, the work I already am doing and the skills, the relationships I'm developing with VSA with um the TPID organization, um, I think I can also bring to bear in support of this mission as well.

Thank you.

Councilmember.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh thank you for applying.

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community, and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

Um the most important role in the community.

Hmm.

Um, you know, when when I think about that community word, um, obviously we've talked about many stakeholders, right?

Multinational corporations, conventions and so forth.

But at the end of the day, um uh people who live in San Antonio uh need and rely on a functioning airport as well.

Um, you know, access is critically important, right?

So we obviously very often talk about things like lift.

How many direct destinations does an airport have?

How many takeoffs and landings per day?

But but there's other elements.

The airport has its own microcosm of a funnel, right?

Whether that's parking, whether that's concessions, whether that's um, you know, public transportation to and from the airport.

So I think looking at some of those things also support the community as well.

Um that would be uh certain ways.

Yes, the the role that the airlines play um and their presence here is critically important, but there are other um uh bottlenecks along the way or other elements for the funnel um the the community rely on in order that they have um uh convenient access to to use the services that the airport provides.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for applying.

Uh this concludes the interview.

We're going to have five more interviews, and then we'll have a quick discussion.

Hopefully by four o'clock, we'll come out with a recommendation.

You can stick around, we won't hold it against you if you don't.

Okay.

Well, thank you very much for your time, guys.

I really appreciate it.

I'd like to keep up next, we have Deborah Ann Omoale Jarman.

Good afternoon.

Hello, hello.

Uh, good to see you again, twice in one day.

Um we'll start off with a quick introduction of yourself.

Tell us who you are, uh, your experience on the on the commission, uh, why you're seeking reappointment, and then we'll have some questions from council members.

Great.

So don't read my statement, just feel free, please do.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Good afternoon, distinguished committee members.

My name is Deborah Omawale German, and it has been an honor to serve on the Airport Advisory Commission.

I'm here today to express my strong interest in continuing that service.

I bring to this role both professional expertise and community-centered advocacy.

As a retired air traffic manager, I understand the complexity, the safety standards, and the operational demands of aviation.

But just as important, I understand the power of access.

Who sees themselves in this industry and who does not.

Throughout my career, I made it a priority to engage with the community, especially young people and those from underrepresented backgrounds, to expose them to careers in aviation and related fields.

Because many simply don't know that these pathways exist.

Representation matters and access changes trajectories.

In my current role as the CEO of the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, SACAM, I continue that work connecting history, opportunity, and future vision.

Serving on this commission allows me to bridge two critical perspectives: technical understanding and community voice.

I would be honored to continue contributing in this capacity, bringing both expertise and intentional outreach to help ensure our airport reflects the full strength and diversity of our city.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

I will have some council member questions.

Councilmember Corps.

Thank you.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

So one of the things I do because I travel a lot is I just speak truthfully about the work that we're doing, and I feel honored to do so.

For example, I speak with people that often will say I fly out of Austin because it's cheaper.

And my response is it cannot be.

It absolutely cannot be cheaper.

By the time you add $15 a day for parking, that's unheard of, right?

And then that's what we charge.

And then you take into consideration how long it takes you to get there, and then the safety of your car.

We could go on and on and on, right?

So I just speak honestly about where we are as the airport and where we're going.

So I don't see it as a balancing act as much as being truthful.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you.

What skills, experiences, or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

Well, again, as a um retired air traffic controller, and I've worked at I can't even tell you how many different airports I bring that skill from looking at it from a safety perspective, but also really listening to the community.

Most of the people that I encounter know that I'm on the airport advisory commission, and I'm a chairleader for our airport.

Um I think right now, especially with the economic situation that our airport needs informed cheerleaders.

So that's what I do, and I'm proud of it.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Chair.

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community, and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

The most important role that the airport plays in the community is economic development, but from I not the obvious places again.

When I think about aviation, I think about access.

I think about that when I was an air traffic controller, two percent of the controller workforce looked like me.

And our aviation community, I'm sorry, our community, so many people are still in awe of aviation, just flying.

So to get them to understand that they have access to the wonder of flight, they have access to careers in aviation.

They have access to just come to the airport and look.

So many people don't even realize that they can come to the airport now.

Can you go past security?

It takes a little work, but you still really you can get a pass to get inside of TSA.

So many people don't know that.

So I see the economic development from not just the lens of jobs, but also what it could be for someone that doesn't understand it's for them.

Thank you so much.

That concludes the interview.

We're going to um we have four more interviews to go and then or yeah, four more interviews to go, and then we'll have a quick discussion exec.

We'll come back out here, hopefully a little bit before four o'clock with a recommendation.

You don't have to feel obligated to stick around, but you're free to if you'd like.

Absolutely.

So um I really see myself as a community representative.

I know I'm under travel and tourism industry, and that's because I'm on the board of VSA and I owned a bed and breakfast, but I really see myself more as a community voice.

Thank you for this opportunity, and I hope I get to serve again.

Thank you so much.

Up next, we have Camila Montoya.

Good afternoon.

Um, I'm Camila Montoya.

I've been in San Antonio for about seven years, uh, 21 years in Texas.

I um teach marketing at AM San Antonio and um full-time and um business at St.

Mary's part-time some semesters.

Um I have a master's in organizational leadership and um also an MBA.

I love um being involved in the community, um doing service and just really being connected in the community.

Um I am good at making connections and um love creating partnerships and and stuff like that.

I am definitely an avid traveler, love traveling, so um just you know, as a consumer of airports, um I'm there.

I saw um the ad on Facebook for this commission, and it just really spoke to me.

And um, so other people too, I guess.

Okay.

Um so it really spoke to me, and I just sat down that same day and I fill out the whole application, and here I am today.

So thank you so much for uh taking that leap and glad to know that the Facebook ads were working.

Yeah.

Um we'll start, we'll have a few uh council member questions.

Councilmember Corps.

Thank you.

So airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

Um I think that sometimes they're not necessarily competing.

Um that they are part of multiple groups.

Um I as a marketing uh instructor, a professor, right?

Um, I see that um the message and the work that we do can uh really address multiple um groups.

Um I also participate in other uh community organizations and um last year I was just reaching out to the airport to try to advertise with the airport and stuff like that.

So I think that um it's less of creating pockets, but more of like bringing uh people together and overlapping, see where they overlap.

Yeah.

Thank you, councilmember.

Thank you.

What skills, experiences, or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

Yeah, so um I love um organizations that bring opportunities to people.

Um and so I and as I said, I love connecting people to organizations.

Um in my classes right now, I have made all of my classes experiential learning, having the students work directly with nonprofits and uh micro bus or microbusinesses, and so um I think that diving into the understanding of what an organization really is and what it really does and where their uh their needs are that need to be addressed.

And I I think it it can be really helpful.

Um I'm a true believer in honest feedback and believing honest feedback.

Um, I think a lot of times we just want nice positive feedback, and that doesn't do anyone any good because if you don't hear what people are saying, you can't really address the problems.

And so um I think that I am just like a little bit of a realist, and there's a problem that needs to be addressed.

Let's figure out how to do it.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Council member.

Thank you, Chair.

Uh thank you for applying.

Uh what do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community, and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

Um I think in the last few years, the last couple of decades, people have um started to travel a lot more than they used to before.

Um, and so in a way, the airport is that portal, right, for people to come and go uh to bring people to San Antonio to use and see all the good things that we have to offer.

Um we really would hope and and try to get people to come fly into San Antonio instead of driving an hour and a half to Austin or something like that, right?

And so to me, strengthening the airport that we have here would allow more people to um use our airport um to come and go.

Thank you so much.

That concludes the interview.

We're going to uh we have four more interviews, I think it is three more interviews, and then we'll have a quick discussion.

When I moved here, I chose to live somewhere that was close to the airport because that was important to me.

So I live 12 minutes from the airport by choice.

So thank you so much.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Up next is William Brindell.

Hello, sorry, I was making my notes.

Um we'll start off with a quick two-minute introduction, and then council members will have a few questions.

Thank you.

Um, Chair and Council.

Uh I'm Bill Brendle.

I'm the president and CEO of the San Antonio Visitor Alliance.

I've worked in the San Antonio Hospitality and Tourism Industrial as a hotel general manager in the last five years, uh running this visitor uh tourism hospitality organization.

Um I've served in a number of leadership roles in my time in San Antonio.

I serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee at the Alamo currently.

I've also served on the Hotel Association Board, the Visit San Antonio board, their TPID board, and I also uh served on Centro's board for a time.

Um I'm interested in serving on the IRPORT Advisory Commission because I care deeply about the airport's role in San Antonio's economic growth, the connectivity and the quality of life that it provides.

Uh as a key gateway to our region, the airport drives opportunity tourism and business development.

I hope to contribute experience uh to ensure it continues to serve our community uh effectively.

I'm particularly motivated to support the long-term planning that's going on at the airport and the city's growth that will be part of that.

I believe the perspective of my organization and uh residents like myself who've been involved in the community uh can help guide decisions at the airport uh that strengthens our appeal as a destination.

Uh overall, I view this as an opportunity to support uh responsible growth and help guide the future of a most vital public asset like our airport.

I would be honored to contribute to the advisory commission and represent the perspective of the community.

Uh I'm a district nine resident and also of an organization like my visitor alliance, because I feel I have a voice of a lot of hospitality and tourism business that can speak through me to the board and then back again.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Uh Councilmember Corps.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing the sometimes competing interests?

Uh I think the best uh way to do uh that is to is information uh and the sharing of information.

Someone's uh uh hot button there might uh not be on someone else's radar, but if they're given the proper information that uh of the important factors involved, then you can get understanding uh uh or at least raise understanding from the different perspectives.

Thank you.

Councilmember Moya.

Thank you.

What skills, experiences, or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

As I said in my intro, uh most of my experience is in the hospitality and tourism industry, um, not only in San Antonio, but in other major uh markets in the United States.

I've served in uh uh Denver and I served on the Colorado Hotel board there.

Uh I worked in Miami uh on South Beach, uh I worked in Nashville uh so and Charlotte, North Carolina.

So I've worked in a number of markets, uh, all that relied heavily on uh air service.

Um those are major, many of those are major uh air service markets.

Uh so I think I bring that experience and uh especially from uh traveler uh visitor experience on what I have heard, you know, at the delivering the hotel service or the hospitality service, what travelers are telling, telling us about uh what's important to them.

Thank you.

Councilmember Altratic Vito.

Thank you, Chair.

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community, and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

It's uh it's said quite often, but you know, the airport is sort of our front porch, and it's also the departing point.

So you get a first impression of a city at the airport quite often when you arrive.

Uh and I know that the uh especially with the expansion of Terminal C, there's a big effort to make the airport feel like San Antonio from the moment you get here.

Um so I think giving a first impression and a final impression is the two best things that the airport can provide.

Um I think giving that input from the commission's perspective to the airport and the operators at the airport is is the is the best thing that we can provide to Jesus and his team.

Thank you so much.

Uh thank you again for applying.

We're going to we have two more interviews and then we'll go into exec, have a discussion, and come out ideally before four o'clock with a recommendation.

Uh feel free to stick around.

We're not gonna hold it against you if you don't.

All right, thank you very much.

Appreciate you.

Thank you so much.

Next we have Kathleen Frazier.

Hello, hello.

We're gonna start off with a quick uh two-minute introduction of yourself.

Tell us about tell us about you, tell us about your interest in the uh in the commission, and then we'll have some questions from council members.

Perfect.

You guys can hear me all right?

Yes.

Okay.

Well, good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for the opportunity to be here.

My name is Katie Frazier, and I'm a broadcast meteorologist and small business owner, uh, providing weather coverage to TV stations across the country.

I've worked with nine different TV stations over the past five years, of course, sharpening my communication skills and helping people make potentially life-saving decisions.

My interest in the aviation advisory committee comes from the natural uh connection between aviation and meteorology.

Knowing and forecasting the weather is not something you could just push aside, it's not something you can ignore when it comes to aviation.

It's essential when it comes to operations when it comes to making safety decisions, and of course, the customer experience.

Thus, my background gives me a strong understanding of how those impacts play out in real time.

I've also had the opportunity to travel to nine different countries and fly in a wide range of aircraft from small two-seater planes to international jets like the 77 and land in many different types of airports, such as small tiny airports such as the beautiful Sedona airport in Arizona to the massive Adolfo Suarez Madrid Airport in Spain.

Every time I go to a new location, I go into an analytical type mode looking for efficiency, easy to understand signage, what it's like for customers.

Traveling the world has given me a very practical perspective of how aviation functions at every level, and a strong appreciation for the hubs with the best efficiency.

I'm motivated to be part of the committee to help optimize travel in and out of our city, of course, support economic growth and ensure our airports are operating at their highest potential for residents, visitors, pilots, and staff alike.

And I would be honored to bring a perspective that connects weather expertise with operational awareness to this committee.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Corps.

Thank you.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests when it comes to what?

Anything that might be uh a difference of opinion when it's residents versus businesses versus a traveler's experience.

Sure.

Well, I mean, definitely you have to give people an opportunity to speak, let their opinions be known, let their opinions be heard, and give people an opportunity to do that.

Then you can have an open conversation about hey, can we find a compromise to a certain issue?

Can't yes, we can, no, we can't, and then continue the discussion if if you cannot come to a resolution.

Thank you, Councilmember Mungia.

What skills, experiences, or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

Sure, that's a good question.

I would say also because I am a business owner as well, just I have a wide background from you know doing marketing, advertising, sales, journalism, meteorology as well.

So I would say I have a pretty broad um range of experience.

So understanding where different people are coming from, and then of course um taking an outsider's look into what problems are the airport are dealing with.

I feel like I would definitely be a good third party to analyze those types of issues.

Thank you, Councilmember Alderazicovito.

Thank you.

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

Sure, the airport is essential.

It is the very first view experience feel of the city when someone comes in, or it's a welcome back home as well for many of the folks who live here.

So my role would be to at least help us make decisions to make the or make the airport feel more like home or feel you know more like what San Antonio has to offer from you know our beautiful scenery to our culture and whatnot.

Thank you.

That concludes the interview.

We have one more person to go, and then we'll have a quick discussion, and by four o'clock, hopefully we'll have uh recommendation out here.

You can stick around.

We won't hold it against you if you don't.

Okay, sounds good.

Thank you.

Last, we have Michael Frye.

Hello, hello.

Hi.

Good to see you.

We'll have a quick uh two-minute introduction.

Tell us about yourself and your interest in the commission, and then we'll have some questions from council members.

Okay, very good.

Um, good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to interview for the position.

Uh, my name is Michael Fry.

I am a uh professor of engineering in uh at the University of Carnate Word, been there uh 18 years.

Uh I'm also uh the endowed chair for engineering.

Um a little bit about my background.

Um again, uh I have a PhD in electrical engineering.

I uh interned with Continental Airlines back uh back in the 90s, worked at Hobby Airport, watched it grow uh over the time I was there, uh worked over at George Bush.

So I have uh uh kind of an operator experience uh from the airline perspective in terms of uh uh airport operations, worked for the Skunk Works uh up in Cal uh in California, uh worked on the early versions of the AI that we see now uh on UAVs.

Um again, as I mentioned, I've been in academia now for about 20 years, 18 years at UIW.

My uh specialty is in the science of autonomy.

Uh so I have uh a big interest in uh drones and swarms of drones.

Um lately I've been funded through the DOD and NASA in uh basically uh advanced air mobility AAM uh with a specific interest with uh uh urban air mobility, which is the reason why I have an interest in this particular uh uh commission.

Um again, I think uh my interest in uh uh uh being part of the AAC is the fact that I think I bring in a little bit of the uh academic perspective.

Um I do have extensive background in uh drone safety, drone operations, uh drone research, uh AI, and I have some unique uh experience working on the airline side of uh of the airport.

And I just love airports, I've been around aircraft all my life.

So thank you.

Thank you so much, Councilmember Korr.

Thank you.

Airports serve many stakeholders, travelers, businesses, nearby residents, and the city as a whole.

How would you approach balancing these sometimes competing interests?

You know, in in the end, you know, I'm an engineer.

Uh I understand uh, you know, there are priorities, everything's based on constraints.

Uh and um my my big position is figuring out well, what is the policy and the priorities of the city, and based on that, what are the available resources.

Uh and again, we're here to serve the we're here to serve the uh the citizens of San Antonio, so they should have priority.

Uh however, uh we always have to be realistic about uh what are the budgetary and uh you know physical engineering constraints that affect uh operations.

Thank you, Councilmember.

What skills, experiences or perspectives do you bring that would help the commission address both opportunities and challenges facing the airport?

You know, right now I think the big challenge, and it's also it's uh it's a huge opportunity, is is actually an urban air mobility UAM.

Um the state of Texas is has gotten uh funding from the FAA and from the feds uh to explore EV TOL UAM.

Uh uh my understanding is Port SA is investigating some of that.

Uh having autonomous aircraft flying around the national airspace uh is going to be both a challenge and both an opportunity.

I bring kind of that theoretical background and a little bit of that perspective.

I do work in within the uh uh within the engineering societies that actually address that digital avionics.

Uh so these are the net, this is NASA, uh this is the FAA plus Boeing, Lockheed.

So I I bring in a lot of kind of the current policies and how other cities are kind of affecting that.

However, we're going to be affected by UAM.

Uh, and it would be nice if we can kind of take take the charge on that and kind of bring back some of that early glory that we used to have back in the early 1900s for aviation.

Thank you.

Councilmember.

Thank you for applying.

What do you see as the most important role the airport plays in the community, and how would you help the commission strengthen that role?

We're um, you know, we're we're basically a centralized hub in order to move folks in and out of the city.

Uh for folks coming in uh to the city, usually the airport is the first face of the city.

So we we actually uh uh the first impressions are there.

Um in a certain way, we're kind of uh a center, a hub uh that kind of just represents uh both the you know the culture, uh the mission, and kind of the values of what we represent.

Uh it's very important for me to make sure that we kind of embrace uh the history and the makeup of San Antonio and making sure the airport, especially as we go larger with a new terminal, uh kind of reflects that.

Thank you so much.

Uh that concludes the interview.

Uh, we're going to you're the you're the final interview of the day.

We're going to go into executive session for a quick conversation, and then you can either stick around, we won't hold it against you if you don't.

Okay.

Well, thank you very much.

I appreciate the opportunity.

Thank you.

The time is now 3 29 p.m.

in the transportation and infrastructure committee will now be in executive session to consult with city attorney's office considering attorney client matters under chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code.

See y'all soon.

The time is now 3 50 p.m.

in the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will reconvene in open session.

No official action was taken in executive session.

Um I do want to start off by saying and expressing sincere gratitude to all who applied to serve.

Thank you.

Uh, your willingness to contribute your time and expertise that demonstrates a true commitment to public service and to the future of our airport.

Uh while not all can be appointed.

Uh, your interest is deeply valued, and we encourage you to remain engaged with the city of San Antonio and our community.

And when opportunities uh present themselves, please don't hesitate to apply again.

Um at this time, I'll get I'll entertain a motion for uh recommending recommendation of appointments.

Chair, I move the transportation and infrastructure committee recommend to the full city council the following individuals to serve on the airport advisory commission through March 18th, 2028.

Um, for we'll have uh Bailey on Cholio and Ellie Smith for the aviation industry category, Brett Finley for the business community category, Earl Jackson for the FAA category, Ryan Fender for the travel and tourism industry category, Nicholas Cannon, Roger Dillard, Michael Frye, and Deborah Omawali Jarmin for the Kim for the community category.

Councilmember, I just want to clarify it's for April 18th.

When it will go, it says for March 18th, 2028.

Who knows?

Yeah, it has to be oh just kidding, April 18th, 2028.

Would it be the 16th, though?

Oh, got you.

Okay.

We have a motion and a second.

All in favor?

I thank you all.

The time is now 351, and we are adjourned.