San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones speaks to a citizen during a recent town hall. Credit: Jacob R. Lopez

Editor’s note: This story was updated to correct which arena-related document City Council is expected to vote on by year’s end.

The public will have two more chances this week to weigh in on whether city voters should vote this November to decide the fate of the city’s proposed $489 million contribution to a new Spurs arena.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, a vocal advocate for a citywide vote on the funding, will host the sessions, just as she did two others that took place last week.

The first of this week’s meetings will take place from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Monday at the Normoyle Community Center, 700 Culberson Ave. Initially, that session was to take place at the Phil Hardberger Park Urban Ecology Center, but it was relocated due to an HVAC issue.

The second gathering is scheduled for 7-8 p.m. Wednesday at Blanco BBQ, 13259 Blanco Road.

“Last November, county voters voted on their $311 million contribution to the Spurs arena,” Jones’ team wrote in a social media post announcing the meetings. “City voters deserve the opportunity to vote on their $489 million contribution to the arena. What do you think?”

The new listening sessions come as Jones’ plan to put the arena funding on the November ballot faces headwinds from members of the business community and some on council.

Last week, Trish DeBerry, CEO of downtown promotion group Centro San Antonio, blasted Jones’ push as “toxic.” Others have accused the mayor of falsely claiming that canceling the city’s portion of the arena funding would slash San Antonio’s looming $158 million budget deficit.

However, during a conversation with the Current, Jones vehemently denied that she ever made such a claim.

“I never said that,” Jones said. “What I have said is that the economic environment has changed. Last November, we were not talking about raising property taxes. Now, city voters hear about a $158 million budget deficit, and we’re looking at raising property taxes not once, but potentially twice.”

During a Friday press conference, District 3 Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran railed against Jones’ call for a vote on the arena funding and even blamed the mayor, who’s been in office for little more than a year, for the city’s looming budget deficit.

“The city’s proposed $489 million contribution toward the downtown Spurs arena has no impact on the current fiscal year 2027 budget deficit — a deficit that has grown 17% since last year, and [since] this mayor has taken office,” Viagran said.

The councilwoman also accused Jones of “lying” about whether council will be required to vote again on a legally binding definitive agreement for the arena with Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E), which owns the Spurs franchise.

Council will be required to ratify such a document after negotiations with SS&E are completed later this year, city officials have repeatedly said.

In a scathing statement released the same day as the press conference, District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears accused Viagran and other colleagues of trying to conflate the budget deficit with the citywide arena vote and Jones’ calls to scrap the controversial job-training program Ready to Work.

“Our budget shortfall, the Sports & Entertainment District and Ready to Work are three different issues,” Spears said. “When we lump them together, we confuse taxpayers instead of solving problems. Sports & Entertainment and Ready to Work funding should not be used to close the city’s budget deficit.”

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