Issue VIII: November

DISTRICT NEWSLETTER ISSUE VIII DEC‘22

COUNCILMAN

JALEN MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ

READ A LETTER FROM THE COUNCILMAN ON THE NEXT PAGE!

At the end of every year, we are encouraged to reflect on all that we’ve accomplished, the events that made our year special, and the people and memories we’ll cherish forever. In this edition of the newsletter, we’ll be recapping our first year and a half in office, sharing updates on what we’ve been up to, and letting you in on our resolutions for the new year. I’ll be extremely honest with you. At times, this year has been overwhelming, but in all of the best ways.

As a Council, we initiated a successful bond program approved by voters, finalized redistricting maps, negotiated a stronger police contract, allocated more

A LETTER FROM THE COUNCILMAN

than $300 Million in federal pandemic relief funds, reduced SAWS utility rates, approved the two largest budgets in our City’s history, increased a stronger homestead exemption with greater relief for seniors and persons with disabilities, amended our City’s Unified Development Code through a communtiy amendment process, adopted the Strategic Housing Implementation Plan, continued our SA Tomorrow planning efforts, and recently completed the appointment process to fill the temporary vacancy in District 10. Many of these happen once every five or ten years (or even more rarely), but this year they happened all at once. This year was not your typical year! Students in the Eastside Content Creator Program just showcased their films after a semester studying at Alamo City Studios, UTSA announced a partnership with Alamo Colleges to

offer eligible transfer students free tuition, we initiated a study for a new senior center and began renovations to both our Claude Black Field Office and our Rittiman Field Office, and we’ve tested out new methods of reaching constituents. You’ll find even more in this edition of our monthly newsletter. We are excited and optimistic for an even more exciting 2023 and we look forward to the opportunity to continue to serve. If you are ever in need of anything, even if it’s as simple as speaking to a friendly voice, our office is here for you. As always, it is the greatest privilege and honor to serve you.

Yours in service,

Word Search Challenge

In this word search, you will find projects funded in the ‘22-’27 Bond Program, totaling ~$184,400,000 (About 15% of total funding this bond cycle):

What’s New in District 2?

Aug.

Jan.

Oct.

July

Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez was sworn in on June 15, 2021. In July, the District 2 Team launched the ongoing Open Office Hours series where constituents can meet personally with the Councilman and a member of the team. This occurs at least twice a month. Since then, the office has hosted hundreds of hours of meetings with over 1,000 constituents. The office also communicates with constituents though a bi-weekly e-blast, text messages, and telephone calls addressing various needs. The District 2 community regularly attends City events and consistently ranks among the highest attendance across the city. Our Crime Prevention Summit series saw attendance from over 250 constituents with the goal of uniting organizations, community leaders, neighborhood associations, and elected officials to pose questions and solutions regarding our District’s most pressing needs and provide proactive solutions to prevent crime. Our Budget, ARPA, and Bond Town Halls hosted over 1,000 District 2 residents. The monthly newsletter is sent to over 11,000 households reaching over 15,000 constituents (more than 1/10th of the District). All 52 of our Boards & Commissions seats are filled. Nine City Council Consideration Requests were filed (see the November newsletter for more information). City Council voted to increase the homestead exemption to 10%, in addition to the exemptions for seniors and persons with disabilities, and reduced the SAWS utility rate for residential customers. Community outreach over the past year and a half includes the distribution of hundreds of turkeys, over 300 heaters were given away in preparation of cold weather, and toys given to over 500 kids. Our Eastside Youth Content Creator Program served more than 20 students, and their red-carpet end-of-program showcase at the Carver Cultural Center boasted an audience of over 200. Also included in the budget was a Street Light Index with record street funding, increased support for Animal Care Services, a Civil Rights Coordinator, a Crime Prevention Coordinator, $250k for eastside crime prevention organizations, and the expansion of our District 2 Northeast Office.

June ‘21: The CM was sworn in

‘21: District 2 had the largest attendance at any budget Town Hall

‘21: The District 2 team provided over _ backpacks for D2 families

The District 2 team has hosted office hours, meeting with hundreds constituents

‘21: The D2 team distributed burgers, candy, and food to families for Halloween

Nov. ‘21: The D2 team gave out turkeys to families in need in District 2

Dec. ‘21: The D2 team distributed toys to kids and families in the District

‘22: The D2 team distributed 300 heaters in preparation of cold weather

Feb. ‘22: Our office hand-delivered flowers to seniors at our & the Roseville Senior

Mar. ‘22: office collaborated series of Park

‘22: The D2 & D1 collaborated on a of Brackenridge

Town Halls

A Year (and a half) in Review

July ‘22: Our Crime Prevention Summit series saw attendance of over 300 residents across the District with dozens of creative ideas proposed

Nov. ‘22: The D2 office took 200 District 2 students to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in theaters

The District 2 team reaches 15k+ residents with each of our monthly newsletter

Sept. ‘22: The Eastside Content Creator Program was launched

hand-delivered senior center Senior Apartments

June ‘22: As a part of our City’s 10-year redistricting process, District 2 remained unchanged

Aug ‘22: Our Crime Prevention Summit series saw attendance of over 300 residents across the District with dozens of creative ideas proposed

May. ‘22: More than 20 students across San Antonio received the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship

Oct. ‘22: At San Antonio Neighbors Together, the D2 office joined several neighborhoods in hosting community block parties in an effort to further build community pride and safety

District 2 is one of only two Council Districts to have more than one field office. In November 2017, Former Councilman Cruz Shaw re-opened the Northeast office, originally opened by then-Councilwoman Ivy Taylor, two years after being closed by Councilman Alan Warrick. Closed again in 2020 by former Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan in response to the pandemic, our office intended on re-opening the office in 2021. However, we were met with maintenance, air conditioning, plumbing, and IT issues. We instead opted for a complete renovation and expansion to give the Northeast side of our District a field office to be proud of. The expansion is currently in the demolition stage and will include a conference room, office space, and a more spacious lobby area.

GRAND RE-OPENING SPRING 2023

Over 60 works of art were submitted for entry into our 2023 San Antonio Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission 8th Annual Citywide Artwork Contest. This year’s winning piece, “No Matter Race Everyone is Equal,” is by Shelby Alyse Henderson (15).

“TOGETHER WE CAN BE THE DREAM”

Over 220 theme submissions were received this year, and Shaunda Hopkins Lohse’s entry was selected as the theme for the largest MLK march in the nation.

January 16, 2023 FOR A TRIUMPHANT IN-PERSON RETURN

What’s New in District 2?

This year, City Council approved a 5-year contract with SAPOA. Councilman Jalen voted “No,” citing that the reforms our District has asked for were not included, such as an independent citizen oversight board.

Every month, City Council votes on hundreds of items ranging from contracts, to appointments, to major ordinances and policy changes. In an effort to ensure the Councilman is as prepared as possible before he casts his votes, Joleen Garcia, in coordination with Denise Hernandez, schedules and prepares briefings, and provides notes for his various committee meetings, board meetings, and Council sessions. The goal of our policy team is to ensure that every single vote cast is one with the working-class people of our District’s best interests. This led to our “No” vote on the CPS Rate Increase, a “Yes” to an increase in our homestead exemption, and the inclusion of our District amendments in both of the annual budgets we’ve passed. We also proposed 9 Council Consideration Requests aimed at addressing our District’s greatest issues including crime prevention, animal care services, and health. In 2023, we will be strategic in all of our endeavors to serve.

Students in our Eastside Content Creator Program used profession equipment to create 6 short films in 6 weeks! So far, one student has been recruited for an internship, another has signed to a talent agency, and one of the films has been accepted into a local film festival.

Frankie Trynoski serves as the Councilman’s Chief of Staff. He and Councilman McKee-Rodriguez often brainstorm creative ideas to use tools in a way that will best benefit and serve D2 residents. One of Frankie’s ideas was the Eastside Youth Content Creator Program, which connected eastside students with Alamo City Studios to create and showcase 6 shortfilms. Frankie and Jalen worked with the studio team to flesh out the curriculum and goals of the program. Students used the same film and editing equipment used in our favorite blockbuster films and the results were spectacular. Seeing the students walk the red carpet and be embraced by a packed theater of members of our community was one of the brightest moments of 2022. In 2023, We look forward to finding ways to connect young people in our District with gems like Alamo City Studios. When you provide District 2 kids with tools like this, they produce inspiring results.

Chief of Policy

Our Team’s Resolutions for 2023

Our city’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March has built a reputation as the largest in the nation. This year, we are committed to bringing the in-person march back (and doing it in grand fashion)! With nearly triple the contribution from our annual City budget, it’s sure to be spectacular. Le Reta Gatlin-McDavid serves as our District’s liaison and has served as a coordinator, working with our 20 MLK commissioners, City staff, and external partners. She’s led the charge to begin planning sooner than usual, guided by the intention to have a safe, inspiring, and fulfilling in-person march for the first time in three years. This year, in anticipation of the annual event, we received over 220 submissions for the annual theme competition and exactly 60 submissions for the artwork competition. This would not be possible without a commitment to collaboration. In 2023, with your help, we are aiming to reassert our annual march as the largest in the nation.

It’s no secret that District 2 represents some of the most vulnerable populations, with diverse concerns and need for equally diverse resources. We receive hundreds (yes hundreds) of calls and emails on any given week from residents reporting anything from potholes to homeless encampments, in addition to calls from constituents at risk of eviction or a medical emergency in need of resources. Our Director of Constituent Services, Marie Naranjo, is a familiar face to many. She has a hands-on approach, often making site visits, reporting back community concerns and trends directly to the Councilman and policy team, and problem solving some of the most unique concerns. She collaborates with the rest of the District 2 team to coordinate solutions and ensure phones are answered in a timely manner, and every constituent receives a response. In 2023, we hope to connect even more residents with resources, particularly our most vulnerable constituents.

Chief of Operations

The District 2 office has distributed over 1000 backpacks, filled with school supplies, to students on the east and northeast side of San Antonio.

To close a funding shortfall caused by inflation, the District 2 team secured $850k for the Zernona Black Multigenerational Center and $500k for the Greater Love Multigenerational Center. Both broke ground this year!

What’s New in District 2?

Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and residents of UHIA attended a Board of Adjustment hearing | November 21, 2022

Denise Hernandez serves as our Director of Policy & Community Engagement. Working long term on our greater policy goals, she (alongside Chief of Policy, Joleen) arranges meetings with community organizations, edits and follows through on Council Consideration Requests, and has led several of our most successful community events. With her at the helm, we were able to distribute hundreds of turkeys to District 2 residents and fill two auditoriums with eastside kids to watch Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With housing a key priority for our office, she assisted dozens of people with the Home Repair application, leading to an increase of over 300% in D2’s makeup of total applicants. She also faithfully serves our Neighborhood Associations and has guided them through some of the most unique challenges in the entire city. Following our office values of compassion and creativity, in 2023, we will strive for even more creative problem solving!

Increased community engagement and communication has been a pillar of our office’s goals. The lead in these efforts is Imgard Rop, who manages our office’s social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and NextDoor while maintaining a bi-weekly e-blast and coordinating distribution of our monthly newsletter. With her management and oversight, we’ve managed to send out 8 newsletters to thousands of residents, consistently maintained the highest event turn out in the entire city, increased survey engagement of our D2 residents, and maintained relationships with members of the news media to share our events and reach an even larger audience of District 2 residents. She thoroughly enjoys testing out new, innovative ways to reach our constituents, while managing our grassroots, tried and true methods such as blockwalking, flyer distribution, print & mail, and digital outreach. In 2023, we will aim for even greater engagement!

Director of Policy & Community Engagement

Councilman D2 side

Our Team’s Resolutions for 2023

Our office filled two auditoriums with kids from District 2 to watch

This has been a tremendous year for our City, as we embarked on our 10-year redistricting efforts, a 5-year bond program, 5-year police contract negotiations, and once in a lifetime pandemic relief allocations through the American Rescue Plan Act. This year, the City of San Antonio also continued our 5-year Unified Development Code Process and the SA Tomorrow Plan for several parts of our District. Our team lead on these projects was Sydell Brooks. In addition to the heavy task of coordinating our office’s Zoning cases, Sydell followed along on over 200 proposed amendments to the development code. Amendments included new opportunities for the City to purchase park land, environmental protections in the development process, and increased communication and engagement for proposed neighborhood changes. In 2023, we look forward to furthering our communication efforts regarding

Sean Rivera, the newest member of our team, joined with the goal of enhancing the systems we use to provide services to our constituents, track our progress, and improve systems related to outreach. Behind the scenes, he helped guide our team to a smooth transition into new software, conducted trainings, and taught new methods to manage and maintain our data and results. With his help, we were able to improve our office’s email response times, resolve a high number of constituent cases in record speed, and allow our team to spend more time brainstorming new and innovative ways to address our District’s most pressing needs. In 2023, we hope to go above and beyond, reaching new service speeds, automating our processes, and creating more time for the personal elements of the job of representing you as our constituent. We operate with the belief that there is always something we can do to improve our service with excellence in mind!

Director of Zoning & Land Use

Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and the D2 team distributed over 300 turkeys and side dishes this year | November 16, 2022

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | November 22, 2022

Students in our inaugural Eastside Youth Content Creators Program showcased 6 short films at the Carver Center | November 20, 2022

Director of Process Management

Regular Hours: Mon-Fri 10am - 5pm Dec. 1 - Dec. 21

Office Closed:

22 - January 2

We are proud of our Eastiside Youth Content Creator Program participants!