After 37 years living and working in San Antonio as a journalist, I’ve met just about every newsmaker who has made a difference in this city. The people who have had the most profound and positive impact on me, and I would argue, the community…
Bigcitysmalltown started the new year with a bang in the Geekdom Podcast Studio, featuring individual episodes with Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai and former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who is seeking to unseat Sakai in the March 3 Democratic p…
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I still like wishing people well in the season, although some people seem to approach those words as if they are walking on eggshells. Happy Hanukkah, and happy holidays to all the people of other faiths who don&r…
Mayor Gina Jones may have found an issue that will deliver a significant, much-needed win with her colleagues on City Council. The mayor wants to move city elections in odd-numbered years from May to November in an attempt to overcome dismal voter t…
Sporting an out-of-office, salt-and-pepper beard, former mayor Ron Nirenberg moved through the crowd at the River North Icehouse on Election Night, shaking hands and exchanging abrazos as Spurs-crazy fans celebrated the passage of Propositions A &am…
Let me say what San Antonio Spurs Chairman and Managing Partner Peter J. Holt is too pro-San Antonio to say: If Bexar County voters fail to pass Propositions A & B on Nov. 4, other big city mayors and billionaires will be falling all over each o…
Gina Ortiz Jones was sworn in as mayor of San Antonio on June 18, 2025 after one of the most ridiculous campaigns in city history with a clown car total of 27 candidates on the ballot, at least 20 of them lacking credibility. Jones, a Democrat, fini…
Last week, I promised a more in-depth take on the Alamodome and its importance to San Antonio’s urban profile, big-city offerings and its visitor economy. I did so after hearing Mayor Gina Jones repeat the often-misleading claim that Mayor Hen…
I actually had plans to multitask Thursday, but another marathon City Council session featuring more than 100 citizens to be heard kept me glued, post-shoulder surgery, to the laptop screen for what seemed like an entire day. The outcome, as expect…
It was a strong week for the San Antonio City Council majority, which delivered a lesson in governance to Mayor Gina Jones in her first 100 days. The lesson learned? Respecting the “process” after a successful challenge of the mayor&rsqu…
In four decades of observing newly-elected mayors take office in San Antonio, I have never seen one struggle so unsuccessfully to hit the ground running, to lead the City Council effectively and collaboratively, or to assemble a reliable professiona…
Congratulations, Mayor-elect Gina Ortiz Jones. This week’s newsletter begins with those welcoming words, and the wry acknowledgement that I stand 0-2 in the endorsement category. I focused my first-round support on tech company founder Beto A…
The poorly organized city election that led to a Fiesta parade ballot of 27 mayoral candidates, most lacking any standing, has now come down to two very different candidates: first-round frontrunner Gina Ortiz Jones and second-place finisher Rolando…
The Monday Musings newsletter is growing nicely as we near the end of our fifth month of publication. If you are reading this thanks to a friend, please consider subscribing by adding your email address at the bigcitysmalltown website. No cost, no s…
The results for the May 3 election to choose a new San Antonio mayor and seat a new City Council are in, and there is no need for cascarones or medals. The big loser in Saturday’s Fiesta weekend election? The people of San Antonio, with more t…
A sure sign that a weak incumbent faces the prospect of being unseated by a serious challenger is when the mudslinging starts and falsehoods are spread in the campaign’s closing days. Such is the case with Sara Sorenson, who holds the Distric…
Welcome to a Monday Musings Extra!, a special edition of our weekly newsletter to remind readers that today is the first day of Early Voting (April 22-29) in the May 3 City Election. Starting today, voters will go to the polls to elect a new …
Let the voting begin Tuesday. Here at bigcitysmalltown this April, we’ve focused our weekly podcast and newsletter on the race for mayor in San Antonio. We believe voters will make a consequential decision–one that will shape the city&rs…
Early voting in the Saturday, May 3 city election commences in eight days. The majority of voters vote early, so if you are one of them (and I am), you will have April 22-29, eight days, to help elect a new mayor and your city council representative…
Declaring that mainstream media is on life support and not expected to survive his second term in office, President Trump announced plans to convene podcasters from across the country at a White House summit in the coming weeks. “Or possible …
An unexpected opportunity has developed for Mayor Ron Nirenberg in his final months in office, and other civic and business leaders, to grasp an olive branch extended by Gov. Greg Abbott in his Feb. 2 State of the State speech. In the speech, Abbot…
We’ve got questions for the 27 people who ponied up $100 to run for mayor in the May 3 city election. For those of you who sent in or shared questions, thank you. Several were placed into our final questionnaire, which we sent to the campaign …
🚨NEWS ALERT: Longtime Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff shook up the mayor’s race last Thursday with an enthusiastic endorsement of tech executive Beto Altamirano for mayor. That has to add serious energy to the campaign just days after the…
San Antonio has a problem with how it conducts local elections, namely the low $100 fee it requires of citizens who want to get their name on a local election ballot. As Andrea Drusch reported in the San Antonio Report last week, that fee has not ri…