“This is a city-funded venue. We’re talking about city tax dollars.” That was San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones on Tuesday, explaining to KSAT why she wants nothing to do with Ye’s July 4 show at the Alamodome. The rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, is booked into the city-owned arena despite years of antisemitic remarks.
Jones said the venue is the whole point. “If this were happening at SeaWorld, if this were happening at Fiesta Texas, I would not have weighed in the way that I did,” she said.
She also said the city has set terms. Ye will not be allowed to sell certain merchandise tied to antisemitic messaging, or perform certain songs linked to earlier controversies. Jones called even having to ask “a very, very low standard.”
No votes to stop it
Jones conceded she cannot pull the plug on her own. Canceling the concert would take formal action by City Council, and she said the votes are not there. So the show is expected to go ahead.
Earlier Tuesday she stood with members of San Antonio’s Jewish community and interfaith groups who want the city to rethink the booking. Craig Berkowitch, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, said a reversal looks unlikely. “This moment cannot simply end with the concert moving forward,” he said.
The mayor said her office has received more than 100 letters from residents worried about hosting the show at a city facility. She also blamed the city’s own review process. “What this whole kerfuffle has shown is a real deficiency in the city’s process by which we review these things,” Jones said, adding that a better one is coming.
Tickets and a denial
The fight picked up a side plot over tickets. Jones told KSAT that every council member got an email offering seats, and that District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears asked for three. Some residents have asked how officials can condemn the show while a colleague took tickets.
Spears’ office disputed that picture in a statement. It said she first agreed to complimentary tickets for a staff member and a guest, before she knew about Ye’s comments. Once she did, the statement said, she condemned them and turned the tickets down. They were never received, and nobody from her office will attend.
Money against principle
Backers of the concert point to the money. Estimates suggest more than 60,000 people could show up and spend at local businesses, at a time when the city is dealing with budget problems.
Some residents are unmoved. “It’s not good money, and we shouldn’t be desperate to take money,” community member Abigayl Tobias told KSAT. Carl Brown said Ye never came back to correct his remarks or apologize to the people he hurt, and that “that’s where you draw the line.”
Jones is not backing off. “I’m proud to stand, frankly, on what I would argue is the right side of this,” she said.
