Mayor of San Antonio, Gina Ortiz Jones, noisemaker for the people.

Newly elected Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones

UPDATE! Not long after we published this article, the Mayor's life was threatened. The suspect has been apprehended. There are some -- a few -- in political office today who seem to understand their job is to be a noisemaker* for the people, not their political career. One of them is the newly elected no-nonsense Mayor of San Antonio, Gina Ortiz Jones. Though she is a Democrat, Jones' politics are very independent-minded. She is our kind of noisemaker!

In her opinion piece published in the San Antonio Report on August 12, "The People Deserve Our Due Diligence," Jones speaks as a genuine economic populist about the costs of a new sports arena for the San Antonio Spurs, in one of poorest cities in America. She clearly isn't saying NO to the stadium, but she is asking for an independent fiscal analysis and for the project to slow down.

Does this sound familiar? The same rush on the Austin Convention Center dubbed "The Magic Hole" has resulted in the demolition (not yet complete) of a perfectly fine and relatively new convention center before it's paid for in 2029! (See our article, "The Austin Convention Center Magic Hole on KVUE-TV News! Bunch Nails It!"

This editorial in the San Antonio Express News appeared on August 13th, the day after Jones' opinion article and the same day her life was threatened. The editorial pressures Jones to "take the deal" before what she has asked for -- an independent fiscal analysis -- is done.

Message to the Express News: Citizens want and need policy, not politics.

We invite and enjoy your comments, so please do!

*We use this word -- noisemaker -- in the positive about Gina Ortz Jones and to let another Mayor in our midst, who uses the term to disparage citizens who disagree with him, know that his behavior is not OK.