The end of the year is always awash in stories and lists that look back on the year’s biggest, weirdest, most heartbreaking and heartwarming stories.
At the San Antonio Report, we like to offer up notable quotes from the year gone by. Some capture a moment, while others illustrate ongoing issues in our community.
Our method for gathering quotes is far from scientific: reporters and editors drop quotes into a Slack channel dedicated to this purpose throughout the year, then at the end of the year, we review our stories for any gems we might have missed.
Without further ado, here are the 2023 quotes that moved us, made us snort and made us think. We hope they do the same for you.
“I’d rather not ask you for money. I’d rather have accessibility for my guests.”
— Augustine “Augie” Cortez Jr., owner of Augie’s Alamo City BBQ on Broadway, speaking to city officials at a September meeting about the disruption to his business caused by ongoing construction.
“You can’t live in San Antonio without having known Red in one way or another — you either bought his car or went to a Spurs game or went to Hemisfair.”
— Joe Krier, former president and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and former councilman, on the influence of B.J. “Red” McCombs, who died on Feb. 19 at age 95.
“I cannot accept their unfair offer.”
— Vince Cantu, owner of Moses Rose’s Hideout bar on East Houston Street, about the “best and final offer” of $5.26 million by the City of San Antonio on behalf of the Alamo Trust and the Texas General Land Office in April. The state would ultimately pay Cantu $6.75 million, a settlement that took until October to negotiate.
“Drag is always going to be there. I mean, they tried to do Prohibition with alcohol, [and] nobody could get rid of that.”
— Lyn-Z Andrews, a longtime San Antonio drag queen on the Texas Legislature’s effort to ban certain drag performances. A federal judge found the law unconstitutional in September.
“I’m not feeling very comfortable about this, frankly. … I don’t think it looks good to our public if the board members don’t even know what we’re signing off on.”
— North East ISD trustee Diane Sciba Villarreal, on the school district’s administration asking the board to suspend its normal procurement process and spend $2.5 million on an “undisclosed safety product or service” in April. The board ultimately voted to approve the request.
“It’s three months. … I don’t expect to change the world, but whatever I can do, I will.”
— Longtime civil rights activist Rosie Castro, upon her appointment to finish out then-District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval’s term after Sandoval stepped down on Jan. 29. The seat was later filled in the June runoff election by Marina Alderete Gavito.
“I stood at the doorway, knowing this was probably the last time I would ever see her. Then a beam of light came through the window and illuminated her, as if she was a saint.”
— Henry Cisneros, former San Antonio mayor and HUD secretary about his friend and mentor, Naoko Mitsui Shirane, a Japanese baroness who fell in love with San Antonio and was instrumental in convincing Toyota to locate a plant here.
“This is the appetizer eclipse. The total eclipse is going to be so much better, but this one’s pretty cool.”
— Chris Packham, UTSA physics and astronomy professor, referring to the annular eclipse, which traveled right over San Antonio in October. A total solar eclipse will pass over the Texas Hill Country on April 8, 2024, and is expected to lead to a “once-in-a-lifetime” boost in tourism.
“I made a decision to run for the United States Senate because I was a little angry, and I’m still a little angry. It might not be the right reason to run for something, but it’s why I’m running.”
— Texas State Sen. and U.S. Senate candidate Roland Gutierrez, whose district includes Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in May 2022.
“This is like going to a tax accountant and saying, ‘I want you to make sure my taxes when you file them are 100% error-free, but I’m actually not going to give you the tax law until like after you filed my taxes. Then I’m gonna grade you on your success.’”
— NEISD Superintendent Sean Maika on the Texas Education Agency’s changes to its A-F scoring system for schools, which meant some schools could see lower scores despite increases from the previous year.
“Kids are very honest in their tone and in who they are as people. … I’ve missed that in this setting.”
— Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), on the differences between the classroom and the City Council when announcing his decision to return to teaching part time.
“What still sticks with me about San Antonio is just the number of very highly adoptable animals that are being euthanized there, when there could be other outcomes.”
— Kristen Hassen, an animal shelter consultant whose study of San Antonio’s Animal Care Services’ plummeting live release rate was never presented to city officials. In 2023, the embattled city agency has been investigated by local activists, drawn concern from state lawmakers and turned down an offer from the City Council for additional funding to improve its effectiveness.
“The replacement of librarians with library clerks and instructional assistants is an insult to everyone who gave their time, effort and money in their pursuit of a master’s degree.”
— Sara Galindo, a former librarian with the San Antonio Independent School District in a letter to district leaders after learning cuts would leave less than one-third of campuses across SAISD with a certified librarian.
“The spectacle of us playing Hungry Hungry Hippos this last time around, with such short notice. … I think that’s a bad way of creating policy.”
— Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8) on the way City Council members have fought over how to approach surpluses created by unexpectedly higher revenue from CPS Energy in recent budget cycles.
“The outcry was so strong that we decided it would be in the best interest for the public welfare and the Tejano Music Awards.”
— Robert Arellano, board president of the Texas Talent Musicians Association, which rescinded its planned lifetime achievement award for singer and convicted sex offender Jose Manuel “Joe” Lopez in October.
“Because of all the hype he’ll have a target on his back. So, more than Os and Xs … we’ll be most interested in setting a framework and an environment where he’s comfortable and where he can be Victor. Not LeBron or Tim, or Kobe or anybody else. He’s Victor.”
— Gregg Popovitch, Spurs coach and winningest NBA coach of all time on No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama, who was selected in June.
“You’ve got to be able to reduce your expenditures or you’ll never get out of this hole.”
— Abe Saavedra, who was appointed conservator of South San Antonio Independent School District in October, speaking to trustees about the district’s then-$13 million deficit.
“Surely in your vast lexicon there had to have been another term better suited when referring to African American people.”
— Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, former City of San Antonio poet laureate, who supported the city’s decision to remove her successor, Nephtalí De León, from the poet laureate position just four months into his appointment after he used a racial slur to describe Black people in a poem.
“Hispanic people never give up. Luchan for everything they have. And they’re constantly making sure their kids have a little more than what they had. That’s just growing up in a Hispanic family.”
— Yvette Ramirez, a third-generation vendor at Market Square and president of the Farmer’s Market Tenant Association, speaking to the dwindling numbers of original families who are still selling goods at San Antonio’s historic downtown market.
“Everything can’t be just so black and white — and that’s what our system has done: It’s either you’re bad or you’re good. I want to work more in the gray.”
— Leonora Walker, founder and CEO of FREED Texas, which uses a trauma-informed approach to help formerly incarcerated Bexar County residents find healing and success outside of prison.
“It’s a Centro de Bienvenida, but not the Centro de Bienvenida that I want. But if we don’t do this, what will happen?”
— Antonio Fernandez, CEO of Catholic Charities, the nonprofit organization that took over day-to-day management of the Migrant Resource Center from the City of San Antonio last summer. Hundreds are now sleeping outside the over-capacity center heading into 2024 as federal funding remains in question.
“The state of Texas needs to look at this situation. Water is an enormously scarce resource, and it’s getting more and more important.”
— Henning Eilert-Olsen, a Medina Lake resident and member of Save Medina Lake, which has called for more stringent local oversight as lake levels continue to drop.
“Commissioner Calvert, God bless him, can do whatever he feels is appropriate.”
— County Judge Peter Sakai after Commissioner Tommy Calvert (Pct. 4) announced that he would form a citizens advisory committee to more closely examine how the county allocates money for each precinct following a contentious county budget cycle that passed in September without Calvert’s vote.
“This policy is going to implode San Antonio.”
— retired San Antonio Police Department officer David Moore about Proposition A, the “Justice Charter” amendment, which was overwhelmingly rejected by voters in May after the police union and other opponents successfully campaigned on the message that the measure would lead to an increase in crime.
“That’s enough of a reason for someone to be memorialized. That’s 80 years of taxes paid, 80 years of helping the community grow, 80 years of that street becoming more important as the years [pass].”
— A representative of Nagel’s Gun Shop, which unsuccessfully sought to have El Mio Drive, the road next to the San Pedro Avenue shop located in District 1, renamed Nagel’s Crossing.
“We always tell people, ‘If you’re coming, be sure you bring the stretchy pants.’”
— Tremell Brown, marketing chairman for the San Antonio Zulu Association, which hosted the 36th annual “A Taste of New Orleans” Fiesta event at the Sunken Garden Theater in April.
“This is not your daddy’s weed.”
— Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar, speaking to a group of Northside Independent School District parents in March about the dangers of high-potency THC vape pens after a mobile task force set up by his office arrested several students within days.
“Sports facilities can be transformative to an area. … Our vision is that a ballpark can be on par with what Hemisfair was, what the Alamodome is, what the commercialization of the River Walk was, the consolidation of the historic missions.”
— Bob Cohen, an ownership partner in Missions Baseball, speaking about the organization’s desire for a downtown ballpark during a November CityFest panel on the impact of sports in San Antonio.
“What she has done, it is unbelievable.”
— Pardeep Aneja, father of Sukh Kaur, who unseated Mario Bravo in the June municipal runoff election to represent District 1. Aneja had been describing the way the caste system in India prevents people from rising in social status.
“Nobody ever delights — contrary to what might be out there — in raising rates.”
— Mayor Ron Nirenberg on City Council’s December approval of CPS Energy’s 4.25% rate increase request, which will take effect in March and add just under $5 monthly to a bill of roughly $180.
“I beat out some cats that were younger than me!”
— 55-year-old entrepreneur, stylist and model Gary Bowie, who won the 2023 Mxffin Man contest, a promotion for the homegrown Lxve Mxffin lipstick company that will soon become a calendar.
