How City Council Ducked a Public Debate on Whether to Bid to Host the 2020 GOP Convention

This week on Just This, Rick and I discuss the controversy surrounding Mayor Ron Nirenberg's, and ultimately City Council's, decision not to submit a bid for San Antonio to host the 2020 Republican National Convention. Rather than air the issue publicly in an open session of Council, Nirenberg chose to take it behind closed doors in "executive session," excluding the public and reporters. Texas has strong open meeting laws, although there are a few topics that officials legally can talk about in private including personnel matters, litigation, and the so-called "economic development exception." San Antonio City Attorney Andrew Segovia said Council members could discuss a potential bid behind closed doors under that exception, but could not talk about the politics of a bid. However, Rick cites a longtime media lawyer who says that unless there was a specific proposal or bid being negotiated, the discussions likely were not allowed under the law. We deconstruct the politics behind the mayor's choice as well as the other considerations in play. We also highlight the Rivard Report's Fiesta and Commemorative Week coverage. And Beth touches on a video interview published today between our arts and culture writer Nicholas Frank and San Antonio Spurs forward Pau Gasol, who recently joined the San Antonio Symphony's board of trustees.