In the News
Keeping up with the work .
February 5, 2021
Unfortunately, our local funds will only go so far and can’t do it alone. Texas should explore accessible options — like using the $2 billion in unallocated COVID-19 relief or some of its massive rainy day fund to help eliminate back rent for Texans. Municipalities should look to combine their available dollars from general or emergency funds as well. Doing so would broaden the social safety net for families in need who do not usually qualify for assistance under federal and/or state guidelines.
January 13, 2021
The District 1 councilman has frequently questioned the city’s pandemic-recovery approach, saying it’s too focused on long-term initiatives such as workforce development. He argues that residents need more immediate assistance, including small business grants and housing assistance.
January 12, 2021
Given the scale of need faced by the food and beverage industry — seriously hurt by occupancy restrictions and diminished dine-in crowds — District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño believes these businesses and workers alike need the targeted relief.
December 2, 2020
Randy Beamer talks with San Antonio City Councilman Roberto Trevino about the progress of the Alamo Master plan he’s overseeing and what could force big changes to it.
December 2, 2020
District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino, who has repeatedly brought up concerns about affordable housing and evictions, said the protections came as a “welcome surprise,” though he says the city still needs to provide more money for emergency housing assistance.
November 24, 2020
“The hope is that we get many more of these,” Treviño said. “I made a promise to Council members. … We want to demonstrate that it can go to areas to provide that [resource] connection. Homelessness is not just a downtown issue, it’s a citywide issue.”
November 13, 2020
City Councilman Roberto Treviño with former Alamo Trust CEO Douglas McDonald, left, says it's time to move on Alamo master plan. - City Councilman, District 1, Alamo Management Committee Member representing COSA
November 11, 2020
“These are the basic quality of life issues that the city can address,” Treviño said. “Good sidewalks, good trees, proper lighting. This project encompasses all that,” he said, with an emphasis on equity. “The idea is that we want to provide this equitably throughout our city.”
September 15, 2020
The shift in strategy has drawn the ire of District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño, who has openly questioned the city prioritizing workforce training over housing assistance during the crisis. He’s also been the most influential on the council in augmenting the emergency housing assistance fund.
August 31, 2020
The key to solving homelessness is homes, Treviño said. That will mean providing free or affordable housing with wraparound services such as addiction and mental health counseling as well as education and job training.
August 25, 2020
Treviño entered his third term in office in May 2019, one year prior to the city being mired in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic and scrambling to respond with adequate resources. With other goals temporarily set aside, the councilman addressed issues pertinent to the pandemic and the simultaneous Black Lives Matter movement that has brought multiple protests to his district.
August 19, 2020
Treviño said the city shouldn’t wait on the federal government for more dollars and should pony up more of its own money for the program, which would give the city the ability to use the funds for people who wouldn’t be eligible for help with the federal dollars, mainly its undocumented population.
August 13, 2020
District 1 Councilman Roberto Trevino had pushed for the statue’s removal and thanked both indigenous people who kept the issue in the public eye and the Italian Society for its “understanding and support.”
July 20, 2020
Last week, the City of San Antonio launched the dashboard at the request of District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño. The city has other coronavirus-related dashboards, which track trends such as total cases, deaths, cases by race, cases by ZIP code, among other metrics.
July 16, 2020
“This is an amazing time in our city,” said District 1 Councilman Roberto C. Treviño during the teleconference hearing. “This is another great story about how different sides came together to resolve something in a peaceful, amazing way that we can set as an example for the nation for many years to come.”
July 3, 2020
Trevino says now is the time to talk to council members and support the push for increased funding to strategically tackle the issue.
June 26, 2020
“There is not a silver bullet for affordable housing and evictions,” Treviño said Thursday during the meeting. “It’s important that the community, elected leaders and public administrators work together to develop a patchwork of diverse policies and programs which help the most underserved renters and families.”
June 25 2020
"We must take action and defund the police," Treviño said in a statement. "Those funds must be reallocated into social services that support our community. We have an opportunity to make changes to the upcoming bargaining contract agreement. Change can happen the moment we take action and this action is long overdue."
June 10, 2020
The road to end the divisions in our country is long, and the painstaking work of the last five years will ultimately provide a space that tells the inclusive and unfiltered truth of our city’s history at a place we call the Alamo.
May 29, 2020
A message scrawled across the marble base of the memorial, which honors the defenders of the Alamo, first came to the attention of San Antonio Park Police shortly after midnight Friday.
May 17, 2020
District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño said there has been a 7% increase in the homeless population since the last point in time count, which took place at the start of the year. However, Treviño said there could be more out there. Haven Hope continues to follow CDC guidelines and it has restricted the amount of people they could accept. “It’s very difficult to know what’s going on with them and their health,” Treviño said.
May 14, 2020
The proposal pushed by District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño would have given tenants 60 days to come up with rent if they’re short. Landlords would have to tell them at least two months in advance that they plan to evict them for not paying.
April 22, 2020
To provide more immediate financial assistance opportunities that include the most vulnerable of our community, I asked city staff to identify an additional $10 million in funding from a variety of sources (tax increment finance zones, the San Antonio Public Finance Corp., City Council budget carry-forward balances and the parking fund) to be added to the existing $15.8 million COVID-19 Emergency Housing Assistance package. The additional funds will focus on assisting vulnerable residents who may be ineligible for the federal stimulus or are having difficulty accessing unemployment funds.
December 20, 2019
This Alamo plan is as complex and layered as its history. Buried underneath the asphalt, concrete, brick and tourist-trap atmosphere are layers of history that finally are going to be peeled back. We’ve already begun to uncover uncomfortable facts through this process — facts that will cause us to re-evaluate long-held beliefs as we deconstruct both the plaza and the mythology of the story.
March 27, 2019
San Antonio Councilman Roberto Treviño said the plan “reaffirmed the work our city has done to become a champion of equality and inclusion.”
February 20, 2019
District 1 City Councilman Roberto Treviño created the Under 1 roof initiative in 2015. The City of San Antonio replaced a total of 208 roofs and will replace a minimum of 400 roofs in fiscal year 2019 for a total of 608 roofs since the program started in 2016.
January 5, 2019
The proliferation of scooters has to be addressed to accommodate them while protecting the people of San Antonio, as well as the nature and character of our neighborhoods and city. I believe the last three months of the pilot program provides an opportunity to try new layers of strategies.
October 19, 2018
“We’re not trying to get rid of any traditions whatsoever,” said Councilman Roberto Treviño. “We’re simply trying to reveal more history.”
October 15, 2018
This sacred space belongs to all of us — indigenous, Tejano, Texian, defender, Texan, Mexican and present-day citizens. Together, we are addressing the broad needs and desires of our community, all the while treating individual issues with the consideration and respect they deserve.
October 11, 2020
The bottom line is there was no real science or historical significance associated with its original placement. It stands where it is today because it fit — albeit awkwardly. It is also not a tomb for the defenders or a marker of where defenders’ blood was shed, nor was it commissioned with true historic grounding.
June 27, 2018
Treviño says it’s more than a symbol, but is also a gesture “that says this is an inclusive compassionate community and it’s going to allow for this to open up more conversations about how we can create policies — more policies — to help protect people and their rights.”
May 22, 2018
Over the last three-and-a-half years, the center city has witnessed an explosion of development – some of it controversial. Our residents’ voices were not always accounted for while projects unfitting to our neighborhoods were constructed. As a witness to these circumstances, I vowed to do everything possible to bring our neighborhoods to the table moving forward. Together, we are strengthening the lines of communication to the community and closing the gaps that allowed the issues in the first place.
February 5, 2018
Our properties can now afford to pay the four levels of government taxes: property taxes and hotel state, county and city taxes. And we can still provide affordable housing. It has been a win for tourism, a win for local government, a win for our tenants and a win for our housing business.
February 19,2018
The first step in closing that gap, Treviño said, is implementing a new policy that limits the amount of secondary costs associated with sidewalks – such as landscaping, sometimes unnecessary curb replacements, and retaining walls – and redirecting those funds to the concrete people can walk on.
April 17, 2017
Treviño, an architect, has been a relatively strong representative for his district in his first term, putting in the time and getting results, including helping shepherd an all important master plan for the Alamo — a project that could help transform downtown San Antonio.
February 11,2017
The goal is to improve the visitor experience by recapturing all that we can of the battlefield and the mission. The goal is also to tell the 300-year story of the Alamo so that visitors understand what led to the battle in 1836 and why both the Texian and Mexican armies were willing to fight and die for this place.
August 18, 2016
“It’s kind of one of those no-brainers,” Treviño told the Rivard Report Tuesday. “For a city that is two-thirds Hispanic, there’s a feeling that you are excluding a certain population. It makes people feel awful and left out. I want to thank Assistant City Manager María Villagómez and City Manager Sheryl Sculley for jumping on it.”
June 10, 2016
All of these things sound great, right? They are, but as the City continues to install these LED lights, especially downtown and in our urban core, we must be mindful that they, because of the quality of light they provide, may wash our downtown with its history and unique character, in bright white light. I advocate to design a plan for the installation of these lights in a well-planned and thoughtful way – with purpose.
March 3, 2016
Treviño said the "clever design" would help curb crime. "At the bottom, you can see somebody's feet. You can't see anything else." He would like to expand the number of public restrooms downtown depending on how well the pilot project works, saying that would benefit tourists, residents and the homeless.
October 30, 2015
“This is about compassion,” Treviño said. Demolition of a home is considered to be the City’s last resort, the “death penalty,” that should be avoided as much as possible, especially when long-time residents, senior citizens, U.S. Military veterans, or people with serious physical/mental health issues reside in them.
April 30, 2015
District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño announced a court settlement Thursday that could save a Beacon Hill neighborhood home from being knocked down. He also proposed changes to the demolition procedures and wants to overhaul the makeup of the city’s Building Standards Board, the body that determines which structures can be razed.
