💌 Don’t miss Bob Rivard’s Monday Musings — sharp takes on San Antonio’s politics, culture, and news. Subscribe now →

Newsletters

July 6, 2025

Monday Musings #26: Another Tragic Hill Country Flash Flood - Lessons Not Learned

Two weeks ago, I informed readers (and promised myself) that I would be taking a hiatus from this weekly newsletter for the month of July while traveling on a book project and enjoying some personal time. The horrific events of the week in the Texas…

View more
June 23, 2025

Monday Musings #25: Summer Break

San Antonians have been settling into the long, hot South Texas “summer” since May, when the city recorded the first three days of 100 degrees or more. Check out a national heat map right now: The rest of the country, north and east of T…

View more
June 16, 2025

Monday Musings #24: Drop the ‘Project Marvel’ name, please

With municipal elections completed, San Antonio’s most anticipated and biggest investment in downtown in history takes center stage. It’s time now to give the public a more focused picture of the ambitious plan’s individual project…

View more
June 9, 2025

Monday Musings #23: Mayor-elect Gina Ortiz Jones

Congratulations, Mayor-elect Gina Ortiz Jones. This week’s newsletter begins with those welcoming words, and the wry acknowledgement that I stand 0-2 in the endorsement category. I focused my first-round support on tech company founder Beto A…

View more
June 2, 2025

Monday Musings 22: As Runoffs Loom, a Departing Mayor and Council Face Spurs Arena Briefing

There is nothing traditional about this political season in San Antonio. Early voting concludes Tuesday before the Saturday, June 7, runoff election. For the first time in my lifetime, two candidates who did not emerge from City Council service are …

View more
May 26, 2025

Monday Musings #21: Rolando Pablos for Mayor

The poorly organized city election that led to a Fiesta parade ballot of 27 mayoral candidates, most lacking any standing, has now come down to two very different candidates: first-round frontrunner Gina Ortiz Jones and second-place finisher Rolando…

View more
May 19, 2025

Monday Musings #20: Bringing the Spurs Back Home to Hemisfair

City Council took a big step forward in its campaign to bring the San Antonio Spurs back to Hemisfair with its Thursday vote to expand the convention complex plan as described in the original Project Finance Zone (PFZ) to include a sports and entert…

View more
May 12, 2025

Monday Musings #19: Let’s Vote!

The Monday Musings newsletter is growing nicely as we near the end of our fifth month of publication. If you are reading this thanks to a friend, please consider subscribing by adding your email address at the bigcitysmalltown website. No cost, no s…

View more
May 5, 2025

Monday Musings #18: Fiesta Blues — Little to Celebrate in San Antonio’s Mayoral and Council Elections

The results for the May 3 election to choose a new San Antonio mayor and seat a new City Council are in, and there is no need for cascarones or medals. The big loser in Saturday’s Fiesta weekend election? The people of San Antonio, with more t…

View more
April 28, 2025

Monday Musings #17: School Board Races Matter

A sure sign that a weak incumbent faces the prospect of being unseated by a serious challenger is when the mudslinging starts and falsehoods are spread in the campaign’s closing days. Such is the case with Sara Sorenson, who holds the Distric…

View more
April 22, 2025

Monday Musings Extra: A Vote for Beto, A Vote for Change

Welcome to a Monday Musings Extra!, a special edition of our weekly newsletter to remind readers that today is the first day of Early Voting (April 22-29) in the May 3 City Election.  Starting today, voters will go to the polls to elect a new …

View more
April 21, 2025

Monday Musings #15: The Race for San Antonio Mayor

Let the voting begin Tuesday. Here at bigcitysmalltown this April, we’ve focused our weekly podcast and newsletter on the race for mayor in San Antonio. We believe voters will make a consequential decision–one that will shape the city&rs…

View more
April 14, 2025

Monday Musings #14: The Mayor’s Race Comes Down to the Wire

Early voting in the Saturday, May 3 city election commences in eight days. The majority of voters vote early, so if you are one of them (and I am), you will have April 22-29, eight days, to help elect a new mayor and your city council representative…

View more
April 8, 2025

Monday Musings #13: Is San Antonio a Prisoner of its Past?

Is San Antonio always going to be a city where the future is seen as an unwelcome intrusion on the past? The question has never been more relevant. Last week, the San Antonio Conservation Society filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and …

View more
April 7, 2025

Beto Altamirano: bigcitysmalltown Mayoral Questionnaire

1. What qualifications support your bid for the job as mayor of San Antonio, and how are you reaching registered voters with a history of participating in local elections? (Please cite campaign fundraising, media buys, community events, mailers, etc…

View more
April 7, 2025

Rolando Pablos: bigcitysmalltown Mayoral Questionnaire

1. What qualifications support your bid for the job as mayor of San Antonio, and how are you reaching registered voters with a history of participating in local elections? (Please cite campaign fundraising, media buys, community events, mailers, etc…

View more
April 7, 2025

Christopher Reyes: bigcitysmalltown Mayoral Questionnaire

1. What qualifications support your bid for the job as mayor of San Antonio, and how are you reaching registered voters with a history of participating in local elections? (Please cite campaign fundraising, media buys, community events, mailers, etc…

View more
April 7, 2025

Adriana Rocha Garcia: bigcitysmalltown Mayoral Questionnaire

1. What qualifications support your bid for the job as mayor of San Antonio, and how are you reaching registered voters with a history of participating in local elections? (Please cite campaign fundraising, media buys, community events, mailers, etc…

View more
April 7, 2025

Gina Ortiz Jones: bigcitysmalltown Mayoral Questionnaire

1. What qualifications support your bid for the job as mayor of San Antonio, and how are you reaching registered voters with a history of participating in local elections? (Please cite campaign fundraising, media buys, community events, mailers, etc…

View more
April 7, 2025

Jade McCullough: bigcitysmalltown Mayoral Questionnaire

1. What qualifications support your bid for the job as mayor of San Antonio, and how are you reaching registered voters with a history of participating in local elections? (Please cite campaign fundraising, media buys, community events, mailers, etc…

View more
April 7, 2025

Armando Dominguez: bigcitysmalltown Mayoral Questionnaire

1. What qualifications support your bid for the job as mayor of San Antonio, and how are you reaching registered voters with a history of participating in local elections? (Please cite campaign fundraising, media buys, community events, mailers, etc…

View more
March 30, 2025

Monday Musings #12: Trump Invites Bigcitysmalltown to White House Podcast Summit

Declaring that mainstream media is on life support and not expected to survive his second term in office, President Trump announced plans to convene podcasters from across the country at a White House summit in the coming weeks. “Or possible …

View more
March 24, 2025

Monday Musings #11: Andrés Andujar - San Antonio Placemaker

Not many of us will complete our careers with the certain knowledge our work has made San Antonio a better place to live, work and play and will endure. My work and privilege as a longtime journalist in this city has allowed me to meet many of the p…

View more
March 17, 2025

Monday Musings #10: Can the City of San Antonio and the State’s Top Elected Leaders Find Common Ground?

An unexpected opportunity has developed for Mayor Ron Nirenberg in his final months in office, and other civic and business leaders, to grasp an olive branch extended by Gov. Greg Abbott in his Feb. 2 State of the State speech. In the speech, Abbot…

View more