Sunday, May 15, 2016 | SECTION F | SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Opinion

Jerry Lara / San Antonio Express-News Included in the significant public support for the Valero Alamo Bowl is free rent at the Alamodome for the organization that runs the game. ALAMO BOWL PAY IS Attorney Pat Frost of Lamont Frost Bank is JOSH BRODESKY Jefferson is a board this year’s member of Valero Alamo the Valero here are many differ- OUT OF Bowl Alamo Bowl. ent ways to frame chairman. He He defends Derrick Fox’s compen- says the $19 Derrick Fox’s Tsation of nearly million in relatively reserves is high salary $600,000. needed to partly as Valero Alamo Bowl board ensure the necessary to members like to say the target CONTROL stability of keep Fox in for Fox’s compensation is the the bowl. San Antonio. 75th percentile of all bowls, reflecting the game’s standing as one of the best in the nation. $279,230, per tax records. It was Another way to frame it is to true in 2009-10, when the bowl say that for putting on an annu- gave away $110,000 and Fox’s al football game, Fox, the bowl’s compensation jumped to chief executive and president, $419,045, again per tax records. earns more than San Antonio It was true in 2014-15, the most City Manager Sheryl Sculley, recent tax records, when the San Antonio Water System bowl gave away $432,500 and President and CEO Robert Fox earned $578,216. Puente, UTSA Athletic Director Alamo Bowl board meeting Lynn Hickey and San Antonio minutes show that in Novem- Food Bank President and CEO ber 2015, Fox proposed to the Eric Cooper. compensation committee a But here’s perhaps the most five-year “catch-up” provision poignant way to frame Fox’s to bring employees, including compensation: He has made him, to that 75th percentile considerably more than the level. The board never acted on bowl has given away in schol- the proposal, but for Fox it arships. Express-News file photo would have meant a bonus of That was true in 2004-05 Valero Alamo Bowl President and CEO Derrick Fox addresses the media at the 2012 Valero more than $850,000, records when the Alamo Bowl gave Alamo Bowl news conference at Sonterra Country Club in 2012. He earns about $578,000 show. away $52,000 and Fox hauled in annually, while the bowl donates less yearly to scholarships. Brodesky continues on F6 Imagine a public space in the sky above Broadway

“Some company recently was Antonio Petrov: interested in buying my aura. A call for input They didn’t want my product. on a sky ride They kept saying, ‘We want your and series of aura.’ I never figured out what parks along they wanted. But they were willing Broadway. to pay a lot for it. So I thought if somebody was willing to pay that much for it, I should try to figure but also consider lifestyles too out what it is.” focused on the city and ecol- Andy Warhol, 1975 ogism too concerned with na- ture. Ecologism is the notion By Antonio Petrov that the nonhuman world is FOR THE EXPRESS-NEWS worthy of moral consideration and that social, economic and The distinctiveness of Broad- political systems should take way within the urban fabric of that into account. San Antonio is an issue of dis- By 2040, San Antonio’s pop- pute. Some regard the avenue ulation will have increased by as “the next big thing” in the Courtesy photo illustration more than 1 million people. city. Others argue Broadway is A UTSA think tank envisions “1000 Parks and A Line in The Sky: Broadway, Avenue of the Existing infrastructure, public nothing more than a thorough- Future” as a way to reimagine the Broadway and city landscape. transit and ecological systems fare. will be challenged. What is Broadway? Does it The Expander Laboratory, a Broadway’s potential, with the First, the background: We Dialogues about efficiency have the potential to reflect San design and research “think/do- hope that it could become one were interested in exploring and sustainability on a larger Antonio’s rich cultural land- tank” in the University of Texas of America’s great avenues. different strategies and tactics scale have already begun. But scape, lifestyle, and moral and at San Antonio College of Ar- The result is “1000 Parks and for urban living. We wanted to how do we also engage the physical geography? chitecture, Construction and A Line in The Sky: Broadway, discuss not only challenges for public to help reimagine, re- What is its aura? Planning, set out to search for Avenue of the Future.” urban and suburban spaces, Broadway continues on F6 F6 | Sunday, May 15, 2016 | SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS AND MYSA.COM OPINION BRODESKY From page F1

A year earlier, in the same vein, he asked the bowl’s com- pensation committee to consid- er a “tenure bonus” for staff, which several board members said would have, for him, equated to more than $800,000. The board didn’t act on that one either, but these are in- credible requests from the head of a nonprofit organization that often promotes its community work. Bowl officials have said these weren’t specific requests, but just ideas, among many, to bring staff pay up to market value. Fox was willing to answer questions via email about the bowl but not about his compen- sation. Instead, he directed those questions to board main- stay Pat Frost of Frost Bank and this year’s board chairman, Lamont A. Jefferson, a promi- Express-News file photos nent attorney. Numerous other In the 2015 Valero Alamo Bowl, the UCLA Bruins beat the Kansas State Wildcats 40-35. The bowl has gone from the 18th-best bowl board members either declined to the seventh. comment, did not respond to interview requests, or could least, it will be a long putt for 2009, when he said, “Almost all speak only off the record about San Antonio.” of the postseason bowl games their concerns because of close “Long putt.” That’s about as are put on by charitable business and personal relation- kind as you can be in a rejec- groups” and that “local chari- ships with other board mem- tion, and yet Fox has been in- ties receive tens of millions of bers. tent on pushing forward. dollars every year.” “It’s awkward for anybody to “I appreciate Bill’s candor, Not only were a good num- discuss their compensation in a and one of the things we need ber of the bowls privately public forum,” Fox wrote in an to know going forward is exact- owned, but reporters found the email. “It’s the board that sets ly what it is we can do to make 23 existing nonprofit bowls my compensation, and I re- sure we can land this event for gave $3.2 million to local chari- spectfully request that you seek the community,” he said in that ties on $186.3 million in reve- answers from them on those same November story. nue. questions.” In our email interview, he But Fox said something more In an interview, Frost was doubled down on this point, granular. Asked by U.S. Rep. unequivocal in his support for saying the reserves were crucial Joe Barton, R-Ennis, about how Fox. for bringing the big game here. much “money” from the Alamo “Derrick, he took us from the Could the reserves be put to Bowl goes to “classic charities,” 18th-best bowl in America to other uses? Of course. At one Fox said, “There are several the seventh-best bowl,” Frost point, for example, the Alamo hundred thousand dollars that said, citing the Alamo Bowl’s TCU dance team members perform in the stands during the Bowl’s board debated donating will go out to local organiza- ability to attract better and Valero Alamo Bowl in the Alamodome on Jan. 2, 2016. Board $1 million toward a practice tions.” better games. “Derrick’s man- members defend bowl CEO Derrick Fox’s high salary, saying he facility for the University of “Whether it’s Boys & Girls agement, his leadership, has has brought improvements and prestige to the bowl. Texas at San Antonio’s new Clubs, whether it’s Kids Sports brought us to the brink of being football program, but instead Network, you name it. There in the College Football Playoff.” day Bowl in San Diego, Belk still a municipal entity — spon- chose to sit on the cash. are a number of different orga- Frost said the compensation Bowl in Charlotte and TaxSlay- sors the game annually, “Great board debate,” Frost nizations who benefit from the was justified based on internal er Bowl in Jacksonville. $300,000 in 2015 and 2016, in said. “It was a lot of interesting bowl as well.” performance — “We had a great And then there is the Rose return for four TV spots and discussion, and the end of the Tax records show the schol- year” — but also from a nation- Bowl, which paid its chief exec- other promotions. The state story is, we didn’t do it.” arships but not the other phi- al perspective when looking at utive $427,000, according to also provides about $500,000 in Jefferson, the bowl’s board lanthropy. When I asked Fox executive pay at other bowl 2014-15 tax forms. That’s a lot of support from its event fund. chairman, said that beyond the for clarification or supporting games. money. That same year, Fox The game also benefits from championship bid, the reserves documents for the statement, a He noted the Alamo Bowl’s earned $578,000. millions of dollars in improve- cover contingencies such as the bowl representative sent me a title sponsor, Valero, is very “Some of those things con- ments to the Alamodome, in- loss of a title sponsor. list that included more than happy with Fox. So, too, are the sultants have pointed out is cluding more than $43 million “Why not spend it? It is be- $400,000 in donations from Pac-12 and Big 12 conferences, some of those other bowls and in ongoing upgrades that ing spent,” he said. “It’s in- 2008. This is in addition to whose teams play in the annual where they are at,” said Lance helped land the Final Four in vested in the bowl, in the stabil- scholarships and payouts to game. Tibbet, a Tournament of Roses 2018. Fox has used these up- ity of the bowl. The better the participating football teams. “We are lucky Derrick hasn’t executive committee member. grades to make his pitch to host bowl does, the more schol- The list did include dona- gone somewhere else,” Frost “For us, it’s kind of like, well, is a College Football Playoff arships it can reward over time. tions to Kids Sports Network, said. “And there is no doubt his running the Rose Parade and championship game. I appreciate that sentiment, Leukemia & Lymphoma Soci- compensation is one of the the Rose Bowl, is that any more This is a bit of a sore point ‘Hey you got a lot of money ety, the food bank and others. It reasons why he hasn’t. He has important or deserving of any with some because the bowl is there, just spend it now.’ But if also includes more than been well rewarded, and we more pay than say, you know, sitting on roughly $19 million in you spend it now, you don’t $330,000 in “tickets.” Got it? feel that he has earned it.” those civic leaders in our town assets. The board is holding have the reserve.” Tickets, not actual money that In a later email, Frost said that are running businesses these reserves to cover the costs True, but the bowl also isn’t helps keep these nonprofits board members barely gave the and government?” of a championship game, even facing any instability. Valero’s going. There’s a difference. bonus requests any consider- In San Antonio, the answer though it is almost certainly out sponsorship has been extended In closing our email inter- ation. to that question is yes. of reach. Twice the bowl has through 2019, and the bowl’s view, Fox said he was proud of Compared to other major The bowl is a private entity, bid and twice it has been reject- TV deal with ESPN runs the bowl’s growth, its economic bowls, Fox’s compensation is but it receives public financial ed because the dome, even with through 2025. impact and the scholarships it near but not at the top, just as support. That makes Fox’s the upgrades, isn’t up to snuff. All of this — the $19 million has awarded since 2000. He Frost says. His compensation compensation of legitimate “It just doesn’t measure up to in the bank, Fox’s compensa- said the bowl is on track to give pales in comparison to that of public interest. the other stadiums that hap- tion, the missed opportunity to $3 million in scholarships by its the Cotton Bowl executive, who As a nonprofit, the Alamo pened to be available in this do something big for UTSA 25th anniversary. earned nearly $1 million, per Bowl receives tax-exempt sta- bidding process,” College Foot- football — is particularly strik- That would be quite an 2014-15 tax records. tus. It also gets free rent from ball Playoff Executive Director ing because Fox has historically achievement. When it happens, But plenty of other estab- the city for its offices at the Bill Hancock said in a Novem- trumpeted the charitable acts of maybe he can celebrate with an lished bowls have paid their Alamodome, only paying for ber Express-News story. “But I the bowl system. $800,000 bonus. executives less than Fox in telecommunications. The Con- think without major changes in He got himself into hot water recent years, notably the Holi- vention & Visitors Bureau — the stadium, for our event at speaking before Congress in [email protected]

What is the role of design in would line the route below the BROADWAY enabling social imagination, Skyride. They would invite From page F1 debate and democratic space? residents and visitors to fully What are the costs and benefits engage with the city and with build and replan public transit, of increasing or decreasing the one another. public space and more sustain- degree of citizen control in New York City has Central able growth? building the city? How do we Park and the High Line. Chica- It is no secret that San Anto- imagine design as an agency of go has the Burnham Park and nio’s roads need repair and our social and cultural sustainabili- boulevard system, and Millen- mass transit system needs ty? Can we reasonably posit nium Park. Could Broadway be capital improvement. But larger alternatives and, if so, what San Antonio’s avenue, the first systemic issues also exist. would they look like? urban infrastructure of its kind Alexander D’Hooghe, an We came up with “1000 completely reimagined, rebuilt MIT professor and director of Parks and A Line in The Sky: and replanned by its residents? the institute’s Center for Ad- Broadway, Avenue of the Fu- We want to activate 1,000 vanced Urbanism, argues that ture.” We propose a system of spaces — filled with unique culture is not only a collective 1,000 parks below a Skyride ideas, demands and desires of reflection of shared values but transportation system that how a park in a neighborhood that it also “requires, at its most connects San Antonio Interna- should be, culled from the pub- basic level, a common space for tional Airport to Travis Park. lic. Should this space be a dog these expressions to be artic- If you were born between park or an art park? What ulated and received.” 1964 and 1999, you certainly would residents love to see in Cities across the nation — remember the Brackenridge these spaces that reflect San New York, Chicago, Houston, Park sky ride (1964) and the Antonio’s culture and creativi- Los Angeles, Boston and else- HemisFair Monorail (1968). It ty? where — have recognized the seems like everybody remem- We want our residents and need for movement from the bers gliding through the sky, visitors alike to take full owner- periphery back into the center. feeling the wind in their hair, ship of public space in the city. Under the umbrella of land- or seeing the horizon and expe- The spaces for parks below the scape urbanism, many of their riencing the city from a com- Skyride are unused and under- newly designed parks and pletely new vantage point with utilized interstitial spaces we’ve public spaces incorporate arti- a smile on their face. identified along Broadway. facts of the American industrial Both rides were limited to UTSA Libraries Special Collections How does this work? landscape — or unused and Brackenridge Park and Hemis- At one time, San Antonians could ride these trams above Stay tuned. Join us at the underutilized interstitial spac- Fair. But what if this Skyride Brackenridge Park. UTSA Institute of Texan Cul- es. could connect the airport to tures this fall for an exhibition We live in an age of growing downtown, and possibly to the improve existing space and the Sky,” our vision for Broad- of our work and the beginning awareness of how human activ- missions? What if there was a expand our understanding of way. It’s a 8.6-mile-long public of the public input phase. ity impacts the climate and sky bus that could comfortably public parks and alternative space for the future. environment. But addressing transport visitors and residents public transportation. It aims From the airport — from Dr. Antonio Petrov is an assistant these is not simply about creat- alike through a system of 1,000 to hybridize infrastructure, moment of arrival to departure professor of architecture at the ing a more environmentally urban parks along Broadway? transportation and green space — all the way to our downtown University of Texas at San friendly way of living. This project’s ambition is to into “1000 Parks and a Line in core, parks of varying sizes Antonio.