Council Appoints Dinnin, Fernández, Wolff as Bond Chairs
The San Antonio City Council voted 9-1 to name three bond tri-chairs, overriding the mayor's earlier picks for the $442 million bond program.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in City Hall
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The San Antonio City Council voted 9-1 on Thursday to appoint Kevin Dinnin, Anita Fernández, and Sandi Wolff as tri-chairs of the city's next bond program. Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones cast the lone no vote, and District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez was absent.
Why it matters
The vote effectively nullified Mayor Jones's October 19 tri-chair appointments, shifting control over the $442 million package to the council. The package goes before voters in May, and the council's choices will shape its public campaign.
The council vote was 9-1 to appoint the tri-chairs, following a 7-3 vote two days after the mayor's October 19 appointments. The full package is $442 million, and the extraction does not say how the chairs will run the campaign.
The players
Gina Ortiz Jones
Mayor of San Antonio, who named her own bond tri-chairs before the council overrode her appointments.
Kevin Dinnin
Chair of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce's executive board and president and CEO of the FirstDay Foundation.
Anita Fernández
Partner at the OCI Group, a government-relations consulting firm she co-founded, which has done work for Spurs Sports & Entertainment.
Sandi Wolff
Vice president of community engagement and advancement at Hallmark University.
The details
Jones had named Jim Perschbach, Jelynne LeBlanc Jamison, and Mario Obledo Jr. as tri-chairs on October 19, but a council ordinance passed two days later gave the council authority to appoint them. The new chairs have professional ties to the Chamber of Commerce, the FirstDay Foundation, the OCI Group, and Hallmark University, and the council voted 9-1 to end further discussion of those ties.
Timeline
October 19: Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones names her bond tri-chairs.
October 21: Council passes a 7-3 ordinance giving itself authority to appoint the tri-chairs.
November 5: Council votes 9-1 to appoint Dinnin, Fernández, and Wolff.
May 2027: The $442 million bond package goes before voters.
Legacy Context
The $35 million earmarked for street and infrastructure upgrades around the Hemisfair arena site ties the bond package directly to downtown development already underway in the city. The council's control over the tri-chairs determines how that spending priority is presented to voters.
The bond package will fund street and infrastructure projects across the city if voters approve it in May. Residents will see how those priorities are set depending on which tri-chairs guide the campaign.
The takeaway
Local bond measures are shaped as much by who runs the campaign as by what they fund, so watching the tri-chair appointments is a practical way to follow the May vote.
What happens next
The $442 million bond package goes before San Antonio voters in May 2027.
Further reading
For more on how local leaders shape city spending, see City Hall coverage on Wisevoter.
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