The fight over San Antonio's Alazan-Apache Courts shows different visions for the West Side
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By Gus Bova, The Texas Observer
on Sun, Jan 17, 2021 at 10:34 AM
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Ben Olivo / SA Heron
Alazán Courts resident Jacquline Caldwell speaks at a protest in front of SAHA headquarters late last year.
On a Thursday in early November, nearly 70 San Antonians showed up via Zoom to address the board of the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA), a quasi-governmental agency that oversees the city’s public housing and Section 8 vouchers. Due to the unusual volume of people, the board chair cut individuals’ speaking time from 3 minutes to a minute and a half. In 90-second bursts, often interrupted by technical difficulties, a stream of community activists, academics, and public housing tenants commented on SAHA’s plans to demolish and redevelop the Alazán-Apache Courts, San Antonio’s oldest and largest public housing development, with most opposing the plan.