San Antonio Symphony News and Archive

License plate program to aid symphony, others




from the San Antonio Express News 9/3/98

by David Uhler



Contribute to the arts. Get a free special license plate to tell the world about it.

A new fund-raising plan announced Wednesday by Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Sylvia Romo allows county residents who donate $500 or more to the San Antonio Symphony, Centro Alameda or the Carver Community Cultural Center to receive coupons redeemable at her office for "State of the Arts" license plates.

An anonymous corporation in San Antonio is underwriting the cost of the program, which Romo developed with the Texas Commission on the Arts. The coupon covers the $25 surcharge for the special plates. Donors must still pay the regular license plate fee.

Romo said the program could generate $5 million for the local arts organizations if the owners of only 1 percent of the county's 1 million registered vehicles participate.

"Think of the possibilities," she said wistfully.

Standing in the lobby of the Bexar County Tax Office at the downtown Vista Verde Plaza, Romo was flanked by politicians and officials from several state and local arts organizations. Everyone was all smiles.

"The arts in San Antonio aren't limited by imagination," said City Councilman Roger Flores. "They're limited by money. We need everybody's help."

The money crunch is especially acute at the San Antonio Symphony. The symphony's 60th anniversary season, scheduled to start Sept. 11, remains in jeopardy as the organization continues to wrestle with mounting financial woes.

Nevertheless, Judith York, director of the symphony's annual fund and special events, assured the crowd that "we are looking forward to our 60th anniversary and 60 more years." York declined to comment about ongoing negotiations between the symphony board and the musicians' union.

Officials with Centro Alameda and the Carver Center also welcomed the new fund-raising program. Renovation of the historic Alameda Theater is part of a plan to create a Hispanic cultural zone that will include the first affiliate museum of the Smithsonian Institution outside of Washington, D.C.

The Carver is in the early stages of a development plan that includes construction of a new arts school.

During the news conference, Romo also unveiled a new display of license plates for the tax office lobby. Most of the collection, which includes antique plates from the 1910s and special tags issued during World War II, was donated by Roland Guerra.

Guerra, who works as an expediter at Southwest Research Institute, culled the license plates from his collection of spark plugs, beer openers, porcelain signs and other memorabilia.

"You name it, I collect it," Guerra said. "My wife says we need to get a bigger place."

Musicians from the symphony and the Carver provided entertainment before and after the news conference. The strains of a string quartet and the rhythmic beat of African drums provided lively background music to the normally somber surroundings.

"Sure would be nice to do this every day if it wasn't at taxpayer expense," a bystander remarked as the string quartet played.

"They're all volunteers," York quickly replied.



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