Despite the objections of former City Councilman Carlton Soules, the planned $850 million bond will benefit the entire city.

Sure, tweaks will need to be made to some of the proposed expenditures. We don’t like the idea of spending $2 million for baseball fields at McAllister Park that will not be open to the public, for example. Not when the need for fields citywide is so evident. Likewise, spending $7 million for an event center at the San Antonio Botanical Garden gives us pause since the garden is privately run and charges for admission.

In a bond package so big, such quibbling comes with the territory. There is always going to be a project to nitpick or dislike, but on balance, the proposed $850 million bond is spread across all areas of the community and is an important investment toward addressing infrastructure needs and improving the quality of life in a fast-growing, sprawling city. As Mayor Ivy Taylor recently said, “The city is huge and continues to grow.”

To be against this bond is to ignore this reality.

Soules has come out firing against the bond package, saying it is far too focused on the “urban core,” according to Express-News Metro columnist Brian Chasnoff. Soules used the same argument in his failed bid for Bexar County judge, asserting then that the county was spending too much on projects in the city center.

This has never made much sense. City residents are also county residents. In fact, the vast majority of county residents live in the city.

This bond is all about back to basics. Its focus is infrastructure, flood control and parks. Projects are almost evenly spread across council districts, and, yes, some of these projects will strengthen the urban core. That’s not exactly a bad thing. The community conversation going forward should be about making sure the bond serves the greater community and reflects respective district priorities.