San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones declined comment on the Thursday memo. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / SuperWIKI

A bipartisan coalition of City Council members has submitted a memo to the City Clerk to demand a special meeting next month to discuss Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ unilateral decision to change how members of the body go about bringing up proposals for debate.

The trio of council members, including progressive District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo, conservative District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte and District 7’s Marina Alderete Gavito initially asked that Jones hold a special meeting by Aug. 15 to discuss the rule alteration. However, those demands apparently fell on deaf ears.

In the signed memo submitted Thursday, the trio wrote that Jones’ change violates city ordinance, adding that any such process revisions “must be formally considered and adopted by the full City Council.”

Last month, while council was in recess, Jones — then in office for only a few weeks — made it more difficult to submit a Council Consideration Request, or CCR, a mechanism those on the dais use to bring new policies, programs or other initiatives to their colleagues for deliberation.

Under the mayor’s proposal, which received no input from the public or members of council, those wishing to file a CCR first have to notify her chief of staff and enter a more elaborate review process.

“At its core, this is about ensuring every district retains a voice in shaping city policy,” the coalition said in a statement. “The CCR process exists so that council members can bring forward the concerns of their constituents — transparently and without unnecessary, vaguely written barriers.”

Under Jones’ new CCR path, council member would need to obtain approval from City Attorney Andy Segovia and City Manager Erik Walsh for their filing. After that, a council member would then need to seek the signatures of five other council members to get the motion to a vote.

“We hold serious reservations about any attempt to limit a councilmember’s ability to even gather signatures before a CCR is submitted,” the coalition said in a statement. “Proper vetting occurs during the Governance Committee process, where CCRs are evaluated, discussed, and — when warranted — advanced. Placing new restrictions at the front end undermines that structure and raises concerns about centralized control.”

Before Jones’ rule change, council members had to obtain approval from Walsh and secure three signatures from their colleagues before bringing a proposal to the rest of council.

According to Segovia, Jones has the power to change the CCR process without approval from the rest of council. However, Castillo, Alderete and Whyte maintain that her move is in violation of city ordinance No. 2024-03-21-0181, which provides rules for how CCRs are introduced but doesn’t explicitly outline the requirements for changing the CCR process.

Jones declined to comment on the formal memo from Castillo, Whyte and Alderete Gavito. The mayor also has yet to schedule a meeting to discuss the matter, but her office said it would notify the Current if that changes.

University of Texas at San Antonio political scientist Jon Taylor earlier this month told the Current that Jones’ decision to change the CCR process without council consent was an overstep that could hurt her political capital at City Hall.

“Why take an autocratic approach as mayor?” Taylor said. You have a honeymoon period, why not take it out for a test drive and do things that might actually encourage people to think, ‘Hey, the mayor’s doing a great job,’ instead of things that will do nothing for her political standing or stature.”

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This article appears in Jul 23 – Aug 6, 2025.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...