Former District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry was charged with DWI and fleeing the scene of an accident. Last year, he received a sentence of 12 months’ probation and 24 hours of community service in a plea deal. Credit: Michael Karlis

District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry — the guy police filmed incoherent in his backyard while they investigated whether he’d been involved in a hit-and-run accident — told the Express-News he’s considering a run for mayor.

“I really enjoyed it on council, and people have been saying, ‘Clayton, you need to get involved again and run for office,” Perry told the daily. “I’ve been thinking about that. I’ve been praying about that and asking for guidance at that possibility that’s coming up this next May.”

For folks who need a reminder, Perry pleaded no contest in 2023 to charges related that earlier-referenced police investigation. The charges included driving while intoxicated and fleeing the scene of an incident.

He was sentenced to 12 months probation and 24 hours of community service in April of last year.

The charges stemmed from a November 2022 incident in which Perry — then a councilman — allegedly crashed his Black Jeep Wrangler head-on into a Honda Civic at a North Side intersection.

That same night, Perry downed 14 drinks at bar the Evil Olive, even finishing a tipple left behind by another patron, before getting behind the wheel and driving to a Bill Miller’s on Thousand Oaks Drive,  according to Bexar County District Attorney’s Office documents. At the restaurant, Perry pulled into  the drive-thru, apparently forget to order and tried to hand over his keys and wallet to the cashier at the window, according to the records.

Although the incident grabbed national headlines and led to censure by City Council, Perry’s former chief of staff, Paul Jimenez, told the Express-News his former boss’s biggest obstacle to becoming mayor aren’t his past legal problems but his right-wing political orientation.

“I don’t want to hold him back from his dreams or ambitions, but I’m risk-averse, and I don’t think that somebody who is as openly conservative could win the mayor’s race in San Antonio, even though I think it would be wonderful if it happened,” Jimenez told the daily.

As of press time, District 9 Councilman John Courage and District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez are the only high-profile candidates to formally announce candidacies for the upcoming mayoral contest.

Even so, San Antonio tech entrepreneur Beto Altamirano, District 4 Councilwoman Adrianna Rocha Garcia and District 6 Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda, who’s currently leading an effort to remove San Antonio’s current city attorney, also are considering runs, according to media reports.

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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.

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,...