District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte speaks during a council meeting. Credit: Michael Karlis

City Council unanimously passed a new $4 billion city budget Thursday, but not without a verbal showdown between Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and Councilman Marc Whyte over whether to hire fewer police officers than initially planned.

Facing a significant monetary shortfall, council agreed to cut $111 million in spending over the next two years as part of the budget.

During an impassioned speech, District 10’s Whyte argued that the only way to keep San Antonio safe is to hire more police officers. However, he exceeded his time, prompting Jones to bang her gavel and order him to stop talking. 

“Point of order. Your time is up, councilman! Please respect the body!” Jones yelled over Whyte as he continued speaking.

Whyte and first-term Councilwoman Misty Spears of District 9 — the two conservatives on the dais — proposed last-minute amendments to boost the number of new police officers included in the budget to 65 instead of the approved 40. 

District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito and District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzales also threw their support behind the amendments. Even so, both failed 4-7.

City Manager Erik Walsh pushed back at Whyte and Spears, pointing out the San Antonio Police Department is actually “over-hired,” meaning it has more officers than allowed under its existing budget. 

New SAPD jobs weren’t the only things council members nixed as they grappled with how to deal with a $173 million budget shortfall over the next two years. 

The new budget includes $5 million less in affordable housing initiatives and a $4.5 million cut in sidewalk funding. The latter means the city will install 8 fewer miles of new sidewalks than originally planned and scrap repair plans for nearly 5 miles.

The budget also includes 67 jobs cuts, but most of those positions are already vacant. 

To further mitigate the deficit, council also raised city parks’ environmental fee by 0.50%, upped the vacant building registration fee by $150 and moved the AlamoPROMISE program under the sales tax-funded Ready to Work program. 

Despite the city’s deficit, property tax rates will remain unchanged. 

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This article appears in Sep. 18-Oct. 1.

Michael Karlis is a Staff Writer at the San Antonio Current. He is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., whose work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Orlando...