San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg has previously said that if the allegations against Perry are true, then he should resign from city council Credit: Rhyma Castillo

City council officially certified a charter election Thursday that will let voters decide whether to decriminalize marijuana and abortion in the city limits, among other significant changes to local law enforcement.

Although council approved the measure for inclusion on the May ballot, an anti-abortion group has asked the Texas Supreme Court to derail the initiative. What’s more, San Antonio City Attorney Andy Segovia has argued the city has no legal power enact some of the proposed changes put before voters.

Although the measure won council approval since progressive groups collected the required petition signatures to land it on the ballot, three members abstained.  District 8 City Councilman Manny Pelaez, District 9 Councilman John Courage and District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry all left the meeting moments before the vote.

Despite city officials saying Thursday’s vote was nothing more than a formality, a cadre of mostly white and elderly residents turned out to express their grievances against the San Antonio Justice Charter Initiative.

If passed by voters, the proposal would hypothetically end enforcement of the state’s anti-pot possession law, decriminalize abortion and ban police no-knock warrants and chokeholds in San Antonio. It also would also establish a city justice director position and prioritize citations instead of arrests for low-level, non-violent crimes.

Some who spoke during council’s public comment session argued that prioritizing cite-and-release for low-level crimes would essentially make them legal.

San Antonio Police Officers Association President Danny Diaz, told council members the initiative is unnecessary since SAPD has never arrested anyone for getting an abortion.

“Our district attorney, Joe Gonzales, has already basically legalized marijuana under his current cite-and-release program, a program that has continued to expand the amount of marijuana that we are able to arrest for,” Diaz told City Council.

Diaz also warned the council members that the pot being sold on the streets of San Antonio is smuggled from Mexico and is laced with fentanyl, a myth lab studies have largely debunked.

In response, Tori Ramirez, an organizer from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said surveys show more than half of Texans support the legalization of marijuana, oppose the state’s abortion ban and believe police chokeholds should be banned. Ramirez pointed to the 38,000 signatures on the petition as a sign of local support.

“Our point is these are popular reforms both in our city and our state, and the people of San Antonio themselves have brought these reforms to the ballot,” Ramirez said.

The fate of the proposed charter changes is still uncertain due its current legal challenge.

This week, anti-abortion group Texas Alliance for Life filed a petition with the court arguing that the Justice Charter Initiative is illegal because it includes more than one subject. Solicitor General Judd Stone reiterated these sentiments in a letter submitted to the state’s high court, arguing that the proposal “flagrantly violates” state law, according to the San Antonio Report.

In a press release, Ananda Tomas, executive director of police reform group Act 4 SA — one the charter change’s backers — called filing “frivolous,” stating that the proposed clauses all fall under a single issue: public safety.

Coming soon: SA Current Daily newsletter. We’ll send you a handful of interesting San Antonio stories every morning. Subscribe now to not miss a thing.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Related Stories

This article appears in Feb 8-21, 2023.

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,...