District 5’s Teri Castillo speaks during a council meeting. Credit: Screenshot / City of San Antonio

San Antonio City Council’s B Session could be coming to your side of town if progressive member Teri Castillo gets her way.

Last week, Castillo, who represents the West Side’s District 5, submitted a Council Consideration Request (CCR) to rotate B Sessions to all 10 San Antonio districts. CCRs are proposals designed to lead to eventual debate by the full council.

B Sessions are held Wednesday afternoons and revolve around policy discussions rather than voting on agenda items. They have been in headlines lately as discussions over SAPD’s cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a possible ICE detention center on the East Side and debate over a controversial Northwest Side housing development have prompted boisterous public comment sessions.

In a press statement, Castillo said her idea stems from high turnout at last year’s Budget Town Halls, during which 1,160 residents across all 10 districts showed up to learn more about the city’s financial situation and ask questions about how they might be affected.

“The data from these town halls indicates residents engage most meaningfully when they feel seen and welcomed in familiar spaces,” Castillo said in the statement.

Even so, the unusually high attendance at those budget meeting could have stemmed from a pending vote on public financing for a new Spurs arena.

Castillo’s CCR instructs city staff to develop a “City Hall to All” pilot program.

The program would follow the rules of the Texas Open Meetings Act and use data such as civic participation rates and community feedback to determine where the B Sessions would be held in each district. Staff would also be charged with creating a communications strategy so people don’t accidentally end up at Council Chambers when the sessions travel to outlying districts.

It also remains to be seen what costs such an endeavor might incur.

Castillo’s CCR is supported by District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, District 4 Councilman Edward Mungia, District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito and District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte.

If approved by council’s Governance Committee, the measure would head to the full body for a public discussion and vote.

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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,...