During a historic vote Friday to censure Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, members of City Council painted a picture of the city’s top elected official as a vindictive and foul-mouthed bully who’s placed a paranoid pall over City Hall.
Council voted 8-1 during a nearly three-hour special meeting to censure Jones for what they described as a profanity-filled tantrum the mayor aimed at District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur earlier this month. The vote marks the first time in modern San Antonio history that council has voted to censure a mayor.
Censure is largely symbolic move members of council can invoke to signal displeasure with a colleague’s actions while not attempting to remove them from office.
“My belief is if there’s no remediation piece here, retaliation will likely continue to occur,” District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo said to explain her vote to censure Jones, . “And, it’s best that we all arm ourselves and take this step to prevent this kind of behavior from continuing.”
Jones didn’t respond to the Current’s request for comment on the vote or the comments by her colleagues.
District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears was the lone vote against censure, citing concerns about the investigatory process and worries that Jones wasn’t given the chance to defend her actions to a third-party attorney contracted by the city to investigate the matter.
“After examining the findings, it is clear the conduct was unprofessional, and I had genuine compassion for how my colleague felt in that moment,” Spears said. “However, the level of unprofessionalism found does not rise to the level of censure or removal from the Governance Committee.”
Spears was very much alone in that assessment, however.
Indeed, some most damning comments during the meeting came from Castillo, a progressive who politically should be among Jones’ close allies.
Instead, Castillo — who endorsed Jones during her mayoral campaign — accused the mayor of ginning up paranoia and prioritizing payback over effectively running the city.
“I have been disheartened and disturbed with her behavior overt he last nine months,” Castillo said. “In retrospect, knowing what I know now, I would not have endorsed Jones. I’ve heard stories and witnessed interactions with Mayor Jones and my colleagues, community members and city staff that demonstrate a pattern of unprofessional interactions filled with disrespect, inappropriate tone and retaliation.”
Castillo went on to accuse Jones of fostering an environment of retaliation City Hall, which the councilwoman said includes shutting colleagues out of committee assignments, events and meetings. The mayor also engaged in micromanagement, controlling behavior, verbal and physical abuse and “spreading false rumors” to isolate people, Castillo further alleged.
Castillo had found herself in Jones’ crosshairs previously when the mayor opted not to give her a committee to chair even though she’s among council’s most senior members. That exclusionary move came after Castillo fought against Jones’s controversial proposal to change how Council Consideration Requests (CCRs) are introduced, according to the councilwoman.
Trying for a reset
Prior to the meeting’s start, Jones gave a brief opening statement. She maintained that the dispute she had with Kaur was about public safety at downtown LGBTQ+ nightspot the Bonham Exchange, which skirted the city fire code for nearly three years by not installing an upgraded sprinkler system.
Kaur wanted to give the Bonham Exchange an unspecified extension. However, Jones and the City Attorney’s Office avoided debate on the extension and cut a deal with Bonham Exchange owner Joan Duckworth, which kept the club open but at a reduced capacity.
“I became passionate that morning, because I firmly believe public safety is our No. 1 responsibility,” Jones told council. “I should not have raised my voice at my colleague, and I should not have used profanity. I apologize for doing so.”
Jones left council chambers as the meeting got underway. Kaur did not attend at all.
On at least two separate occasions this week, Jones described her argument by saying she raised her voice at the councilwoman, “dropped an F-bomb” and possibly pointed a finger at her.
During a City Hall press conference on Tuesday, Jones also publicly apologized to Kaur for “hurting her feelings” — an apology Castillo described as insincere and insulting.
“I want to be clear, this is not about ‘hurt feelings,’” Castillo said. “And, the gravity of this instance and censure seems to be lost on Mayor Jones.”
Several council members, including District 6’s Ric Galvan, also disputed Jones’ version of events.
Kaur speaks
Council called a press conference after the meeting, which was attended by Kaur and every other member of the dais except Jones and Spears. During the gathering, Kaur accused the mayor of gaslighting the public and media about what really occurred during their exchange.
“The mayor has tried to diminish this instance by saying there was a single F-bomb that was thrown,” Kaur said. “It is very different to use the curse word as an adjective versus to use it continuously to berate someone and intimidate them.”
Kaur said the dispute wasn’t about public safety or a legitimate policy disagreement. The censure vote was prompted by Jones’ repeated disrespect toward others on council, she added.
“This was not about wasting time or hurt feelings, and insinuating as such is a form of gaslighting,” Kaur said.
Due to attorney-client privilege, the full details about what actually happened between Kaur and Jones likely will never come to light, District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez told reporters. He said that’s necessary to protect witnesses’ identities.
Off the committee
As part of the punishment for violating the portions of council’s code of conduct dealing with workplace violence — an alleged breach called out by third-party investigator — Jones is suspended from the Governance Committee for three months.
The Governance Committee is a critical piece of City Hall bureaucracy responsible for referring proposed policies to council and staff.
In a statement issued before the start of Friday’s meeting, Jones said would voluntarily step down from the committee. She also said she will start in-person leadership training next week — another remedy suggested by the investigator.
Jones’ statement significantly backpedals from a position staked out at her earlier press conference. At that time, the mayor said she wouldn’t leave the committee and would only take leadership training if the remainder of council also committed to it.
However, in her written statement, the mayor said she changed her mind “in the interest of moving forward and focusing on the people’s work.”
“As a servant leader, I learned a long time ago that no one is above additional training — we can all learn more, and we can all be better,” Jones said. “When the date and time of that training is finalized, I will share those, and I invite each of you to join me.”
Both Jones and council have expressed an optimistic desire for a “reset.” However, after the dirty laundry aired at Friday’s meeting, it’s unclear just how likely that is.
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