After three hours of closed-door deliberations, members of City Council said Monday they will move forward with an unprecedented censure vote against Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones.
The vote is slated for Friday, District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez told reporters after council’s meeting. The group met in special session to hear the findings of a third-part investigation into a heated discussion between Jones and District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur which raised questions about whether the mayor breached the city’s code of conduct.
“This is not an issue of support,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “One thing is abundantly clear, and it’s that each of us loves this city very much and we’re passionate. We will not always agree on what’s best for the city or how we get there, but we each have a duty to maintain a work environment that is conducive to that business, and to treat one another with respect.”
Five councilwomen filed a joint memo earlier this month calling for a vote whether to censure Jones over an allegation she berated Kaur being closed doors as council deliberated over the fate of the Bonham Exchange, a long-running LGBTQ+ nightclub that was in violation of city fire code.
A vote to censure Jones wouldn’t strip of her any power or impose any financial penalty. The largely symbolic move is meant to signal to a member of council that their colleagues want them to rein in their troubling behavior.
The exact details of the conversation between Jones and Kaur remain murky, and council remained close-lipped after Monday’s executive session. However, city spokesman Brian Chasnoff said the full text of the complaint against the mayor will be posted online once Friday’s council agenda is updated.
During an appearance Monday on Texas Public Radio talk show The Source, Jones said she raised her voice during the meeting with Kaur and and “dropped the F-bomb.” However, she said she never demeaned her colleague during the discussion.
In a media statement released after Monday’s closed-door session District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito, a signatory on the complaint who’s butted heads with Jones in the past, said she hopes the upcoming vote will reset civility at City Hall.
“This is an opportunity to reaffirm our shared commitment to professionalism and respect at City Hall, which are fundamental to serving our community,” Alderete Gavito said in a statement. “Our code of conduct sets clear expectations, and upholding them is essential to accountability and to maintain the public’s trust.”
Whatever the intent behind Friday’s censure vote, UT-San Antonio political scientist Jon Taylor warned that it could have unintended consequences.
If, for example, discussion reveals the dispute between Jones and Kaur was little more than a loud argument over policy, a vote to censure the mayor could come back and bite some council members on the ass.
“It makes them look thin-skinned,” Taylor told the Current. “San Antonio and Texas politics are a rough-and-tumble world, and you have to have thick skin. You have to be able to roll with the punches and deal with people calling you names and dropping obscenities at you.”
Taylor said the council members who called for the censure vote also could face blowback if the public perceives the procedure as a waste of time — especially in light of serious issues facing the city, including SAWS and CPS rate hikes, a looming budget crisis and the aggressive federal immigration crackdown.
“It does nothing but underscores the cynicism people have towards politicians and politics,” the professor said of a public squabble between elected leaders.
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