City Council will decide on Friday whether to censure Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones following weeks of tension.
SAN ANTONIO — All eyes are on City Hall as San Antonio council members prepare to decide whether to censure Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones Friday.
The vote follows weeks of tension and a closed-door discussion Monday on a complaint filed Feb. 5.
It started when five City Council members submitted a memo calling for a possible censure vote against the mayor.
The claims go back as far as last summer but the most recent, according to the memo, points to a Feb. 5 incident involving District 1 Councilmember Sukh Kaur. Specifically, whether downtown’s Bonham Exchange could stay open despite missing a deadline to install required fire sprinklers.
An investigation into the mayor’s conduct was done, though the results of that investigation were not released or spoken about publicly.
Ahead of the meeting, the mayor issued a statement saying she is willling to step aside from the Governance Committee for a period of three months. The full statement is below:
“The morning of February 5th, 2026, we were discussing a public safety issue, and I was squarely on the side of the Fire Chief. The Fire Chief determined the occupancy of the Bonham Exchange needed to be reduced in the interest of public safety. And, frankly, that was all I needed to hear.
As the Mayor, the Chief Elected Officer of this City, I take seriously our responsibility to keep our community safe. That is in fact our number one responsibility.
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, we have seen too many tragedies at LGBTQ+ establishments, and I could not—would not—unnecessarily place the lives of patrons, employees, and potentially firefighters in harm’s way.
I became passionate that morning because I firmly believe public safety is our number one responsibility. I should not have raised my voice at my colleague, and I should not have used profanity. I apologize for doing so.
Specific to the resolution before you, in the interest of moving forward and focusing on the people’s work, I agree to step aside from the Governance Committee for a period of three months starting today. Additionally, I will participate in in-person leadership training next week.
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. When the date and time of that training is finalized, I will share those, and I invite each of you to join me.
As I have previously shared, I have already shared with Councilwoman Kaur a written apology, and earlier this week, I shared a public apology. Again, this morning, Councilwoman Kaur, I apologize.
I sincerely hope we can move past this, and I look forward to working with each of you to better our City.”
The mayor apologized earlier this week for that interaction with Councilwoman Kaur.
“I should not have raised my voice and I should not have used profanity. And for that, I apologize,” said Ortiz Jones.
If a censure were to happen, it’s more of a formal and symbolic reprimand and it wouldn’t remove Jones from office.
It could, however, impact City Council dynamics moving forward. Part of the resolution also calls for leadership training for the mayor.
Right before that meeting, the mayor held a press conference announcing a new voting commission to increase voter participation in San Antonio.