City officials said an independent investigation into Jones’ alleged actions resulting in a complaint being filed against her remains ongoing as of Wednesday.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio City Council will gather at a special meeting Monday morning to discuss the potential censure of Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones after a council representative submitted a complaint against her earlier this month.
No votes or official council action will be taken at Monday’s meeting, city officials emphasized. But it represents the next step towards possible censure, a rare but symbolic action of reprimand, of a mayor who has been in office less than a year.
Only three times since 2000 has a sitting council member faced censure by their colleagues. Two were related to DWI cases involving council members; the other was for an outburst in council chambers.
Five council members submitted a memo on Feb. 9 calling for the possible censure vote against Jones, pointing to “repeated instances of unprofessional conduct” going back to last summer. The most recent, according to the memo submitted to the city clerk’s office: A Feb. 5 incident involving District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur.
That document doesn’t go into detail about what allegedly happened, but Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran told KENS 5 the incident involved Jones and Kaur discussing an agenda item regarding downtown’s Bonham Exchange and whether to allow the historic gay nightclub to remain open despite missing a deadline to install required fire sprinklers.
“When I walked back there, Councilwoman Kaur was very upset,” Viagran told KENS 5 previously. “I did not know until later the reason she was upset. Once we heard the reason, we told her – everyone told her – she had options, and these are the options she wanted to proceed.”
Council members Viagran, Teri Castillo, Marina Alderete Gavito, Ivalies Meza Gonzalez and Misty Spears all signed the memo calling for the meeting to discuss potentially censuring Jones. While their memo requested a special meeting after an external investigation into Jones’ actions has wrapped up, city officials said that investigation was still ongoing as of Wednesday.
Alderete Gavito in a new statement said Monday’s meeting represented “an opportunity to reaffirm that City Hall is a professional work environment.”
No San Antonio mayor has been subjected to a censure vote since Walter W. McAllister in 1970. (That vote failed.)
But Jones’s first eight months as mayor have been frequently contentious, largely when it comes to votes on high-profile items, such as Project Marvel. Last summer also saw Jones sparring with members of council over changes she wanted to make to the policy proposal process—changes that largely didn’t end up going through.
“We all experience difficult days, but when a leader repeatedly fails to meet these standards, it is our duty to hold them accountable in order to preserve the integrity and trust of San Antonio’s government and the people we serve,” the memo submitted by the five council members states.
Jones won elected office for the first time last summer, having previously served as Air Force under secretary when she was appointed by then-President Joe Biden. The mayor said in a statement earlier this month that “it is no secret that I have disagreed with my colleagues at times about what is best for our city,” adding her “style of leadership is grounded in my lived experience.”
“That approach does not always align with the traditional templates of female leaders or my colleagues’ views,” Jones went on to say. “Still, I know we are all committed to engaging with dignity, respect, and compassion. I am disappointed that some of my colleagues felt this was a necessary step, but I hear their feedback and look forward to continuing to work with them to make San Antonio better.”
San Antonio City Council adopted its existing code of conduct in early 2024, when they voted to add it to the City Charter. It emphasizes creating a “safe and productive work environment” and mandates that council members should treat each other with respect, and refrain from “derogatory or harassing remarks or images” as well as personal attacks, verbal abuse or language implying harm.
City officials previously couldn’t give a timeline on when the independent investigation into Kaur’s complaint might be finished.
Monday’s meeting gets underway at 10 a.m.