San Antonio City Council to hold vote of no confidence and censure of Councilman Mario Bravo

The San Antonio City Council plans to vote next week to censure District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo following his September verbal attack on District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval.

The City Council resolution states, "Bravo's behavior has negatively impacted his and the City Council's ability to conduct its business leading to the City Council to lose confidence in his ability to act as an effective colleague on City Council."

Bravo lashed out at Sandoval after she did not back his proposal over the distribution of the CPS Energy surplus revenue. The pair previously dated.

In an area only open to council members and city staff, Bravo said on September 15th that her actions illustrated why their relationship ended and why he did not want to have children with her. Sandoval cried in response, as initially reported by the San Antonio Express-News. Bravo later apologized to all parties.

Bravo was removed from his committee assignments and external appointments by San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg while an investigation was completed

Shortly after the outburst, the city began an investigation and hired outside counsel Natalie C. Rougeux to conduct it.

According to documents obtained by TPR via an open records request, the city agreed to pay Rougeux approximately $330 per hour and a support staff member $160 per hour in conducting the investigation. The number of hours they worked however is not immediately clear.

The resolution says Bravo’s actions and statements “Demonstrated a lack of professionalism and decorum” and the investigator hired by the city determined they violated administrative directives on harassment and violence in the workplace.

To pass, the resolution must receive a vote of 8 council members, which is two more than the usual majority vote needed to pass most council decisions.

The vote to censure Bravo is scheduled for Thursday November 10th.

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