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Three San Antonio City Councilmembers have once again used what was once a rarely employed procedural move to push back against Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones’ policymaking decisions.
Jones had staff withdraw a vote on a new animal abandonment ordinance from Thursday’s council meeting that was 18 months in the making.
In response, District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo, District 7 Councilmember Marina Alderete Gavito — whose policy proposal spawned the proposed ordinance — and District 10 Councilmember Marc Whyte on Friday signed a three-signature memo calling for City Manager Erik Walsh to place the item on next Thursday’s agenda for a vote.
In a statement, Jones said no policies proposed before the new council was sworn in over the summer can move forward without again going through the full policymaking process.
"I appreciate the council members’ advocacy for this legislation, but it is still important to remember that we are a new council and there are several members who did not have an opportunity to review the ordinance,” Jones said. “These council members are skipping an important step in the legislative process. I believe that our new council has the responsibility to review proposals that did not complete the legislative process in the previous session."
In their memo, the three council members said there was no need for the policy to go through a brand-new process.
“This is a public safety issue we’ve been working on for a year and a half. It has been fully vetted through the Council’s established process and is now ready for final action,” their statement said. “Despite the Mayor's attempt to obstruct our legislative process, this policy will move forward. Animal abandonment threatens both residents and animals, and the City should act promptly to adopt this critical protection.”
The three council members first used this method to push back against Jones' broad proposed changes to the Council Consideration Request (CCR) process in July, which they said went beyond what the existing CCR ordinance allowed and what a majority of council desired.
Jones said at the time that the proposal was intended to improve efficiency and transparency and was within her authority but eventually withdrew it after a clear majority of the council voiced their opposition.
The council members’ memo added that Alderete Gavito first submitted her CCR that led to the proposed ordinance in March 2024. In April, the Governance Committee moved it to the Public Safety Committee, which then reviewed it on two separate occasions before staff moved forward with developing the proposed ordinance.
