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The San Antonio City Council voted 10-2 to update the council’s primary policymaking process following a months-long struggle between Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and some members of the council.
Jones and District 4 Councilmember Edward Mungia voted against the changes.
The update to the Council Consideration Request (CCR) ordinance made explicit that it could not be changed without a full council vote and that CCRs do not expire between council terms.
A CCR is a policy proposal. One or more council members will write up a policy idea, earn the support of at least five council members through signatures, and then the policy will move through a committee process until it is either enacted in some form by the full council or voted down somewhere along the way.
Jones attempted to make changes to the CCR process in July which she said would make it more efficient and were within her authority. These included requiring any CCRs from the previous council term to be refiled, even if they were already deep in committee review and early implementation.
Three council members — Teri Castillo, Marina Alderete Gavito, and Marc Whyte — protested and forced a council meeting to discuss the changes, where a clear consensus came out against them. Jones backed down following that meeting, saying in a memo that the full council could consider changes to the CCR process in the new year.
Earlier this month, Jones prevented an animal abandonment ordinance from coming up for a vote because the CCR it originated from was filed in the previous council term. The same three council members again moved to force the item back on the agenda the following week, where it passed with only Jones voting against it.
Finally, Castillo, Alderete Gavito, Whyte, and Councilmember Misty Spears put the CCR ordinance updates up for a vote.
“So imagine being in your last term of office, why would you even file a CCR that could take a year, year and a half, to be worked on, if the minute you're gone and termed out, the CCR expires and the process would have to start over again,” Whyte said.
Whyte said the updates were just clarifications that codified how the process already worked.
Mungia tried and failed to amend the ordinance change to create some situations where a CCR could expire, which he said would be more in line with current practice.
Mungia said he didn’t believe new council members should be obligated to carry on the work of their predecessors that they may not even agree with. Whyte said the new rule wouldn’t require that.
“If the current council members don't like the work that was done previously, they, of course, can vote it down in governance or in the committee process,” Whyte said.
Castillo said the changes would “safeguard that democratic process by ensuring all legally filed policy requests have the opportunity to go through the policymaking process and be voted upon.”
Jones released a statement after the council approved the updates.
“Whether it’s through a CCR or work done through committee, our focus should be on getting things done most efficiently and effectively,” she said. “The recent Animal Abandonment ordinance that was rushed through and led to widespread confusion about its actual effect and implementation is a perfect example of why we need to do our due diligence with all proposed policy changes. I look forward to working with my fellow Council Members on policy changes that address the needs of our community in a timely and effective way.”
