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San Antonio councilwoman reinstated to council committees after 2025 DWI arrest

District 3 Councilmember Ivalis Meza Gonzalez
Saile Aranda
/
TPR
District 3 Councilmember Ivalis Meza Gonzalez

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District 8 City Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez will rejoin the city council’s Audit, Community Health, and Workforce committees after being removed last year.

In July 2025, about one month after being elected to the council, Meza Gonzalez was arrested for DWI. In September, she was censured by the city council. The censure is a formal reprimand but carries no suspension or removal.

In the last four years, three council members have been arrested for DWI including incumbent District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte and former District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry.

Meza Gonzalez allegedly had a blood alcohol content level of 0.15 which is nearly twice the legal limit in Texas. Her next court appearance is January 27, for a pre-trial hearing.

In a statement, Meza Gonzalez said during her time off of committees, her work for the district did not stop.

"Yesterday, I was reinstated to the Audit, Community Health, and Economic and Workforce Committees," she said in the statement. "While my work for District 8 never paused, I am glad that my formal committee duties have now resumed. I remain fully committed to advancing the priorities of District 8 and working collaboratively with my council colleagues to deliver meaningful results for our neighborhoods and the City of San Antonio."

The city’s structure for policy approval includes a committee system where the 10 members of council and the mayor are divided up into different committees. Each one has oversight and initial greenlighting of policies and initiatives to move forward with further development before full council approval.

In addition to the committee reappointments, the councilwoman was also sworn in to serve on the Bexar Central Appraisal District Board of Directors. She was selected by her fellow council members for the role in December. The appraisal district is separate from the city and Bexar County and is responsible for assessing property values in the county.

“This work is essential to maintaining public trust and ensuring fairness and transparency in a process that impacts families and businesses across our city,” she said.

The board of directors does not directly set property appraisals or tax rates, nor does it vote on them. Instead, the board provides oversight to the agency which has its own chief appraiser that’s selected by the board and also appoints the appraisal review board.

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Joey Palacios can be reached atJoey@TPR.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules