SAN ANTONIO — A power struggle is unfolding at City Hall as three city council members push back against Mayor Gina Ortiz-Jones’ decision to remove an animal abandonment ordinance from the council agenda.
Council members Teri Castillo, Marc Whyte, and District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito submitted a memorandum to the city manager on Friday, insisting that the ordinance be put to a vote.
Gavito expressed her frustration, saying, “You know, I served two years under Mayor Ron Nirenberg, and this never occurred.”
The procedural move by the council members is rare but has already been used twice in Mayor Ortiz-Jones’s nearly three months in office.
The first instance was when the mayor attempted to change how council members propose ideas through council consideration requests (CCRs).
The second instance occurred after the mayor blocked Gavito’s initiative to fine individuals who abandon animals.
“None of us should be okay with people abandoning animals on our streets or at the HEB parking lot. Again, this was a simple fix to hold these people accountable,” Gavito said.
A spokesperson for the mayor stated that Gavito’s initiative “expired” with the election of a new council, despite more than a year of work having been done to fine-tune it. Gavito and Whyte disagree with the mayor’s stance.
Marc Whyte challenged the mayor’s position, saying, “Yeah, show me anywhere where there’s an expired CCR provision in any city code, right? As you know, we have a city ordinance that governs the CCR process. There is no such thing as an expired CCR. The fact that we worked on this new policy prior to this mayor getting here does not mean that all of that work should just be thrown out the window.”
In response, the mayor stated, “All items must be reviewed by the new governance committee, and this ordinance did not go through the new committee.”
The proposed ordinance is set to be discussed during the next council meeting on Thursday. The situation remains fluid as questions linger about the likelihood of the ordinance being voted on and whether other items will need to undergo a new governance committee process.