San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wins victory in battle to curb council NDAs

San Antonio City Hall on a summer evening. Credit: Michael Karlis

San Antonio City Council on Thursday unanimously passed an amendment to the city charter proposed by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones that encourages members of the body to steer clear of non-disclosure agreements.

The item had no discussion and passed as part of the consent agenda.

“The public now has a very clear understanding of when NDAs are entered into and why they are,” Jones said moments before the vote.

The amendment states that council members are “strongly encouraged” not to sign NDAs, or binding confidentiality agreements between two or more parties. Members are also now required to inform the city attorney if they do sign such an agreement.

Jones’ amendment stemmed from unproven claims on the campaign trail that council members signed NDAs about Project Marvel. Jones said signing such agreements about the massive project displayed a lack of transparency and did a disservice to the public.

Updating the city’s code of ethics regarding NDAs was also a promise that Jones made to carry out during her first 100 days in office.

In comments Thursday, Jones acknowledged that no council member signed an NDA related to Project Marvel.

Even so, the mayor said there was a previous incident during which some council members signed NDAs without the public’s knowledge. She didn’t elaborate on details of that alleged incident.

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San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones wins victory in battle to curb council NDAs

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