{"id":70512,"date":"2025-07-17T18:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/70512\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T18:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T18:01:10","slug":"jones-lays-plans-to-vet-councils-policy-proposals-and-limit-leaks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/70512\/","title":{"rendered":"Jones lays plans to ‘vet’ council’s policy proposals and limit leaks"},"content":{"rendered":"

In her first weeks on the job, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is laying out plans to \u2018vet\u2019 policy proposals before they\u2019re discussed by council committees and limit leaks from closed-door meetings.<\/p>\n

So far the <\/strong>ideas haven\u2019t gone over well with council members \u2014 many of whom have served on the dais longer than Jones \u2014 and weren\u2019t consulted before the policies were unveiled.<\/p>\n

Three returning members penned a response<\/a> Wednesday saying Jones doesn\u2019t have the authority to make such changes unilaterally, and that they plan to ignore her directions until the full council has had a chance to discuss them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dangerous precedent,\u201d said Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7). \u201cIf we were to have Republican mayor, it could mean that council members from Democratic districts would be forced to funnel their ideas through a chief of staff who may not align with their constituents\u2019 values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones, a Democrat, is one of San Antonio\u2019s few mayors to come into the role without having served on the council, and was sworn in<\/a> just before the council\u2019s annual July recess.<\/p>\n

Even before she took over, council members had been pushing to claw back power from the mayor\u2019s office,<\/a> accusing then-Mayor Ron Nirenberg of stalling their policy proposals and shutting down several members\u2019 requests for a meeting to discuss a cease-fire resolution.<\/p>\n

On Monday, those tensions were quickly reignited when Jones issued a three-page memo<\/a> laying out new parameters for how council members develop their policy proposals, known as Council Consideration Requests (CCRs), and a restructure of the council committees that policies move through. <\/p>\n

In the interest of \u201cmore informed and efficient\u201d policy making, Jones said she wanted her staff to be included as all CCRs are developed.<\/p>\n

She also called for policy proposals to be assessed for budget implications before they\u2019re discussed by a council committee \u2014 among other changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the key roles of the mayor\u2019s office is to establish the council committee framework,\u201d Jones wrote. \u201d \u2026 Tied to the effectiveness of the committees is the process by which we manage and vet Council Consideration Requests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones was among five new leaders sworn in on July 18, along with six returning City Council members. Credit: Amber Esparza for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Council members were quick to argue that CCRs are an important vehicle for elected officials to bring forward issues that constituents want addressed, and that Jones\u2019 plan would give the mayor and city staff too much power to shut down ideas they don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n

In a written response to Jones on Wednesday, Alderete Gavito, Teri Castillo (D5), and Marc Whyte (D10) said the mayor\u2019s plans also exceed her legal authority \u2014 pointing to the council\u2019s 18-month fight to amend the city\u2019s CCR ordinance under Jones\u2019 predecessor.<\/p>\n

Alderete Gavito and Whyte are both in their second term on the council, while Castillo is among its most senior members, and a longtime hawk when it comes to separation of powers.<\/p>\n

The existing CCR process is codified in city ordinance, they wrote, which can\u2019t be changed unilaterally. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you wish to change the CCR procedures, we request that you go through the proper channels \u2026 and bring forth your proposed recommendations to the full council for consideration and a vote,\u201d the members wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this time, we intend to continue to follow the procedures set forth in the current city CCR ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stamping out leaks<\/p>\n

In her first weeks on the job, Jones, who served in the top ranks of the U.S. Military, has also sought to limit leaks from closed-door meetings about sensitive matters or legal issues.<\/p>\n

During the council\u2019s first executive session meeting, Jones asked council members to put their cell phones in a basket, saying such a policy is commonplace at the Pentagon, according to a council member who requested anonymity to speak candidly. <\/p>\n

While some members agreed the plan was needed to protect the integrity of such meetings, others were upset, the council member said. <\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 office did not respond to a request for comment on the cell phone policy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In her first weeks on the job, San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is laying out plans to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":70513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,49498,49499,49500,49501,21469,7202,40658,7203,49502,358,7453,3187,7815,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,11887],"class_list":{"0":"post-70512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ccr","10":"tag-council-consideration-request","11":"tag-marc-whyte","12":"tag-marina-alderete-gavito","13":"tag-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones","14":"tag-san-antonio","15":"tag-san-antonio-city-council","16":"tag-sanantonio","17":"tag-teri-castillo","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-top-story","20":"tag-tx","21":"tag-typedaily","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa","28":"tag-wc-less-than-500"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}