SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio City Council voted to add a code of conduct to its city charter Thursday, but it wasn't without opposition.
The ordinance passed in an 8-2 vote among council members, with Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and Teri Castillo voting against, and is effective immediately.
The approval came three separate votes to censure council members over the last 16 months, including former councilmen Mario Bravo and Clayton Perry. Current District 10 representative Marc Whyte was also censured after he was arrested on suspicion of DWI in December.
"Frankly, I think it's long overdue," said Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito. "This ordinance sets the tone for effective and efficient council meetings moving forward, and paves the way for us to be able to focus on the business at hand without being distracted with things that have no place in City Hall.”
The four-page ordinance emphasizes foster safe and productive work environments; forbids City Council members from engaging in personal attacks, verbal abuse or threats; requires them to disclose romantic relationships with city employees that began before their tenure; and codifies using Robert's Rules of Order during meetings.
It also outlines potential disciplinary measures, creating a structure for how complaints would be handled upon their filing and requiring that they be reviewed by the city attorney within 10 business days. The council body would then "be brief on the matter to determine what, if any, action is appropriate if a violation has occurred."
It also includes a clause on the removal of council members, which is something they currently have limited power to do.
“This council as we stand right now, needs to reinvest in our public and let them know we have a set of values that we prescribe to," said council member Adriana Rocha Garcia, who spearheaded the code of conduct proposal.
According to the proposed code, all complaints would need to be made in writing to the city manager. At that point, an investigation could begin against the council member in question.
'It's a bit concerning'
The ordinance wasn't without criticism, however—and that criticism first came from Bravo himself, who was voted out of office last year, the result of his being censured in 2022 after he berated then-City Council member and former partner Ana Sandoval during a political dispute.
In the public comments section of the conversation Thursday, Bravo spoke for several minutes, sharing concerns that the ordinance as it stands "sets up a separate legal system for future trials of your peers" while only indirectly referencing his own disciplinary action accepted as a council member.
“When you don’t spell out the rights of the accused, what I have unfortunately learned is you run the risk of the accused having no rights whatsoever," Bravo said.
He specifically pointed out that the code of conduct didn't specify the timelines of investigations; who makes determinations on who is and isn't interviewed during those investigations; and how council members would prevent coercion during trials.
He also took issue with enforcement practices as outline in the ordinance.
"A written letter of reprimand, a censure vote, and a public call for resignation are all forms of public shaming," Bravo said.
The former council member, who represented District 1 for two years, also noted that constituents already have the ability to initiate recall elections if they have lost trust in a City Council member—a fact that was echoed by Castillo, one of the ordinance's two opponents.
The District 5 representative wondered to her colleagues where the line was when it comes to criticism, and if the ordinance could potentially violate First Amendment rights.
“There’s a number of moving pieces in here that I think should have us all raising questions about the democratic process locally," Castillo said.
Specifically, she said the section of the ordinance forbidding personal attacks and threats was "not defined" in its parameters and needed to be further specified lest it be potentially weaponized.
"It’s up for interpretation and gives me concern about censorships," Castillo added. "We’ve seen how censure has been used to challenge those who challenge the status quo... it’s often minorities and women of color who are reprimanded for not getting along. It’s a bit concerning.”
McKee-Rodriguez agreed with his colleague, saying the ordinance as approved "can be used as a tool for political gain" in the future.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who was in support of the ordinance, said the primary issues of concern were ones best reserved for a legal setting, should that situation arise, and not in the ordinance itself. Rocha Garcia, meanwhile, remarked that the code of conduct is a "starting point" that can be modified in the future.
"That’s the beauty of an ordinance: It can be amended at any time," she said. "This is definitely one of those documents that has much more to consider.”
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