District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez listens as Robert Puente, the President and CEO of San Antonio Water System, speaks during a special meeting at Municipal Plaza Building in San Antonio on Thursday, May 7, 2026.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Ethics Review Board Member Jim Reidy speaks with the rest of the Panel at an Ethics Review Board Panel on July 30, 2026.
Blaine Young/For the Express-News
Outside Counsel Frank Garza speaks to the Panel at an Ethics Review Board Panel on July 30, 2026.
Blaine Young/For the Express-News
Juan Rider Mireles II speaks on his complaint about Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez to the Ethics Review Board Panel on July 30, 2026.
Blaine Young/For the Express-News
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez violated San Antonio’s ethics code when he publicly posted a constituent’s personal email address to his personal Facebook account, a city board ruled Monday night.
A three-member panel of the city’s Ethics Review Board said McKee-Rodriguez violated a section of the ethics code that prohibits city officials from intentionally or recklessly “disclosing confidential information gained by reason of that official’s position.”
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He also broke a section of the code that restricts city officials from unfairly advancing or impeding private interests. Board member Jim Reidy said the councilman used his “official office and position to intimidate and impede a constituents’ participation” when he posted the email address, which Reidy said sparked harassment and threats against the resident.
McKee-Rodriguez was ordered to pay $500 for each violation, the maximum fine the board can levy. He was also issued two letters of reprimand, which is a finding that someone “intentionally or knowingly violated the code of ethics.” It is the harshest of the three letters the board can issue.
“He knew what he was doing,” vice chairman Philip Ryan Garza told reporters. “He was using his platform, and he knew the reactions he would get on social media.”
The fight
San Antonio resident Trisha Thatcher-Garza called the councilman a “monkey” on Facebook when she accused him of ignoring a message she once sent his office. McKee-Rodriguez called the remark racist and posted a screen shot of the response staff sent her in 2024. The image, which has since been deleted but was included in the ethics complaint, included Thatcher-Garza’s email address.
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Juan Rider Mireles II filed a complaint about the incident on June 1 after reading news coverage of the online brawl.
Mireles accused McKee-Rodriguez of several violations under the city’s ethics code, City Council’s code of conduct and the U.S. Constitution. The ethics board has no jurisdiction over potential constitutional violations.
Thatcher-Garza and McKee-Rodriguez publicly made up in June.
“I walked in Mr. Rodriguez’s office this morning not knowing what to expect,” Thatcher-Garza wrote in a Facebook post on June 1. “He gave me the time I asked for without hesitation. I let him see me for me. He listened with sincerity and never judged my honesty.”
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“I know I did not intend it racially but it caused a pain I know I needed to own and fix,” she wrote, referring to her monkey reference in the previous post.
The councilman posted a video the same day apologizing for escalating the argument. He said her comment “hit me pretty hard,” but that didn’t excuse his reaction.
McKee-Rodriguez also said he didn’t condone the threats and hateful remarks some people directed at Thatcher-Garza after the argument played out on social media.
“Looking back, I don’t believe it was a responsible use of my platform,” he said. “I believe her apology is sincere. I believe it was not her intent.”
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He also apologized in a written statement to the board after learning of the allegations against him. He said including her email address in the post was inadvertent — and “it was an error in judgement and should not have been publicly shared.”
The councilman completed training on the Texas Public Information Act on June 3 “to strengthen my understanding of disclosure standards and improve my practices for handling constituent-related information.” The online training was provided by the state.
In August, Thatcher-Garza took to Facebook to condemn the complaint and say that she was not coerced into making amends with the councilman.
“FYI: I don’t even know the individual who filed said complaint and he definitely did not do it on my behalf or with my knowledge,” she said in the post.
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McKee-Rodriguez wanted ethics board members to toss the allegations because they exceeded the 90-day deadline to rule. But they opted to extend their deadline, which the board’s third-party attorney Frank Garza said is allowed under the city’s ethics code.
“It’s unfortunate that the Ethics Review Board is being used as a political tool by conservative political operatives,” McKee-Rodriguez said in statement late Monday. “I look forward to continuing to serve my constituents free from distraction for the rest of my term.”
Mireles espouses conservative opinions on social media, including about gun rights. He declined an interview request at a previous ethics board meeting and did not attend last night’s session.
Past violation
Monday wasn’t McKee-Rodriguez’s first ethics code violations.
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The Ethics Review Board ruled last year that the councilman violated a section of the city’s ethics code prohibiting city officials from using their positions to unfairly impede the interests of private companies or other parties.
He had tried in 2024 to stop a developer from building a semi-truck dealership near a neighborhood in his district.
Converse-based Doggett Freightliner was seeking zoning and land-use changes for a 35-acre property, frustrating residents on the city’s increasingly industrial East Side. McKee-Rodriguez said the neighborhood preferred retail options.
Ahead of a council meeting, McKee-Rodriguez told Doggett Freightliner lobbyist Ken Brown he would delay discussion of the trucking company’s request. Instead, he pushed for a vote to change the property’s zoning to allow for shops and retail development.
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The board concluded McKee-Rodriguez didn’t knowingly violate the ethics code, so it issued him a letter of admonition — the penalty when the board believes an ethics violation was minor or when an official unintentionally ran afoul of the rules. The councilman also had to undergo one-on-one ethics training with the board’s city liaison.
McKee-Rodriguez mended fences with the company before the ruling, and City Council voted to allow Doggett Freightliner to build a dealership, with several concessions to nearby residents.
Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg and council members Marc Whyte and Sukh Kaur have also been reprimanded for various infractions in the past year.