SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The San Antonio City Council will vote on whether to censure Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones on Friday for being \u201cverbally abusive\u201d in a confrontation with Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1) as well as other, unspecified \u201cinappropriate interactions.\u201d <\/p>\n
The incident with Kaur took place in a break room on the morning of a Feb. 5 city council meeting and stemmed from an agenda item about the Bonham Exchange and fire sprinkler<\/a> regulations. Kaur filed a complaint on Feb. 9 under the city council code of conduct. <\/p>\n In the complaint, which the city released Monday night, Kaur claims Jones \u201cused profanity, abusive language, and intimidating behavior directed at me and in close proximity to others in the room,\u201d according to a copy of her complaint.<\/p>\n According to her complaint, City Manager Erik Walsh, Assistant City Manager John Peterek, and Jones\u2019 deputy chief of staff, Pat Wallace, were present during the incident. <\/p>\n \u201cI believe the behavior was of such serious nature and scope that it merits an independent investigation to determine whether the Mayor violated the Code of Conduct, specifically the requirements to treat others with respect and refrain from derogatory remarks, profanity, or personal attacks,\u201d Kaur wrote in her complaint, specifying the investigation should also determine if any workplace administrative directives referenced in the code had been violated.<\/p>\n A memo for Friday\u2019s meeting states a resulting investigation by outside counsel found Jones statements and actions on Feb. 5 violated the code of conduct as well as city administrative directives on equal employment opportunity\/anti-harassment<\/a> and violence in the workplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n Neither Kaur\u2019s complaint nor the memo specifies what the mayor said or did, and the findings of the resulting investigation have not yet been made public.<\/p>\n The proposed censure resolution, which was posted online<\/a> Monday night, states Jones was \u201cverbally abusive\u201d and censures her \u201dfor her unacceptable conduct towards a fellow Councilmember on February 5, 2026, and for prior inappropriate interactions with councilmembers, city staff and constituents.\u201d <\/p>\n The memo does not specify what those other \u201cinappropriate interactions\u201d are.<\/p>\n The proposed resolution also calls for Jones to issue Kaur a written apology, participate in in-person leadership training, and to step aside as chairwoman of the Governance Committee until she has either completed the training or three months have passed \u2014 whichever is longer.<\/p>\n On the same day Kaur submitted her complaint, five councilwomen<\/a> submitted a memo requesting a meeting to possibly censure Jones following the investigation into the complaint. <\/p>\n They also wrote there have been \u201crepeated instances of unprofessional conduct\u201d involving the mayor, which were also not specified in the memo.<\/p>\n The city council met for more than two hours in a closed-door executive session during a special meeting Monday to discuss the results of the outside investigation into Kaur\u2019s complaint. <\/p>\n Neither Kaur nor Jones attended the meeting, nor did Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9), whose spokesman said she was in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), the mayor pro-tem for the meeting in Jones\u2019 absence, said after the closed-door discussion that council members were requesting a special meeting on Friday to possibly take action on the censure of Jones.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s meeting was specifically about a complaint and a pattern of behavior that council members have identified. This has nothing to do with our support for the mayor or a lack of support for the mayor. I think we all want to work together. We all want what\u2019s best for the city,\u201d McKee-Rodriguez told reporters.<\/p>\n On its own, a censure vote is a largely symbolic gesture, publicly rebuking an elected official for their actions without actually taking away any of their power. <\/p>\n However, the proposed resolution calls for Jones to temporarily forfeit her seat as the chairwoman of the City Council Governance Committee, a key stop in sorting council members\u2019 policy proposals.<\/p>\n There have been multiple censure votes or similar forms of public rebuke in the past four years, most of which were related to arrests for driving while intoxicated.<\/p>\n KSAT has reached out to the mayor\u2019s spokesman for comment, but has not yet received a response as of publishing.<\/p>\n However, in an interview on Texas Public Radio\u2019s The Source<\/a> shortly after Monday\u2019s council meeting, Jones admitted to using an \u201cf-bomb,\u201d raising her voice and pointing to \u201clocations\u201d during the incident with Kaur.<\/p>\n \u201cI in no way personally berated her. I did not use derogatory language. I did not do those things,” Jones said.<\/p>\n Reached via text for comment Monday, Kaur told KSAT, \u201cTo maintain the integrity of the process based on an external, independent investigation, I am recusing myself from this week\u2019s meetings regarding the censure. I will release an official statement following Friday\u2019s vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Councilwoman Marina Alderete-Gavito (D7) was one of the councilwomen to push for a censure vote. A spokesman released a statement from her following Monday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an opportunity to reaffirm our shared commitment to professionalism and respect at City Hall, which are fundamental to serving our community. Our code of conduct sets clear expectations, and upholding them is essential to accountability and to maintain the public\u2019s trust,\u201d the councilwoman said.<\/p>\n BONHAM EXCHANGE<\/p>\n With the help of McKee-Rodriguez and Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5), Kaur had forced a vote onto the Feb. 5 council agenda meant to give the Bonham Exchange, a historic gay bar in downtown San Antonio, more time to install a sprinkler system without cutting how many people it lets through, an issue that nearly closed the bar.<\/p>\n The bar was supposed to install sprinklers or reduce its occupancy to under 300 people by October 2023, following a 2018 change to the fire code. <\/p>\n The city signed agreements with other non-compliant bars and nightclubs to lower their occupancy while they came into compliance. <\/p>\n However, the club\u2019s general manager and co-owner, Joan Duckworth, told KSAT<\/a> they wouldn\u2019t be able to keep the doors open with that number of people.<\/p>\n Without an agreement, the club faced being shut down at the end of January, but that was put on hold until after the council could vote on an extension. <\/p>\n But in a twist, Duckworth signed an agreement with the city before the vote could happen. The deal reduced operations to one floor and lowered its capacity from 686 to 299, then to 343, as a sprinkler system is installed.<\/p>\n One of her attorneys, Javier Guerra, told KSAT that the mayor had called Duckworth the night before the vote. <\/p>\n \u201cShe put a lot of pressure on Joan, telling her people were going to die, firefighters could die, club patrons could die because of this, and \u2018you really need to limit the capacity and sign this consent agreement,\u2019\u201d Guerra said.<\/p>\n On the day of the vote, Guerra said, they met with the mayor\u2019s people and agreed to limit the capacity because the mayor promised to raise the money for the $550,000 sprinkler system.<\/p>\n The signed deal made the extension vote moot, and the council did not vote on it.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this has always, for me, been about making sure that that place is safe. And I think we got to a resolution that helps do that. And now I\u2019m on the hook for helping to raise money,\u201d Jones told reporters after the Feb. 5 meeting, \u201cbut I know the community will rally to make sure that the Bonham Exchange continues to operate for another 40 years, right?\u201d<\/p>\n RECENT CENSURES<\/p>\n Council members do not have the power to remove another member from office, barring criminal convictions involving \u201cmoral turpitude,<\/a>\u201d though voters can petition for a recall election.<\/p>\n Still, four council members have faced censure or a vote of no confidence in the past four years with varying repercussions.<\/p>\n Then-District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo<\/a> was censured and given a vote of no confidence in November 2022 after an angry confrontation with then-District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval, his former romantic partner.<\/p>\n Bravo lost his reelection bid<\/a> to Sukh Kaur seven months later.<\/p>\n A few days later, then-District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry<\/a> was handed his own vote of no confidence following a drunken hit-and-run crash. His council colleagues, however, scrapped a call for his resignation.<\/p>\n Perry ultimately pleaded \u201cno contest\u201d<\/a> to misdemeanor charges for driving while intoxicated (DWI) and failure to stop and provide information. He did not seek a fourth and final term.<\/p>\n Current District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte<\/a> urged his council colleagues to censure him in January 2024 following his DWI arrest, which they did.<\/p>\n He eventually pleaded \u201cno contest\u201d<\/a> to a non-DWI charge, obstruction of a highway and was reelected<\/a> to a second term in May 2025.<\/p>\n District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez<\/a> was censured in September 2025 following her own DWI arrest.<\/p>\n