\u201cBalancing the near-term [needs] with a really strong appreciation for the fiscal s\u2014show that we\u2019re about to experience, trying to be strategic and compassionate, while also doing our due diligence, that is where I am,\u201d Jones said in a recent interview at her office.<\/p>\n
Yet Jones\u2019 first months have hardly been focused on the big threats she\u2019s most worried about.<\/p>\n
She took over leading a council of members with longer local government resumes<\/a> who prefer a more coalition-building approach.<\/p>\n They spent much of her predecessor\u2019s final term stripping power from an already weak mayor\u2019s office, leaving Jones to navigate the role with little traditional political leverage beyond assigning some boards<\/a> and committees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Four months in, disagreements over the mayor\u2019s authority have resulted in weeks-long fights over peafowl protections<\/a> and whether to continue policy proposals submitted<\/a> by members no longer on the council.<\/p>\n Asked whether she miscalculated the mayor\u2019s power when she first arrived, Jones declined to say. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat I knew is that I was going to work hard to serve my community, because I think that\u2019s what my community deserves, and I think there is a lot that can be done when you\u2019re leading the seventh-largest city in the country,\u201d said Jones, who pointed to her recent economic development visit with Taiwanese manufacturers<\/a> and fighting to protect local military installations<\/a> with leaders at the Pentagon as examples of her most impactful work since taking office.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll work within the contours that I have,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n But on a dais full of fellow progressives, the newly empowered council has left Jones standing alone<\/a> on multiple 10-1 procedural votes. She also missed her first shot<\/a> to slow negotiations<\/a> on the downtown Spurs arena \u2014 raising early questions about whether foes can just go around her for the next four years. <\/p>\n \u201cThe people of San Antonio need a council that works together,\u201d said recent interim District 2 Councilman Leo Castillo-Anguiano<\/a>, one of Jones\u2019 few reliable allies and an outspoken critic of the arena deal. <\/p>\n \u201cI do think that I see a consensus within council. \u2026 [But] if people know that you as a council cannot work together \u2026 they\u2019re going to start picking and choosing who they want in and who they want out.\u201d<\/p>\n Those close to the mayor say she\u2019s working rapidly behind the scenes to bring others on board in a city largely in agreement about its major challenges but reticent to put its trust in a newcomer to solve them.<\/p>\n The balance of power<\/p>\n The pushback comes as little surprise, said former Westside Councilman Juan Solis, who has observed many structural changes in San Antonio\u2019s decades-long effort to rebalance traditional power structures with a financially vulnerable community.<\/p>\n From single-member districts in the 1970s, to professional salaries in 2015<\/a> allowing a wider variety of people to serve, Solis said many shifts now celebrated as progress came with growing pains at the time. <\/p>\n This year voters overwhelmingly<\/a> bought into Jones\u2019 populist approach during the mayoral election.<\/p>\n Yet her early months have been dogged with criticism from insiders who wanted someone in the mold of the charming (often male) mayors of recent past, and now point to Jones\u2019 struggles<\/a> building consensus as evidence she can\u2019t lead.<\/p>\n Regardless of their popularity, the last council felt too-powerful mayors could bypass the will of the people, so they dusted off a little-used policy to put items on the agenda with as few as two colleagues\u2019 support.<\/p>\n They also amended the city code<\/a> to make sure their ideas move through the committee process whether the mayor wants them to or not.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore [Jones took over], the manager and the mayor were kind of big,\u201d Solis said. \u201cThe mayor wanted to get something done, the manager said \u2018Sure, let me make sure I get this done and work with the council members accordingly.\u2019<\/p>\n Now, you\u2019re seeing the possibility that [city staff has] to work with council members because of that new three-person rule. \u2026 So who gets priority?\u201d<\/p>\n So far, the answer hasn\u2019t been Jones.<\/p>\n Over the council\u2019s July recess, an unexpected email from the new mayor\u2019s office informed members of new policy-making procedures<\/a> that Jones believed would improve their workflow \u2014 identifying costs before a project starts, determining whether a solution could be reached without a new policy, and resubmitting pending policies to be reviewed by the new council.<\/p>\n But council members pushed back, using three-signature memos to air their grievances<\/a> and continue agendizing proposals anyway, including a new policy<\/a> ensuring any further workflow changes must first go to them for approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked about the early power struggle with council, Jones brushed it off as a distraction from the issues San Antonians care most about. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m focused on the people, not the petty,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s real s\u2014 we should be focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n But it\u2019s all happening against the backdrop of a government where most day-to-day operations are overseen by the city manager \u2014 opening up a political path for major, city-shaping ideas to move with any six council members\u2019 support.<\/p>\n Take the Spurs arena plan, which started long before Jones\u2019 time at City Hall, but against her wishes received most of the permissions needed to move forward during her administration.<\/p>\n City Manager Erik Walsh is now one of the most highly paid city executives<\/a> in the state of Texas with no limits on his contract, thanks to an expensive campaign the business community helped bankroll last year, plus unilateral authority to sign off<\/a> on contracts up to $2.5 million.<\/p>\n He hashed out a term sheet with the team\u2019s owners and said enough members called him asking to put it for a vote, which passed 7-4.<\/p>\n \u201cYou either trust this team \u2026 or you don\u2019t,\u201d said Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3), one of the members most adamant about not delaying the deal.<\/p>\n Focus on the numbers<\/p>\n Jones now lives in a world where much hinges on her ability to court allies and build alliances \u2014 a clear challenge for a leader who more often relies on wit than charm.<\/p>\n She entered the mayor\u2019s race with more national political allies than local ones, but quickly caught attention from longtime organizers with her biting criticism of a potentially $4 billion sports and entertainment district known as Project Marvel.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t know her from the past [congressional races]\u2026 but I heard her in an environmental justice debate and I was impressed,\u201d said Esperanza Peace and Justice Center leader Graciela Sanchez, who added that Jones was trying to track down UTSA Professor Heywood Sanders\u2019 book<\/a> questioning the promised economic benefits of major development projects. \u201cI was like, \u2018Oh, who is this person that\u2019s interested in learning what Heywood has to say about convention centers?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 questioning of the math helped her stand out from the pack and turned out to be good politics, according to Jones\u2019 campaign pollster<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201c[My approach is] different from how it\u2019s been done, but I think that\u2019s why I was voted in, because I have that range of experiences, and a set of values that I think very much marry up with this community,\u201d Jones said in a recent interview. \u201c[That includes] asking the tough questions and not being scared about the answers.\u201d<\/p>\n Now that she\u2019s secured the role, however, Jones\u2019 tendency toward data and research has started to cut both ways.<\/p>\n In nearly every interview she does her homework to make her case, for example, an economic development study from the national consulting firm<\/a> McKinsey & Company, and a state list of flood control projects she\u2019s built her priorities around for the next infrastructure bond. <\/p>\n But for those who\u2019ve been working on such issues for years, it can feel dismissive and out-of-touch.<\/p>\n Most notably her continued insistence<\/a> that the city needs an independent economic impact study on Project Marvel has roiled some who worry her roadblocks will push the team will leave San Antonio \u2014 and cast Jones as an outsider unconcerned with whether they stay. <\/p>\n Jones said she\u2019s learning and evolving. She\u2019s meeting with residents and stakeholders around the city, including those who want to see a more collaborative approach.<\/p>\n \u201cFeedback is good, whether I get it from a town hall or business leaders,\u201d she told the Report. \u201cI also think it\u2019s been helpful for them to hear from me, and what I\u2019m working to accomplish, because I think sometimes that may not come across.\u201d<\/p>\n Gathered with some of the city\u2019s biggest political donors and lobbyists at the private Club Giraud<\/a> last month, she delivered her thoughts through a new lens.<\/p>\n Jones described what keeps her up at night as mayor: Flattening city revenue and stagnant wages for residents at a time when federal cuts are about to decimate Metro Health\u2019s budget, like many other social safety-net type programs.<\/p>\n Against the federal backdrop, Jones says she\u2019s not against the city helping downtown development through a new sports and entertainment district, but she wants San Antonio to be a more shrewd negotiator.<\/p>\n \u201cLots of analysis shows the most lucrative aspects of those deals are on the naming rights, the parking and the concessions,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThere is no appetite to raise the property tax. So how else do we meet the [city\u2019s growing] needs?\u201d<\/p>\n Much of that is already spelled out in the term sheet the council agreed to last month, which hinges on Bexar County voters\u2019 approval of Prop. B on Nov. 4<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Jones is asking the city not to issue bonds for its portion of the arena funding without a public vote sometime in 2027 \u2014 something city staff says isn\u2019t legally required, and which she\u2019d still need colleagues who green-lit the other deal to agree to.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more time to negotiate, right?\u201d Jones said of the idea. \u201cWe will have a clearer understanding of just how dire our financial circumstances are \u2026 [and] more information from the independent economic study. \u2026 All of those things are needed given the size of this investment.\u201d<\/p>\n Naturally, said Louis Escare\u00f1o, an attorney and LGBTQ+ chamber leader who is among the rare business leaders in the mayor\u2019s inner circle, it\u2019s tough to be the bearer of bad news.<\/p>\n Of the five Texas cities using Project Finance Zones to pay for venue projects, Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson wrote<\/a>, Jones is the only mayor asking for her own numbers.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s raising some really legitimate questions, and are they hard questions? Absolutely,\u201d said Escare\u00f1o, who pointed to the city\u2019s visceral reaction to a December 2024 Texas Monthly story<\/a> asking why San Antonio is a boomtown that\u2019s still plagued by poverty. \u201cIt\u2019s painful to hear we\u2019re poor.\u201d<\/p>\n But Escare\u00f1o stressed the impact Jones has when speaking from the heart about the broader fiscal landscape in front of audiences that understand executive-level responsibilities.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish there had been cameras in the room. I wish that was recorded,\u201d he said of the Club Giraud fundraiser. \u201c[They] got to see the person that I know, and that people have voted for, who is deeply committed to making a difference and to doing things differently than they\u2019ve been done in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Moving the ball forward\u2019<\/p>\n On her desk in the mayor\u2019s office, Jones keeps a mug from her time at the U.S. Army\u2019s School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), an elite program with alumni who refer to themselves as the Jedi Knights.<\/p>\n The program is known for producing generals, Jones said, but she was admitted as a civilian while working for the Defense Intelligence Agency before she went on to become Air Force undersecretary. She believes it\u2019s also good training for some of the many challenges now facing San Antonio.<\/p>\n \u201cMy entire career has been in national security, where you better have done your due diligence, otherwise you lose all your credibility, or more importantly, lives are lost,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThat\u2019s the seriousness with which I approach this job, and I think that\u2019s what the people deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WinnerYu_GinaOrtizJones_AllenCheng_TaiwanAdvanced_ElectricalManufacturing_01_08.28.2025_AmberEsparza.jpeg\")
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, center, thanks Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers\u2019 Association chairman Winner Yu, left, Allen Cheng of Taiwan Eastbound Alliance and other Taiwanese delegates for visiting San Antonio before their meal at Best Quality Daughter on Thursday, Aug. 28. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/CityCouncil_23_07.25.2025_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
City Council chambers during a special session to discuss financing options and a timeline for Project Marvel on Friday, July 25. Credit: Amber Esparza for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ErikWalsh_GovernmentShutdown_02_AmberEsparza_10.01.2025.jpg\")
San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh comments on the government shutdown at a press conference on Oct. 1. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Griselda.jpg\")
Graciela Sanchez speaks while members of No! Project Marvel stand behind her with signs outside the Alamodome during a protest on Aug. 4. Credit: Diego Medel \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2025-09-06-2025-09-06-spurs-win-together-props-a-b-campaign-BY-0549.jpg\")
Peter J. Holt, chairman of Spurs Sports and Entertainment, speaks at the \u201cWin Together\u201d campaign kickoff rally on Sept. 6. Credit: Blaine Young for the San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GinaOrtizJones_ProjectMarvel_04_AmberEsparza.jpg\")
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones calls for an \u201cindependent economic analysis\u201d of the Spurs downtown arena project at a press conference about Project Marvel on Aug. 18. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n