The Midweek #68: A Year of Misfires by Mayor Jones. Will Year Two Be Different?

It’s official: Gina Jones has survived her first year in office as mayor of San Antonio. It’s been a cage fight at city hall, at times painful for citizens, the media, and other onlookers to watch, and for the mayor and the 10 council members in the ring with her, surely painful to experience.

If prediction markets – a euphemism for gambling sites – were issuing calculations for year two, my guess is that a prediction of Jones’ future would fall below the 50% mark. People betting against her would probably score.

Year one has been befuddling from the outset. It began with Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones sending out an all-hands email announcing that she was dropping Ortiz from her name, and expected everyone else to do so, now that she was in office and no longer on the campaign trail. She specifically directed, if memory serves, that she be referred to as Mayor Jones. 

I wish she had learned more from those who held the office before her. When my family returned to Texas and set roots in San Antonio 37 years ago, Henry had just left the house, and his successor, Lila, was busy twisting arms in the private sector so the New Year’s Eve fireworks show at Hemisfair could go on, despite empty city coffers. Lila was followed by Nelson. Then came Bill, Howard, Ed, Phil, Julián, Ivy and Ron. Those mayors had last names, but they chose to be on a first name basis with the people they served.

It was a tradition that conveyed a certain South Texas informality, much as people trade business suits for guayaberas in the hot summer months. Comfort, not formality, has always been the custom. Acting with openness and transparency go hand-in-hand with this city’s more relaxed posture and body language. Trust is easier to build when people feel they know their leaders.

Gina, we don’t really know you, and we don’t feel like you know us. Does that matter to you? It should. I’d even say it’s necessary if you are going to experience the coming year differently than you experienced this past year.

Governing is hard on officeholders, and often enough, the decisions they make are hard on taxpayers. We are in such a time right now, and leaner times lie ahead. I remind myself that cities, like economies, go through cycles, and right now we are experiencing a down cycle: reduced property tax collections, flat sales tax revenues, rising utility bills, persistent inflation affecting consumers at the grocery store, gas pumps, and restaurants. New cars and trucks? Forget about it.

The selfies and unending staff photos of a smiling Mayor Jones, surrounded by supportive comrades, belie the reality that this is a mayor who has lost vote after vote, some by a 10-1 margin, which appears to be a first in this city, at least reaching back through the last 10 mayors. 

Early in her tenure, Jones unilaterally announced via memo that she was changing the so-called Council Consideration Request (CCR) procedures, the mechanism that allows council members to place a policy issue on the council's agenda for study, discussion, and possible action. The mayor granted herself greater control over the official council agenda without consulting her colleagues, much less asking them to vote on it. But the majority of council members overrode the mayor’s memo and, by a 9-2 vote, passed an ordinance requiring any proposed changes to CCR procedures to require council approval. 

It was a forceful message to Mayor Jones: San Antonio is not a strong mayor form of municipal government. Her vote counts for one, just like the vote wielded by the 10 council members.

That vote came the week after Jones lost another vote by a 10-1 margin when council members created a more aggressive system of fines to impose on irresponsible pet owners. Her vote against the protective measures took place in a city with an epidemic level of stray dogs and cats, repeated dangerous dog attacks on people, and growing public frustration with the city’s Animal Control Services (ACS) department and its less-than-stellar response and enforcement record.

Shortly after council members pushed back against Jones’ “I’m in charge here” memo on the CCR issue, council members thwarted the mayor’s efforts to stop Project Marvel from moving forward without a new series of concessions from the Spurs. Despite her efforts, the term sheet negotiated by city staff with the Spurs went 7-4 against her. In hindsight, it can be seen as a prelude to the November election when county voters approved Propositions A and B in support of a new downtown arena at Hemisfair for the Spurs and an expanded San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo complex on the Eastside.

Another 10-1 vote came in October last year when Jones nominated District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo to represent the city on the Bexar County Appraisal Board. Castillo, who had not been recruited to the job or apprised of the mayor’s intent, declined the appointment, an embarrassment for the mayor. It grew worse when council members instead nominated District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez. Final vote: 10-1 in favor of Meza Gonzalez.

Many longtime city hall watchers have never witnessed the spectacle of a mayor rejected so forcefully while losing multiple public standoffs with the council she is sworn to lead. It would happen again in May of this year when staff put forth its proposals for hiring consultants to manage Project Marvel as it comes off the drawing board and serious design and construction is undertaken. One $6 million contract was granted for Accenture to manage the many capital projects envisioned for Hemisfair, the Convention Center and the Alamodome. A smaller $350,000 contract was awarded to Maryland-based MuniCap to study the costs of city services and potential revenue streams in the expanded Hemisfair district.

Mayor Jones wanted a comprehensive briefing before the contracts were let, while council members felt adequately briefed on the matter, and regarded her maneuver as a ploy to yet again reopen negotiations with the Spurs. Four votes then ensued. A 10-1 vote ended discussion and debate. The council then voted 9-2 to postpone any new council briefing. And then both consulting contracts were approved by 10-1 votes.

Council has since blocked an attempt by Jones to form a commission to study weak voter turnout in local elections. The mayor went ahead and appointed her own task force, but its efficacy is questionable and whatever work it does is unlikely to move the needle, as much as many of us would like to see improved voter participation.

City staff and city council face growing budget shortfalls and pressures to give the police union a strong contract the city can’t actually afford. Both municipal utilities, SAWS and CPS Energy, have significant rate increase proposals in the works. Council is going to have to raise taxes unless it engages in unprecedented budget cutting to balance the fiscal year 2027 budget, which begins Oct. 1. And as the 2027 bond cycle comes into view, San Antonio stands to suffer a staggering 50-60% drop in infrastructure spending over the 2027-2032 cycle.

The times call for strong, trusted, and collaborative leadership. Instead we have a mayor who has publicly communicated indifference to her personal relations with adversaries on council, and the revolving door of staff members quitting almost as fast as Jones can hire them. She seems incapable of building and leading a small team of qualified and experienced aides. It will be exceedingly difficult for her to accomplish much in the coming year if she can’t stabilize her internal staff and forge more productive working relationships with council members, business leaders, and the Spurs.

The mayor seldom passes up a chance to note her military service, which garners respect in a city that is home to a huge veteran population, including many retired generals and senior officers. Many of them play significant roles in their civilian lives. They understand the command and control model that works so well in national defense is no way to govern in a city manager form of municipal government.

Mayor Jones and City Council will return in a month or so to tackle the budget deficit. It will be a huge test. There is time to declare a fresh start. The alternative, after all, is another year of standoffs, feuds, and divided votes.