I'm hearing his voice.

Telling me okay.

Like of the noise.

Only still.

Telling you how it's going to be okay.

Believe in spirit.

Believe in his source.

I see what's still.

I'm hearing his voice.

Telling me I am.

But as persons kept escuchar esta junta in Spanish, al Fondo de la Sala del Concilio de la Ciudad para receber assistencia.

Também pueden sintonizar la transmission de las Juntas del Concilio completamente in Spaniol, usando el sistema SAP através de los canales que ve in pantalla.

Good morning, good morning.

The time is now 9 13 AM on March 5th, 2026, and the meeting of the San Antonio City Council is now called to order.

Madam Clerk, please call roll.

Councilmember Corps.

Councilmember McKee Rodriguez.

Present.

Councilmember Villa Gran.

Here.

Councilmember Mungia.

Present.

Councilmember Castillo.

Councilmember Galván.

Councilmember Alarete Gavito.

Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez.

Present.

Councilmember Spears.

Here.

Councilmember White.

Here.

Mayor Jones.

Here.

Mayor, we have Corn.

Great.

Thank you.

Councilmember Via Gran is recognized.

Introduce today's doctor.

Thank you.

Pastor Ronnie Hernandez was born and raised on the South Side of San Antonio, the youngest of four sons in a family deeply devoted to Christian ministry.

As a son of a local pastor, he was nurtured in the life of the church from an early age and grew up witnessing firsthand the transformative power of faith, service, and community.

While he sensed a call to ministry in his youth, like many who come to the age amid the challenges of inner city life, his journey included seasons of hardship and difficult choices that led him away from both his faith and the path he once envisioned.

Married at 17, Pastor Hernandez entered adulthood with significant responsibility.

In his mid-twenties, during a period of incarceration within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he experienced a profound spiritual renewal through prayer, repentance, and deep study of scripture, he recommitted his life to service and began ministering to fellow inmates, preaching, teaching, and encouraging others to embrace faith and a new beginning.

What could have been the end of his story instead became the turning point to refined his calling.

Following his release in 2009, Pastor Hernandez returned home with a renewed purpose to extend hope, accountability, and opportunity to others seeking a second chance.

Under their leadership, the ministry continues to serve as a place of faith, restoration, and community renewal on the South Side.

Pastor Ronnie Hernandez has also worked to create practical pathways of transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pastor Hernandez and Belinda have been married for 30 years and are the proud parents of four daughters.

Together they continue their work of restoring lives, strengthening families, and extending the olive branch of hope, proving that with faith, perseverance, and community, a second chance can become a powerful force for good.

As we come in agreement, we would love to thank every single uh council person here, men and women.

You know, we are humbled and honored, and we we give God the glory and the honor for what takes place today.

We ask for peace, uh tranquility, that we all be able to come in agreement, and that everything that works out today be for the benefit of our city.

As we all ask for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, we trust in one power, and that is Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, we just come to you this day.

We thank you, we give you the praise of glory and the honor that as we all gathered here in our beautiful city of San Antonio, we thank you for the life that you bestowed upon us, allowing us to be great stewards.

I thank you for our mayor.

I thank you for every council men and women that's here, every representative of our of our city of San Antonio.

I ask Father God that you send Father God and command guardian angels upon this meeting this morning, Heavenly Father, that you give our council with men and women, our mayor and representatives of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, Father God, that can only be given from heaven, Heavenly Father.

We ask that all this be done in peace and love, and that we all be able to come in agreement, Father God, for the blessing of our city of San Antonio.

We thank you for this day as we give this meeting over to you.

We honor you, and we thank you for all that you are doing today in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

Amen and amen.

Thank you.

Thank you, Pastor Ronnie.

Please remain standing and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States, of the nations of America.

To the Republic, thank you.

One nation.

One nation, honor God, and definitely vote with every key and gosh for all.

Okay, hearing none, is there a motion for the approval of the minutes?

Make a motion to approve.

Second.

Okay, great.

Please vote.

Okay, great.

The motion carries.

We've got several wonderful things to recognize today.

Today is also the first um session, the first day session during women's history month.

Um, and I'm very honored to read this proclamation.

And then we have um in our midst, the first Latina to serve on the San Antonio City Council, uh, the honorable Maria Antoinette Berizoval, and I will recognize her um after I read this proclamation.

Whereas the City of San Antonio and the Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women are proud to observe Women's History Month and International Women's History Day in recognition of the extraordinary contributions by women to history, culture, and society that have paved the way for the advancement of women everywhere.

And whereas, despite many challenges, challenging obstacles, America boasts a rich history of courageous women who have defied the odds and shattered barriers at the ballot box and beyond, advancing gender equity, pay equality, politics, health care, economic empowerment, legal affairs, and education.

And whereas in securing their own rights of freedom, justice, and equal opportunity, these remarkable women have strengthened our nation and our communities in the common quest to end systemic and institutional injustices.

And whereas today we pay tribute to the women leaders of San Antonio who challenge the status quo, acknowledging that much progress remains to be made.

These leaders display transformative leadership, make lasting contributions to our community, and exemplify the core values that inspire future generations.

Today's women leaders are forging a better world where every woman and girl knows that her possibilities are limitless, both locally and globally.

Now, therefore, I, Gina Ortiz Jones, Mayor of the City of San Antonio, in recognition thereof, do hereby proclaim March 8th, 2026 and March 2026, respectively, to be Women's History Month and International Women's Day in San Antonio, Texas, as we encourage everyone to recognize and celebrate the unique perspectives and contributions of women from all walks of life, including those from marginalized communities.

And now, as it mentioned, um we are very honored, um, humbled by her presence.

Um the Honorable Maria Um Antoinette Barrio Zobal, if you'd please um stand to be recognized, and I'm going to read a little bit about you.

Not that we don't all know these great achievements, but it's always nice to be reminded.

And then, of course, offering for you a few minutes to speak.

Okay.

The Honorable Maria Antoinette Baria Berizoval is a woman upon whom many of us stand on your shoulders.

And we are thankful for your continued example.

Um, you have fought uh so that many of us, all of us, frankly, can sit here and have our voices be heard as we advocate for what is best in in our community.

As mentioned, um, she was the first Latina to be elected to the San Antonio City Council nearly 45 years ago, elected in 1981.

Um, she was the first woman to hold such a post in any major Texas city, and she served for 10 years.

Beyond this historic moment, uh Maria has served as a board member and past president of the National League of Cities, who uh was also appointed to the Inter-American Commission of Women on the Organization of American States, participated in the UN's landmark, fourth world conference on women in 1995, and founded the organization Hispanis Unitas.

Though she no longer holds office, Maria continues to work tirelessly to amplify Latina voices and and lots of voices, not just Latina voices, and serve her community as a champion for voting rights, environmental justice justice, human rights, labor, and housing.

Maria's advocacy brings Mexican American history and culture to the forefront of political discussions, and she has become a symbol of the Chicana experience locally, nationally, and globally.

As we celebrate International Women's Day and Women's History Month today, I ask you to consider the women who fought a lot who fought not only for each other but for future women's and oppressed communities' rights.

We know there is still work to be done in LA Ford upholding the legacy of the women before us as this council rises to meet our cities and countries challenged in service of our residents, just as the honorable Maria Antonat Verio Zabal did for so many years and continues to do today.

Ma'am, if you'd like to speak.

But when you get to be um older person, uh you get to see.

You know the lint cleaner that picks up lint.

Is that's what you are, and over the years, you'll pick up a lot of people who care about you, who vote for you, who agree with your stance, some may not, but they still respect you.

And can you imagine by the time that you're in your 80s how much you collect?

And it's good.

And I would suggest that that you look at your work like that.

I said for 10 years, uh, like you, and I remember your daddy.

I worked with him for eight years.

Uh, your mom and dad.

Uh I don't know you, but I watch you and respect the way you represent your constituents.

Terry, you represent a district that I represented when I first got elected because district one was way over there.

Uh Alasana Pache um Guadalupe and all the rest of you.

Great respect.

My councilwoman of District One, Dr.

Souk.

Uh so as you recognize me, you don't just recognize me.

You recognize all the people behind me that I have worked with on so many issues.

Some we win, some we lose, but we all bond.

And I have a group of people that maybe they can stand who came to be with me this morning.

My brother, my little brother Miguel Rodriguez, my great nephew who represents the other generation in my family who are spread throughout the country.

And he is a veteran, went to Afghanistan and Iraq, and now he's a college student, Marshall Trowski.

And I I'm honored that they're with me.

And then my friends who came just to be with me, my buddies, uh, as women, we know that we need friends.

And what sustains us is our friends are that happy or sad, our friends are with us.

And when you can say, I have this friend that was that I met in the seventh grade, uh, what a gift.

So I wish for all the women here a long life, that you get to be in your 80s and 90s, and that you look back at these days, win or lose, and say they were good years because I was connected with my community, and what our work is, it's about our community.

That's why we do what we do.

Thank you very much, and happy International Women's Day and Month to each of you.

Maria.

We're gonna face any.

Um actually, Muddy, I was I was gonna say, if you please stay there.

I know some of us would like to join you for a group photo if you'd if you'd be so kind, and then I'll um identify my folks, some of the folks that would like to also recognize you.

Okay.

So um, councilwoman Corp.

Thank you, Mayor.

When I first met former councilwoman, I was actually block walking for my first campaign race, and she was taking care of her partner and inviting me to come in and have some tea with her and have good conversation.

And I always have respected that she pushes me to think about things to push for our community with what's not always easy.

And it's oh it it requires for us to have tough conversations with our residents.

The one thing in this last race when I was block walking, that she sat with me and really pushed me on was our strategy to support our unhoused.

She saw a mailer and she asked me why was encampment cleanup the route that we were choosing.

And she pushed me to think about what's not easy for everyone to accept, but what's right for all of us as humans and how to make sure we're treating all humans with the respect that they reserve, deserve.

And so I I thank you, Maria, for pushing me for making me a stronger leader and um honored to be able to be in your district and represent you.

Thank you.

Councilman McKee Rodriguez.

Thank you.

I'll keep it brief, but I I've I've had the opportunity to speak with you on the phone a number of times, and I'm I always leave the phone inspired, and Jolene on my team will sit and talk for hours about your advice and your feedback and your guidance and the way in which you choose you've chosen and continue to choose to lead.

And often when we're facing when we're facing a difficult decision on any number of issues that matter most to our constituents, uh we often think about you know what would you say to us.

And sometimes it's it's as easy as getting you on the phone and saying, hey, uh what do you think about this?

And so I I want to say thank you so much for all of that.

Thank you for being a figure that all of us can look to and aspire to.

Um and I hope that for many councils to come that people think back, you know, what would Maria do?

Uh so thank you.

Councilmember Viegeran.

Thank you.

I think it was just a month ago we were at the Dos Maria event, and where you and Rosie were sitting and talking about your pathway to get here, and understanding that myself and my sister wouldn't be here if you hadn't worked.

And I think about Choco, and I think about the women.

Um I'm always like some of Clarissa's mom that worked and then you stepped out there and you said, I'll run when we were at large districts, and that was hard.

And you sharing that story, and then a few years ago being able to appoint Rosie to that seat.

And I'll always remember there was one vote, and I had no other support other than Rosie's, because she knew it was the right thing to do.

We have come so far, and I want to thank the women that are here and the young girls uh and the wit the women's month.

We have come so far, but it took somebody saying, Yes, I'll do it.

You saw what Rosie went through when they tried to run as a group, and then you went and decided to say you'd do it on on your own.

And we are here today as a woman majority council because you did as Latinas, and and I I mean, there's women of color, but as Latinas, uh, we know what we we face when we when we take these uh these um choices and we make say so thank you.

I'm so glad we could honor you while you are here and you are sharing.

So thank you so much for being here today, and thank you, Mayor, for bringing this in happy International Women's Day, happy women's history month.

Um regret that we have spring break, but I'm glad we got to separate celebrate you today.

Thank you.

Councilmember Mungia.

Thank you, Mayor.

Who better to celebrate, right, than the former councilwoman for today's event.

And I remember many years ago, it was a very special treat when I worked for Councilman Saldania.

He took me to your home and to sit with you, and I said, Wow, here I am in a home in the presence of a legend.

Uh and I remember it was very special.

You gave me a copy of your book and you signed it, and I've read it a couple times.

And actually, it's what it's coincidence.

I recently reread that book that you had.

And I think the most beautiful thing about it is how you started your council race with a lot of people, right?

You talked about your sister typing up things on paper and everything was handmade.

Um, and you know, the odds were against you, but you had a lot of people behind you.

And I read the passage when your last day was here as bittersweet, and you left City Hall with a lot of people behind you.

Uh, and that's just your story, right?

The community touch that you have and the connections.

It's it's vastly important.

Um, and you're not afraid to tell us when you're disappointed in a decision or when we need to do better.

Uh, and you can tell us when we've done something right.

And you have that lifetime achievement.

You and your husband have a lifetime of achievements for our community.

So we're all the better because you stepped up and did something, and I know that's a large part of your family history and your great parents that you wrote about and your siblings.

Um, and I just thank you very much.

So I look forward to continuing our dialogue and connection.

Thank you, Councilman.

Councilmember Castillo.

Thank you, Mayor.

Always honored to be in conversation and in the presence of the council member, uh, grateful for her leadership and contributions to the city of San Antonio.

And I'm extremely grateful that throughout my entire tenure on council, I have served on a majority woman city council, and that is primarily because of the work of you and community organizers that have advocated for single member districts and fair representation on council.

I've valued our conversations brainstorming on how to build a better San Antonio that works for everyone.

And I'm grateful to have the youth here in particular, Liana and Trinity and all the other women on the youth commission, all youth within the commission grateful and always impressed with your leadership.

And every time I sit in your meetings, I'm impressed and I'm hopeful for the future.

But it's a future that was paved by Maria and organizers in the past.

As Councilmember Mungia mentioned, always questioning why was that decision made.

And I always think about my staff members, right?

I'm proud to have a majority female team.

And oftentimes when I come out here and make decisions, I value that they asked me, help me understand why you took that position.

And it's because they're grounded in community and core values.

Um that again that Maria, you've helped shape and pave the way for.

So extremely grateful.

And similar to Councilman Monguilla, when I first got elected, uh Marin Golendal gifted me your book, and she said you need to read this before you have your first A and B session.

Um so just grateful for your leadership and all you continue to do.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilwoman Aldrate Gavito.

Thank you.

You know, it is true what you said.

Uh, all of us up here today owe a huge amount of gratitude to you.

Um, you know, I had the good fortune of knowing you since I was a little girl, and then going through the prep program that your husband spearheaded, you know, and so you know, I I'm grateful that I grew up um in a family close to yours and that I could observe you constantly pushing the envelope.

And you know, I do appreciate your thought.

Hey, it might be different than mine, but sometimes I appreciate the different perspective.

And and as was mentioned, I know that yours is grounded in community and and that we will arrive to the best thing to move our city forward.

And and that that debate is um is healthy, right?

We need to see each other's perspectives, we need to hear each other's perspectives um in a respectful fashion.

I also um appreciated what you said about female friendships and all your friends that are here today.

I mean, I think that it is extremely important.

I know that uh you know we have uh good healthy female friendships here, and it's important to that we um nurture those, that we respect those um friendships because through the highs and the lows and the in the um journeys of motherhood and and being working moms and also pushing the envelope, we need each other.

We absolutely need each other.

So thank you to all your friends for being with here with you today and your and your your family members too.

And and um, you know, I I am just I feel fortunate today to be able to honor you um today in this way.

Thank you.

Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um thank you for uh being here today.

Um you are one person that I can say I knew you knew me before I was born.

Um so I've known you a long time, and everything you set up here on the on the podium, I've heard you say uh to me one on one over the phone, um, and always reminding me that it starts and ends with community.

Um so I represent District 8, um not in District 1, but it was funny because when I was campaigning, I knocked on a door and it was your sister.

So it always comes back to you too.

Um, but I just thank you so much for your service and your willingness to be so open um and transparent with uh your life, and so giving yourself to this community um is hard.

Um it's not for the faint of heart, it's a full contact sport.

Um but like you told me when I first came to the mayor's office, you gave me a pair of gold earrings that I still have, and you reminded me to wear those gold earrings and not be afraid to wear those.

And I knew what that meant.

That was significant in a lot of ways to you.

Um, and so I just thank you for your leadership and your honesty.

Um, and I always think about you when we talk about community um and voting in a way that we think um we're listening to our community and to our district, and so I just can't thank you enough for uh your words and your friendship over the many many years that we've known you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Spears.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um Councilwoman, we we don't know each other, but I um I fully appreciate congratulations.

84 years is very significant, and it means you have a lot of purpose still to continue.

And I appreciate the the wisdom you shared today.

I will carry that lint roller example that's very tangible for me and helpful, and I think that's good.

And um you're right, it is about bonding together for our community.

And uh I'm blessed to have a lot of childhood best friends in my life as well, and your reminder to just keep them close and remember those friendships is meaningful to me.

So uh I really appreciate that.

But most of all, I want to thank you for breaking the ceilings.

You just busted through them, and so we all appreciate that.

So thank you.

Councilman White.

Yeah, councilwoman, it's an honor to have you uh here today.

And and we don't know each other, of course, but what you said today really really does resonate with me about how we're standing on the shoulders of those that came before us, uh how we win some and we lose some, uh, and how really it's it's all about community.

And um uh it's an honor to follow in your footsteps and and and be on this dais, and I can tell you that um I know I am and my colleagues are too committed to continually uh working for the community to make to make San Antonio a better place.

So thank you so much for being here.

Um, Muddy, I've been uh I was also thankful to to read your book, and there's a lot in there.

Uh there's a lot in there, but there's a nugget in there that continues to guide me every day.

Um, and it's what your father told you, which is you have to consider where you start where you started.

And that's a view that really is anchored in compassion, in mercy, and in justice.

And certainly we see that in your leadership, how you have um spent your time in the communities in which you've advocated for and the results that you've advocated for.

Um, and so that is a line that that continues to motivate me.

Thank you for joining us today.

Thank you to your crew for for coming out today and celebrating her, and thank you again for your leadership and your example.

Deputy City Manager Maria Via Gomes is also recognized to speak.

I know we have the Status of Women Commission here as well.

Thank you, Mayor, and good morning, Mayor and Council.

Uh, thank you for the opportunity to highlight this resolution today that is honoring International Women's History Day in Women's History Month.

This month provides us the opportunity to recognize the extra extraordinary contributions by women throughout our city.

As an employer of almost 14,000 city employees, I would like to recognize all the women in the city of San Antonio that are providing services to our community on a daily basis to make our community better.

There's a group of incredible women with us today, so I'm gonna ask them to stand up to be recognized.

This group of women is from many uh different departments within the city of San Antonio, and they have put together a program to celebrate women throughout the month.

Uh, we have several events that are scheduled throughout the month that we encourage everyone to attend uh so we can recognize all the contributions that women have made, not only in our community, but also here within our city of San Antonio.

And I also want to recognize uh our elected officials for your contributions as well to our community.

Thank you, Mayor.

And then we have this thank you.

We have members from the status of the of women's uh commission here.

If you'd like to be stand up and say a few words, you're recognized to do so.

Hi.

So on uh thank you guys for again the proclamation, and on behalf of the mayor's commission on the status of women, I am honored to accept this proclamation with my fellow commissioners.

This recommendation not only belongs to our commissioners, but every woman and girl in San Antonio whose story reminds us of why our work matters.

When we became a commission, we vote committed to not being ceremonial, and we have become far more active and we have become far more accountable to our citizens.

Um in the last year, we have worked directly with the Girl Scouts of the Southwest Texas celebrating International Day of the Girl, empowering young girls to continue to use their voices for advocacy.

Um we have celebrated with um the we have celebrated unlocking 80,000 in dormant scholarship funds that are now in the hands of women who need them as single parents in the ACCD district.

But we all recognize that our proclamation alone does not change the numbers.

To this, the mayor's commission on the status of women is actively working to obtain an updated 2026 status of women and girls report for San Antonio.

When that report is in our hands, it'll show us exactly where our gaps are in our wages, in health, in safety, and in opportunity.

I am asking our council and our mayor to stand alongside our commissioners and turn that data into concrete annual commitments to the women and the girls of San Antonio.

We are a city with a majority female council and a female mayor.

This is a historic opportunity for us to move from acknowledging that the data is needs to change and to making it an issue that has concrete action.

Thank you today.

Okay.

I will now read a proclamation for National Nutrition Month as requested by District Three Councilwoman Via Gran.

The City of San Antonio recognizes that March is National Nutrition Month, an annual campaign created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietchs dedicated to promoting the importance of making informed food choices, developing healthier eating and physical activities, and recognizing the role nutrition plays in our health.

And whereas this year's National Nutrition Month theme is discover the power of nutrition, highlighting the power of nutrition and helping individuals and communities thrive and how food and beverage choices can help power our days.

And whereas food is the substance by which life is sustained, and whereas building healthy habits into our day can help us feel great now and in the future and contributes to the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

And whereas the City of San Antonio recognizes the value of a healthy lifestyle and supports the efforts of elected officials, registered dietitian nutritionists, RDNS, local public health professionals, educators, and community organizations to promote nutrition education and access to nutritious food.

And whereas, as part of the work of District 3, San Antonio City Council and Metro Health, we work to increase access for all San Antonio residents to affordable and nutritious foods.

Now, therefore, I, Gina Ortiz Jones, mayor of the City of San Antonio, in recognition thereof, do you hereby proclaim March 26, March 2026 to be National Nutrition Month in San Antonio, Texas, and call upon the community to observe this time by helping our families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers and city leaders better understand the value of nutrition and public health and to be reminded that health is supported by the power of nutrition.

Councilwoman Vietnam, you're recognized.

Thank you.

And Claude, if I can get you and the team members maybe uh that are working on this.

So thank you so much.

What's on our plates is not just what we're talking about.

We're talking about access, education, creating healthier communities.

Um, and particularly I am going to talk about the South and the Southeast side.

And that as the team comes up, this is the team that makes all of this happen.

Um, San Antonio uh South Side has experienced the highest concentrations of food deserts in our city, and we continue to do that.

And as a result of that, uh the previous councilwoman Rebecca Viegeran in 2019 advocated for uh $50,000 to start the Viva SA Healthy Corner Stores initiative.

And from that, we were asking people, think about those fruits and vegetables.

Think about those healthy choices.

It doesn't all have to be fried food.

And and from that, we have seen growth.

We have seen more people uh take uh have conversations about their health, about what they're doing and what they're putting on their plate and how they're getting access to that.

I want to thank uh Mission Marquee Plaza Blanche.

I see you here because we were one of the first city-run farmers market there, and so I have some challenges for my council members, but we are so excited that we continue we can continue to make progress.

Um, and as many of y'all know, y'all can see me if y'all look at me from when I started council to now, the healthy choices and and choices to to make better choices on what you're putting in your body and how you're doing that.

And some of my other council members have beefed up a little also and got more muscle.

So I'm really excited that we as a council get to kind of be that example.

And so, with that, we are going to have, and I don't know if they have the power up the pantry.

It's a month-long community food drive that we'll be working on, and what we'll do is we'll be collecting money uh and the San Antonio working in conjunction with the San Antonio Metro Health District so we can get this to our resource center at Via Coronado, uh, where many re residents rely on support from a pantry to make sure.

So, my challenge for um my council colleagues is to join us in this power up the pantry food drive and to identify the local pantries that you have to make sure that we are communicating with that uh with the community that making better choices, discovering the power of nutrition is going to lead to a healthier lifestyle, is going to help contribute to our mental health, and is really going to see that.

So, my other challenge is if you have a farmers market in your district that you know is running, please send that list over uh to us so we can do because y'all know I'm all about surveys.

So, I want to do, I won't see any to do a survey on the the city run farmer markets or the farmer markets in the city so we can kind of get that idea of where can you pick those those healthy food options.

As y'all know on the South Side, we only have two really large uh HEB grocery stores, and the rest are um our Walmart superstores or running into our family dollars.

So we really want to make sure that they know that there's options out there to grab an apple, grab a banana, grab some um grab some vegetables to make some caldo.

So I really am hoping that you guys will join me on this challenge.

And Claude, I want to turn it over to you to kind of talk about the partners and everything that's going to be helping us this month.

Thank you.

Good morning, Mayor and members of City Council.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here today.

Uh we are grateful for your dedicated for our dedicated Metro Health staff and community partners who make this work possible.

I am joined today by our community partners that include the San Antonio Food Bank, uh Becca Smith and Stanley Sorrell, the Texas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, represented by Jose Marquez, and the Food Policy Council of San Antonio, represented by Jamie Gonzalez, also known as the Produce Lady, and of course our COSA departments, the World Heritage Office, and our fantastic team at Metro Health, the community nutrition program, our work program, and our healthy neighborhoods program.

So for the day, just know that afford access to affordable healthy food is not just a personal choice issue.

It is a public health priority.

Poor nutrition is a leading risk factor for chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, which impact families across our city.

Food access is also an equity issue.

Many residents, particularly in underserved neighborhoods, face barriers to obtaining fresh nutritious food.

So by supporting policies that expand healthy food access, whether through local food retail incentives like the healthy healthy coroner stores, farmers' markets, or com or community partnerships, we can reduce health disparities and strengthen outcomes for all residents.

So just know as we observe National Nutrition Nutrition Month, I am encouraged by the continued and sustained collaborations.

It does take a village to do this work.

And just know that this helps to ensure the healthy choice is the easy choice for every member of our community.

So we invite you to join as we discover the power of nutrition and show how healthy eating can help prevent disease, improve quality of life, and support our overall health and well-being.

So thank you for joining us and bringing awareness this month.

Mayor.

Thank you.

Would everybody colleagues like to speak?

Okay, Councilman Corp.

Thank you.

I want to thank my council colleague for bringing this forward and for you to you guys for all the work that you do.

Not only does it affect not only does uh food inequity and diabetes affect the South Side, but it also affects our most underserved communities and communities of color in particular, because the food that we grow up with in a lot of our traditional food, even in the Indian culture, is not always the healthiest.

And so we really need to work together to train at the very youngest age.

And just wanted to reiterate that council member, then former council member Bernal and as a state rep actually passed a food bill so that at our schools we could um reuse, have pantries, and they could reuse some of the food that kids weren't actually getting to eat because food inequity at child at the children's age is the hardest, and the one that I think we need to spend so much more time tackling.

So thank you for everything you do, and thank you, Councilman, for pushing us forward, and I will definitely take on your challenge.

Any other counselors on this side?

Okay, Councilmember Castillo.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Dr.

Jacob, and the entire Metro Health team and partners.

Um just grateful for the work that y'all continue to do, but I wanted to be sure to highlight that each of the partners do more than just nutritional access and education.

Uh folks are working on projects in terms of connectivity.

I'm thinking about Janie and her work with the Lone Star Neighborhood Association and the West Side on how we could connect and bridge the South and West Side of District 5 together.

Uh, one to remove that barrier, um, but also to connect to resource, healthy activities, food, and so much more.

So just wanted to highlight that I know many of you all have many irons in the fire, wear many hats, um, but it's all for the good of improving the overall health of community and the residents of San Antonio.

So thank each and every one of you all.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilman Aldrette Gavito.

Thank you.

Uh thank you, Councilwoman Viegran for bringing this forward.

I think it is extremely important, and thank you, Dr.

Cloud, and all the partners up here who uh are in this fight with us every day.

I think um, you know, it's so interesting because like we have our Jefferson community garden.

We also have um our wild farm garden that we just uh approved.

And while access is extremely um an important issue, it's also about education, right?

No little kids gonna want to eat a raw carrot, right?

And so one of the things that I would um I always would trick my daughters, I call it breakfast ice cream, and I just make a shake, you know, but throw in the spinach and throw in the carrots so that they can get all the goodness and um and and because uh as was mentioned, I mean it's about um them learning about this stuff at at such an early age.

So there's a whole lot of dynamics that we all have to come back together, access being extremely important.

You know, what right when I moved back from Chicago, um, I lived right on the border of District 8 and 9.

Um, loved it, but you know, it wasn't home for me.

And so then when I did move back to the West Side, I saw that disparity.

I was like, what the like all the only options we had are McDonald's and tacos, you know, and so it is a very very real um uh issue for so many of us.

Um not everybody has cars to be able to go uh to different uh places and access better food and stuff.

So um this is this is a fight I'm in with you for.

I will take you up on the challenge and and we'll do this together.

Thank you.

Councilman Spears.

Uh Councilman Vegran, thank you for bringing this forward and challenge accepted.

And uh we do have some farmers markets in District 9, but I want to thank you, Dr.

Claude, Jacob, and Metro Health for bring bringing prevention to the forefront here.

Um we have a fast-paced lifestyle now, and it's a lot about convenience and what we can grab and go and do for our families, and the truth is whole food is the only way forward, and just getting back to that.

I mean, everybody loves a good bag of Cheetos, but we can't be having that every day.

We have to be eating healthy on the whole every day.

It has it's if it's a true change in the way we look at food.

So thank you for looking at prevention.

Because once you get down the road where it's affecting your health, it's a little late to turn back.

So I appreciate that, and I look forward to pushing this out to our residents in district nine.

Thank you.

Thanks, Claude.

Um, and you know, we can't think about this in the um without thinking about some of the other things that are happening that are also contributing to the lack of nutritional um achievement, if you will, in our community, um, that starts with somebody's ability to afford the food, right?

And so we know, um, and I want to thank you for your team's um support of the tabletop that we did last year that really looked at um if you lost uh significant funding um for in the not only in the affordable um uh housing space but also in the public health space, on top of the 186 billion dollars that is going to be cut from SNAP benefits as a result of the one big beautiful bill.

Um, and we know there are some some um restrictions that are going to place now that are are going to um restrict uh the the types of foods that um those benefits can be spent on, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the healthier food is more is cheaper, right?

So this is something that actually does require um uh kind of a full court press, and we look forward to working with you on that.

Is there a lot of pieces moving, but unfortunately, this is something that is affecting our our most vulnerable, uh, which is why I'm honored to serve um on the mayor's alliance to end childhood hunger.

And I think there's a lot that we can do uh together, certainly.

Um, so I look forward to doing that.

Thank you, Claude.

Thank you to the team for all of your work each and every day.

Thank you.

Thank you, and um again, happy National Nutrition Month.

All right.

Okay, we've got one more proclamation.

Okay.

This is a proclamation and recognition of Social Work Week.

Whereas the City of San Antonio recognizes that the San Antonio Independent School District will observe national school social work week to honor school social workers for their dedication, commitment, and service to more than 42,000 students and their families.

And whereas this week highlights the vital role school social workers play in supporting students, families, and schools, and we proudly acknowledge the more than 29 dedicated school workers, social workers serving um SAISD.

And whereas school social workers promote personal success and academic achievement by providing family support, student and parent advocacy, individual and family counseling, and crisis intervention, and whereas school social workers are compassionate professionals devoted to improving students' well-being, strengthening the fabric of society, and contributing to meaningful social progress at the local, state, national, and global levels.

Now, therefore, I, Gina Ortiz Jones, mayor of the city of San Antonio, in recognition thereof, do hereby proclaim March 1st through 7th, 2026 to be National School Social Work Week in San Antonio, Texas.

Okay.

Um, and I rec I understand we have um members from SAISD here as well.

You're recognized to to speak if you'd like to.

Good morning, Mayor and City Council members.

We want to thank you for this meaningful recognition.

My name is Irma Hess, and I'm a school social worker and director of family student support services.

And it's truly an honor to stand before you on behalf of the dedicated school social workers serving the students and families of San Antonio ISD.

This year's theme, as recognized by the School Social Work Association of America is unite to ignite.

It reflects the heart of what school social workers do every day.

We unite with educators, families, community partners to ignite hope, resilience, and an opportunity in the lives of young people.

In our schools, social workers support students facing challenges such as mental health concerns, grief, poverty, housing instability, transportation, and trauma.

We provide counseling, crisis intervention, resource navigation.

But more than that, we build relationships.

We create safe spaces where students feel seen, heard, and valued.

Here in San Antonio, our work is deeply rooted in the community.

We collaborate with families, local agencies, and school staff to remove the barriers to learning so that every child has the opportunity to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally.

When we unite our efforts, we ignite change.

A student who feels supported is more likely to attend school, engage in learning, and envision a brighter future.

A family that feels empowered is stronger.

And a community that invests in its children, builds a healthier, more vibrant city for generations to come.

On behalf of the school social workers across San Antonio, I thank you for recognizing our profession and the impact we strive to make each day.

We are proud to serve this city, and we remain committed to uplifting every student and family we encounter.

Together, we unite.

Together, we ignite, and together we work to shake the future leaders of San Antonio and the world.

Thank you.

Thank you.

What do you have my colleagues like to speak?

Councilman Corps.

I'll just say thank you so much for your work as an educator in the classroom.

We know how important you all are because especially now as social emotional learning becomes more and more of a threat in our schools.

We need ways for students to really engage in their mental and emotional health.

So thank you so much for the work that you do.

I know educators in the classroom could not do it without you all.

Thank you.

Councilman Mungia.

Thank you.

Y'all are amazing.

And again, we look, and it's a team full of women doing the important work, right?

And for my own districts and my uh D4 with South San and Southwest and Northside, um, those are the folks that reach out to us and say, we have families in need.

Do you have something you can help?

I hear you all giving out turkeys.

We need some over here.

Uh, and so y'all are always looking out for your families.

And all I would tell you is be empowered to call and tell us what your families are going through so that we are also aware of what's happening.

Y'all are the direct line to these families, and we need to know what's going on also.

So thank y'all for your work.

I know it's sometimes thankless, but so important.

Thank you.

Councilmember Castillo.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you all for y'all's mission and vision and ensuring that our kids and families have uh the necessary tools to be successful.

I'm reminded of a conversation that I had with, I believe at the time, a Rhodes Middle School social worker who came to our open office hours to talk about gun violence.

Uh, she had did her homework and found that Big Mama Safe House on the east side had been doing great work in connecting families and disrupting violence out in the community uh in the community.

And she asked, how come District 5 doesn't have a similar program?

And because of her visit to our office during the next fiscal year, Big Mama Safe House was exploring a second hub, community hub, and we're grateful that we were able to advocate and support Big Mama Safe House to come to District 5 within the Alazon courts.

And again, that was because of a social worker within SEIC that came to our office to say there's this need in our community.

I found a potential solution.

How can we invest in our community to bring that solution to the West Side?

So grateful for the work that you all do and the advocacy that y'all do in ensuring that we're bringing the appropriate resources to our community.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, just wanted to just highlight the work that you do in our schools.

You are officially the other duties as assigned, right?

It's everything and anything.

So I acknowledge that and just can't um say enough about I was raised by a social worker, so I just value them so much.

I know you're needed in the classrooms, but you also make good constituent services directors at the in our jobs.

So uh just thank you so much for the work you do.

And just like Councilman Mungia said, if there's anything that that your students are talking about, please let us know because there's so many ways that we can be helpful and and want to be helpful.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Uh today we also have guests representing the San Antonio Youth Commission and the Project Worth Teen Ambassador Program.

They are here to highlight the launch of the 2026 Teen Mental Health Survey open to San Antonio teenagers uh the ages 12 through 19 years old.

The first survey was issued in 2021 to gain more insight on COVID-19's impact on the mental health and when young uh well-being of young adults in San Antonio.

The insights from the data helped informed our city's initiatives and positioned the city to invest nearly 18 million dollars in American Rescue Plan Act funds and mental health and wellness programs.

The survey was released again in 2024, and the results demonstrated a decrease in stated struggles when compared to the 2022 survey results.

For example, 36% stated feeling um helpless, hopeless, numb, or like nothing matters, a decrease from 49% in 2022.

While a higher percentage of LGBTQ youth uh reported experience depressive traits than their straight and heterosexual counterparts, there was a decrease across all traits for LGBTQ plus youth.

We know the data anonymously collected from the Teen Mental Health Survey is essential to understanding the social and emotional challenges youth in San Antonio face.

I want to thank our youth leaders who serve on SAYC and Project Worth Teen Ambassadors for their dedication to listening and understanding their peers.

I'd like to invite two guests to speak.

Project Worth Teen Ambassador Natalie Sacedo, representing District 6, and San Antonio Youth Commission Representative Harini Logan, appointed by District 8.

Good morning, Mayor Jones and Council members.

Thank you for your time.

My name is Natalie Salcedo, and I'm a teen ambassador with Project Worth representing District 6.

I've been actively involved in the program since 2021.

On March 2nd, we launched the Teen Mental Health Survey, which will remain open until April 30th.

This survey is more than just a questionnaire.

It's an opportunity for young people across San Antonio to finally be heard in an honest and measurable way.

In my community and among my peers, I see students carrying stress, anxiety, and pressure that often go unnoticed.

Many of us are balancing academics, family responsibilities, jobs, social pressures, and the constant influence of social media.

Some young people quietly struggle with thoughts of harming themselves, substance abuse, or feeling completely overwhelmed.

And many don't know where to turn or feel safe asking for help.

I've also seen how gender diverse youth can face additional challenges in isolation that makes these struggles even harder.

Mental health is not a distant issue.

It is present in our classrooms, our homes, and our friendships every day.

That's why this survey matters.

When youth take it, they turn their experiences into data that leaders can act on.

When adults when adults encourage participation, they send a powerful message that our voices are valued.

If we want to strengthen San Antonio, we must start by understanding and supporting the well-being of its young people.

And I believe that this survey is a step forward to that understanding.

I thank you for your I thank you for listening, and I we ask for you to continue prioritizing the Metallica of San Antonio's youth.

Good morning, Mayor Jones and Council members.

My name is Hare Ni Logan, and I'm the District 8 Commissioner for the San Antonio Youth Commission.

I've been a part of the commission since 2023.

Every year we release the survey, the responses grow, and more teens become involved to share their experiences and voices.

In 2024, we collected about 1,400 responses from youth ages 12 to 19 in San Antonio.

From 2022 to 2024, we've seen reports of self-harm decrease by 15%, suicidal ideation drop around 15%, and substance use decline by 14% among youth.

Despite these positive changes, LGBQ plus and gender diverse youth continue to experience mental health challenges at disproportionately higher rates.

In response to the 2022 survey results, we use the data to inform our allocation of 70,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to support school mental health initiatives and host a teen mental health first aid training.

We continue the survey to track progress, identify disparities, and ensure funding decisions are rooted in the lived experiences at San Antonio's youth.

This is why today we asked Mayor Jones and City Council to support the youth of our city by promoting the Teen Mental Health Survey and continuing to uplift teen voices.

The survey can be found on the city's public input website and will be open until April 30th.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilman Corr.

Just really quick, I want to thank you guys for the work that you do and pushing us to make sure that we're advocating for teen mental health because it is a huge issue, and we'll make sure we send it out to everyone in District One.

Councilman.

Make Rodriguez.

Thank you, Mayor.

And thank y'all so much for all y'all's hard work.

I know there's so many other things y'all could be doing throughout the day.

Uh, and you choosing to make the community a better place, I think a very noble and worthwhile cause, and I I want to commend you all for that.

Also, y'all sound like uh some of our department leaders, so please keep their y'all have their numbers on file, be ready for some jobs once y'all are of age.

Uh I again thank y'all so much.

I look forward to uh helping promote the survey and again thank y'all so much for all that you do.

Councilmember Mungia.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh I just want to give a shout out to Elijah who's represents District 4.

I already took your picture and sent it to your mom, so she'll see that.

Uh but thank y'all so much for all the work you're doing.

I mean, this is so important.

I've I've got a sister in high school, and I always think about their mental health.

And I think y'all's generation is so much more accepting than past generations of of your peers.

So thank you for the hard work.

We will push this out to our schools and make sure people know that they have resources available to them.

So thank y'all so much for your hard work.

Appreciate it.

Councilmember Viegeran.

Thank you.

Thank you again for doing this survey and moving forward and being the champions on this issue.

I think as we continue to talk about it, as we continue to normalize this in our conversation where we're talking about mental health, that more people begin to share and we can continue to have those conversations.

So thank you for being such encouragers.

Thank you for having the youth if they find a person that they can talk to, but peers is so important, and then finding that trusted adult.

So thank you and continue the good work.

Councilmember Castillo.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just wanted to commend each and every one of you all for y'all's leadership within the youth commission.

Again, every time I attend youth commission meetings, I'm so impressed by y'all's knowledge of Robert's rules, the facilitation, the content within each agenda item.

Uh just overall impressed and eager for what the future holds for each and every one of you all.

Grateful for y'all's work in terms of teen mental health.

Uh, this is something that we're seeing trends in with it, whether it's within the community and health committee and or the public safety committee with uh the youth component is how can we continue to support our youth?

Uh and with that, I'm eager that our team is going to contribute $2,000 of carry forward dollars to help them support a pilot that they can uh will draft and create.

So I asked my colleagues to join me uh in in matching those funds to allow them to create a pilot on how they could continue to support San Antonio's youth.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Alden, they got Vito.

Thank you.

Um, Councilwoman Castillo, we will match those funds for sure.

We will also take y'all up on the survey.

Um actually, I I'm like, y'all can come up here and take our jobs now.

Y'all are extremely, extremely impressive.

And the most impressive thing is taking an idea and making it into action, right?

Ideas are free, a lot of people can have ideas, but y'all made it into action.

And and this will help so many um in our community.

So we will match those funds, we will do the survey, and y'all let us know what we need to do next.

Thanks.

Councilman Mesa Gonzalez.

Thank you.

Just uh shout out to our district eight appointee, uh Harini Logan.

Uh, we're so proud that you're representing us in District 8.

Um, and just as this as if this is not a lot already in your spare time, you are a spelling B champion, and you are uh founder of the Asian American Student Union, as well as working with City of San Antonio Public Library to hold media literacy workshops for children.

So thank you so much for all the time that you give to this community.

Um you've been serving on this board for three years, so you're already a professional.

You've been serving longer than most of us on this diet right now.

Uh, but thank you so much for all the work that you do, and yes, matching those funds, absolutely.

We are hosting District 8 is hosting a mental health town hall in late April, so we will make sure that we have those uh QR codes up and um have uh folks from the uh commission there so we can speak about these issues.

Thank you so much.

So you all are too young to know this song, but there's a song, it's called I Got Five on It.

So I'm good for 5K, okay.

Thank you for what you do.

I want to make sure that survey though really highlights um why we're seeing some of these things.

Okay.

Um, because when I when I read this line here, while a higher percentage of LGBTQ plus youth reported experience depressive traits than their straight heterosexual counterparts, there was a decrease across all traits for LGBTQ plus youth.

Um, and so the question then begs why?

Right?

Why?

What are what are folks hearing or what how are they um internalizing what's happening?

Uh does it have to do with the fact that they can't read books about themselves, right?

Does it have to do uh potentially in other with other youth about you know potentially, you know, if you live in a mixed status family, you know, the fear about what's happening with ice in our community.

Um, so really make sure um the survey is important and um that's a great first step, and now we've got to understand kind of the why so that we can action it, right?

And we can take those things and do those things, frankly, that you all deserve.

So thank you for your leadership, thank you for your service.

Um, and really appreciate y'all being here.

Proud of you.

Thank you.

And actually, the next person is it's quite fitting that we follow that actually.

Um, so as a point of personal privilege, I want to recognize um uh Meloya Gutierrez, uh, who until yesterday served as the state director for the human rights campaign, the nation's largest uh please uh civil rights organization working to achieve LGBTQ plus equality.

And I'm recognizing her today for her years of nonpartisan work via the organization's C3 uh to advance equality for the LGBTQ plus youth community here in Texas.

Um thank you, Meloria, for for helping to advance the quality in our state.

If you'd like to say a few words, you're welcome to.

Yes, thank you, Mayor Mayor Jones, and thank you, Council.

Just want to say in my role as I spoke across the state often, I always and I speak in DC to my colleagues about how Texas, the eyes of Texas, are always upon us, and Texas leads the nation.

Just as Texas leads the nation, San Antonio, and you amazing leaders lead the state of Texas.

And y'all are an example from what cities can do nationwide and statewide.

And I am incredulous and proud every time I see y'all accomplish something that is new, innovative, and creative.

And one word that comes out of every one of your mouths every time I visit is community and service and your constituencies.

And I am just so proud to have worked in this city to have advanced equality with many of your constituents and leaders, and um so proud of what you've done, Mayor Jones, and I can't wait to see what y'all can accomplish together.

Thank you.

Anyone like to speak?

No.

Okay.

Okay, the next uh point of personal privilege is uh the life and legacy of Mr.

Gil Coronado uh Padrino of Hispanic Heritage Month.

I'm gonna recognize Councilwoman Mesa Gonzalez.

Hi, thank you so much, Mayor.

Today we honor the late Colonel Gil Coronado for a lifetime of distinguished service to our community and country.

If his family can please stand.

Colonel Coronado was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and raised on the west side of San Antonio, where he attended Lanier High School and later our lake, our Lady of the Lake University.

He dropped out at the age of 15 to join the Air Force, where he was honorably discharged after 30 years of exemplary service, including tours in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, Panama, Germany, and Spain.

He earned numerous commendations, including the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star.

Colonel Coronado made significant contributions to both the military and the Hispanic community.

He led the effort on the national stage to expand Hispanic Heritage Week to a now month-long celebration.

During the right White House Rose Garden ceremony, President Ronald Reagan praised him as a stout defender of Hispanic heritage in the United States of America.

Today we recognize him as a padrino of Hispanic Heritage Month due to his persistent efforts.

Colonel Coronado also made history as the first Hispanic director of the selective service under President Bill Clinton.

Whether surrounded by presidents, kings, generals, or members of Congress, he took pride in sharing that his journey began on the west side of San Antonio.

Colonel Coronado leaves behind his wife, Mary Helen Cepeda Coronado, children, Elaine, Todd, Troy, Troop, along with his sisters, a daughter-in-law, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and a host of friends and neighbors in District 8, where he resided for over 20 years.

Colonel Coronado's life life was a testament to duty, honor, and unwavering love for his community.

We may we honor his legacy not only in remembrance, but in our continued commitment to serve others with the same integrity and courage he embodied every day.

Thank you so much.

I'll now recognize Councilmember Castillo for personal uh point of personal privilege regarding the diversionary diversion recovery center.

Thank you, Mayor.

Before I jump into those comments, I wanted to thank Anayi, who serves on the mayor's status uh of women.

Uh thank you for your leadership and your work on that committee.

Thank you so much.

I also wanted to take the personal point of privilege to thank everyone that came to break bread with us and learn about evidence-based practices for the creation of a diversion recovery center.

We invited Dr.

Douglas Marlowe from All Rise to share his research with us.

The topics covered best practices for conducting risk and needs assessment, matching clients' needs to services to optimize outcomes and responding safely and effectively to clients' achievements and infractions in the program.

We had the participation of the district attorney, Joe Gonzalez and his team, Commissioner Moody and his or his staff, rather, our chief housing officer Mark Carmona, Maria Vargas, SAPD leadership, district five safe officers, Center for Health Care Services, police policy staff from the majority of our city council district offices.

So thank you all so much, colleagues, for allowing your staff members to attend.

Dr.

Testa, UT Health Professor from the University of Houston, University Health members of Egg Hog, the GEO Director, Tony Casares, members of Central, and members of the Bear County Harm Reduction Coalition, community members and friends of District 5.

So grateful for sitting with community breaking bread to learn some more information.

Thank you, Mayor.

Great.

So the next item is the city manager's report.

As mentioned previously, we're moving this up based on the more frequent updates that we are going to get when it comes to the status of our activities around the federal immigration activities.

Over to you, Maria.

Thank you, Mayor and Mayor and Council.

What we're going to do today in this presentation is to give you an update of the actions that we have evaluated, actions we have taken related to the resolution that was approved by this body on February the 12th.

So the presentation is organized in four different areas.

We're going to review with you those actions that have been completed, actions that are in progress, actions that we are evaluating and the timeline to complete that evaluation, as well as some actions that we are seeking clarification from you today.

So going to slide uh three, I'm gonna go through those actions.

So beginning with those actions that have been completed related related to lead legal pathways referral for those with legal status, the Office of Compliance Opportunity and Access, which is one of our city offices, continues those referrals for those with legal status.

Action number two, know your rights training by third parties.

Uh the city holds a contract with American Gateways, and that work continues to provide know your rights training for those individuals that request them.

Item number three is the development of an economic report on the contributions and impact of migrants in San Antonio Ember County.

This report was completed.

This uh work was led by the Office of Compliance Opportunity and Access.

You can see on the presentation that this report is available on the city's website, and we will be presenting the report in detail to the community health committee either in the month of March or April.

Continuing with actions completed, the use of uh city resources and services.

The request was to identify areas where city resources, services, and discretionary approvals may be limited to the minimum required by law, and establish clear internal guidance to ensure consistency and transparency.

This is already our approach.

We only provide what is required by law.

Number five, in terms of intergovernmental coordination and legal safeguards.

This particular action requested the guidance from our city attorney's office on how this strategies can be structured to avoid unlawful discrimination, retaliation, or preemption concerns while preserving the city's policy autonomy.

This is already our approach.

So the city attorney's office uh reviews strategies for compliance with existing laws, so this work continues.

Item number six is reporting ICE requests for assistance from SAPD and the costs that were spent in this request.

So we are tracking those costs.

We have not had any requests for assistance from IE since we briefed you on February the 12th.

So what we are recommending is that we will report monthly at the end of the month with the first first report being March 31st.

We also want to highlight that given grant assurances and potential future grants, this reporting could be impacted by those future grant assurances.

We don't have that issue today, and of course, we will notify the council if there are any changes.

Moving on to actions that are currently in progress.

Training for city staff on response protocols when ICE enters a city facility.

So we've had already provided guidance last year to our city departments.

Our human resources department is now actively conducting in-person sessions for those apartments that provide services to our community and where we have services where the community comes into our community centers.

So those sessions are ongoing.

Related to data on ICE activity.

We are working on linking the ICE dashboard that will be added to the city's website under the Office of Compliance Opportunity and Access.

The data that we're going to be linking is data that is reported by ICE.

So we want you to be aware that we are not the keepers of that data, that we are relying on the information that is provided by ICE.

Another area of consideration is that that information is not specific to the City of San Antonio or to Bird County, but rather is the San Antonio regional office, so encounters more counties than just Bird County.

We also want to make you aware that that data is updated by ICE, so it may not be up to date depending on their how frequent they update the data.

We expect that that link will be available on our website by tomorrow.

The next item requested in the resolution is community reporting, to have a report mechanism for community to report or log alleged violations related to immigration enforcement.

Our Office of Compliance Opportunity and Access is evaluating if a third party can offer this service rather than the city.

One thing for consideration is that the city cannot act on those reported alleged violations.

As we are exploring, exploring having a third party being the keeper of that data or being the intake for that data, we anticipate to have that completed by the end of this month.

Moving on to actions that we need to evaluate.

So we group actions 10 to 13 as procurement actions.

And those are relating cities' contract and procurement practices.

And what we are recommending to this body today is that we forward those to our economic warforce development committee for discussion and evaluation for potential implementation options.

So you'll see on the following slide.

Specifically, what the city attorney's office review was evaluation of city council policy not to do business with entities providing support to ICE, including vendor accountability and disclosure, non-contracting policies, and procurement standards and values-based criteria.

Based on this preliminary review by our city attorney's office, they have identified the following categories of contracts where we may be able to include vendor accountability, otherwise, state law does not allow it.

And that includes professional and consulting services not governed by statute, leases of city-owned real property, concession agreements, other revenue generating contracts and economic development incentive agreements.

Moving on to other areas that we need to evaluate, and this is related to detention facilities.

So for action number 14, a council policy to defer future private for-profit detention facilities.

What we are proposing is a code change instead of a moratorium.

So we have on the agenda today a resolution to initiate a process to be able to change the city code specifically for this action.

So after the city manager's report, that's an item that we will be presenting to you for your for your input.

Item 15 is an assessment and determination of whether facilities and activities comply with applicable federal laws, including environmental law.

The city attorney's office is uh in discussion with a national firm uh with this expertise, so we continue to evaluate that.

Number 16 is inclusion of federal legislation and action to prevent andor end the use of any facility in San Antonio in our legislative agenda, and that's under evaluation.

When we do our next city manager's report, will we provide an update on where we are in in those uh in those areas with more specific timelines?

Moving on to slide number nine.

Actions that we need to evaluate is opportunities to hold federal law enforcement officers accountable.

And to the extent that they violate state of federal law, we already report that.

We estimate to have this completed by the end of this month, our evaluation.

The next item was a justice fund to support nonprofits for those victims of ICE activity with legal status.

So the legal criteria is being evaluated that would mitigate risk.

We anticipate to have that completed by April 15.

This may result in a budgetary impact that would be discussed as part of the fiscal year 27 budget process.

Item 19 is establishment of public signage, informing residents and business owners of the rights.

We are currently determining whether a third party may provide signage to business, and we anticipate to have that completed by the end of this month.

And finally, as part of this update, there's two actions that we are seeking clarification from this body that were included in the resolution.

Number 20, uh insurance liability and breaks exposure, evaluating how vendor participation in detention operations affects liability exposure, insurance costs, and reputation and risk for both the city and its contractors, and whether additional safeguards or exclusions are warranted.

And finally, we are also seeking clarification on development of training for city staff on rights and responsibilities related to the prevention of harm caused by immigration enforcement.

As we mentioned, we currently have ongoing training for our city employees when it comes to how to address if ICE comes to our city facilities.

And mayor, that concludes the update.

Thank you, Maria.

Um, as we continue to work to balance public safety and public transparency, uh, we know those routine updates to the public are the the least that we can do as we're trying to navigate this.

I do appreciate the inclusion of the dates by which some of this work may we can expect um completion or at least uh a significant update.

So thank you for including that.

Um as a reminder, uh, to this date, to this day, uh my office, uh neither the city staff's office has received any word um from ICE regarding that facility on the east side.

I mean, that just gives you, I think, a sense of uh unfortunately the lack of transparency around some of these activities, um, but the good work, frankly, that our staff is continuing to do to help us understand what our options may be.

So Maria, thank you for that.

I will ask my colleagues specifically to speak to um the points of clarification that she requested.

Um, and I'd actually I'm gonna turn it over to um some of the folks that drafted that the memo to on which that was included, uh, if you'd like to speak to those two points.

So, councilman McKee Rodriguez, you're recognized.

Thank you.

I'll first note that um one, I know that today we're going to be uh considering a resolution for I guess starting a development uh zoning policy process um and that that moots the need for a moratorium.

Uh I disagree with that notion.

I think it's two very separate and distinct things.

Uh and that should we have a zoning process, all that does is create the opportunity for developers and private detention facilities to uh to apply for this permitted use, uh, a moratorium would prevent any of those applications in my uh in my perspective.

Um, second to that, do to do to do.

I think for item 20 uh or the action 20, where it relates to insurance insurance, liability, and risk exposure.

The purpose of this is to sort of supplement what we're talking about with vendors.

If any of our vendors are uh engaged in any risky behavior that acts that uh related to a detention facility, how does that impact the city and our and our liability?

Uh prevention of harm caused by immigration enforcement.

So I think related to um some of the trainings that are already happening with city staff uh where they know what the protocols are.

I think being a little bit more intentional about what is your role as city staff in protecting uh the the constituents who are using this facility.

So a little bit beyond um, you know, a little bit beyond what I think is basic and what's happening right now.

Thank you.

Are there others that would like to provide clarification on that piece?

Okay.

Um you did okay, councilman Castillo.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I wanted to provide support to the councilman's point in that uh we should continue to explore a moratorium and then with item 20, we should not be incentivizing those who are profiting off of uh the construction of these camps.

Thank you mayor um anyone else like to speak clarifying those two points go ahead are are we talking about the presentation as a whole or we're talking um I specifically want to make sure that Maria gets the what she was looking for though on the clarification in particular then if there are other things you'd like to address as part of that you're free to okay uh thank you for this Maria on um slide five item number nine I appreciate y'all following up with the request to track requests to track calls when people feel their rights have been violated uh can you give an overview of what it might look like with involving a third party and also why why wouldn't we go just through SAPD so a couple of items of consideration councilwoman if we went to go to a third party um potential benefit is perhaps our community would feel more comfortable going to a third party of course we would ask that third party to report back to us in terms of um that information that is being received by the community that we can report to this body uh again one of the constraints and continues that we would continue to have is that we cannot act on those on those um uh reported allegations uh if we were to do it through uh one of our resources either let's say SAPD or our office of um uh compliance and resolution we would just be taking those goals and then reporting them to this body so we um are weighing those options to see if a third party could do it perhaps more um effectively than we can yeah and and thank you I appreciate that clarification and for us it was it was so that we we could have a tracking mechanism and we can know our our residents feeling that their rights are being violated two two times or two thousand times right um the intention was never to to necessarily act on those calls I I do think we should keep in mind if we were to go through a third party the awareness campaign right of letting people know of yet another number that's why that's why the thought was in the initial request was to go through SAPD.

I do understand people's reservation it well um people may have reservation about going through SAPD but um I think you know there's a lot of dynamics to to take into consideration but you know when we have talked to residents about this and we're letting them know to call SAPD if they feel their rights have been violated that's been um very well received so uh and we can we can talk more offline about that thank you.

Sure if if I may Mayor um when we come back councilwoman will provide two options um another benefit that we uh are considering if we go to a third party they may have systems to refer those individuals perhaps to to other services that may be available that our police department may not is not familiar with those resources out there in the community anyone yeah councilwoman via grand yeah uh Maria in the um slide 10 for actions we need to evaluate uh 20 um my concern is the use of the phrase detention operations I think we need to look at uh Andy and legal team what um these what how they're operating currently in Texas and um how they're operating uh nationally statewide because we need to define what the federal government says we are detention centers and what our belief is a detention center and the other thing is what is the um there are some facilities that are not built to hold someone for more than um to detain someone for more than 30 days or 25 days and and so I I really think as we look at code as we move forward is that we need to really look at the that as we move forward because again we setting up emergency shelter setting up shelter we have done that here in San Antonio um and if that is their means of the federal government doing that way there are there are specific uh health and risk concerns here in the city of San Antonio and the locations they choose if you uh if if they if they insist on coming into a an inner city population so um if we could get that because I don't think I think they're using that term very loosely and we need a a hard definition of of what that means.

Thank you.

concerns here in the city of San Antonio and the locations they choose if you uh if if they if they insist on coming into uh an inner city population so um if we could get that because I don't think I think they're using that term very loosely and we need uh a hard definition of of what that means thank you if I may if I may Mayor can I respond to that uh yes councilman we'll be taking a look at that uh one of the challenges we have is as been reported this is a new model right that the uh that that the department is using uh and there's no no one no actual warehouse that has actually been converted and operating but we'll keep uh ourselves apprised as that moves forward and uh yes clearly as we get more information of as to how they're gonna be operated how long they expect people there we will adjust whatever uh mitigating measures we we we're gonna recommend to council and and if we could think specifically in terms of city of San Antonio what we did uh during Katrina and how we housed there and that we understood that we had a specific time when when you're doing that within the inner city and within uh facilities that were not built for um for this we need to be call it detention center they can call it detention centers this this feels like uh uh a prison because they're not being able to go away to go and and leave the facility um so uh you know and we I've heard the term concentration caps internment camps we really need better information from them as we move forward thank you councilman mongia thank you mayor and I do support councilmankey Rodriguez's call to look specifically at the phrase moratorium I think that's a very stronger uh phrase and something that the community needs to see about yeah I think for 21 it's also about letting um folks know who work at some of our community centers what's the protocol and what is legal um for these things so as people are working in our community centers and libraries you have public spaces where these incidents might happen the employees there should know what's happening um and also to advise other people that are there right it it when these things happen right you don't intervene in this but you are allowed to record you are allowed to ask questions you're allowed to follow up because the employees who are there um have the potential to help calm the issue down a little bit obviously it's going to be tense if this is happening in the community center but we also have to make sure that there's not chaos with other people there and so these folks are able to say hey everybody you you're allowed to do the XY and Z as kind of just a train obviously they shouldn't be giving ad legal advice of any kind right but when the incident happens they should know the the rights the do's and don'ts of that so that's kind of some direction on that thank you it's a point of clarification um I think Councilman Mungil I think what you may have been referring to is item seven which is the training for city staff on response protocols when ICE enters the city facility item number 21 and I'm gonna go to legal and the staff to make sure you have the clarification that you need because this one is specifically talking about development of training for city staff on rights and responsibilities related to the prevention of harm caused by immigration enforcement if you want to provide additional or Andy or Liz Maria do you have the clarification that you need on these two points.

Thank you mayor I appreciate that from from the comments I I'm starting to understand that perhaps uh seven is very much related to 21 and really 21 is really just augmenting what seven was calling for so we'll we'll look at our training to make sure we capture capture that as well okay and you have do you have what you need for item 20 you do okay yes mayor thank you yes mayor okay anyone else like to speak on the okay councilman spears and then councilman um white thank you mayor um so I reiterate to what my colleagues said about item 20 I'm concerned about the discriminatory aspects of that item very concerned about it um could we also Maria create a in the spirit of transparency a line by line um evaluation of the costs associated with each of these items to enact these measures and the source of the funds for each of them as we move through I'd appreciate that that's it thank you.

Councilman White Yeah and Maria I'd like to know if we could how many staff hours have we spent on looking into any of these things Councilman I don't have that out the top of my head I know the city attorney's office working with the respective city departments have been doing most of the work at this point but that is something that we can track moving forward.

Thank you.

Councilman Corr.

Thank you mayor I just want to caution us to start tracking staff hours for every thing that we request because then we could get into a place where public works is going to be tracking a lot of hours for works that they're doing for district one and and so I just want to make sure that we're cautionary of making that as our um basis for how we request information.

As a support for some of these items, I wanted to reiterate my support for the justice fund.

We keep hearing stories about more and more about how folks have been wrongfully detained, even ones that have legal status, and so I'd love for that to be showing us how we can make that a part of our budget for this upcoming year.

Also for um item six, the report that's coming out on March 31st, is that going to be an emailed report to us?

Is it going to be a website?

So item six um will be a memo that comes from the city manager to the mayor and council, and we'll post that on our website as well.

So we'll do both.

And what we'll do when we said that memo to you all will include the link exactly where is going to be posted on the city's website.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Um, and then what is the timeline for the f for item number 15 for the EPA, the environmental law conversation?

We can give you uh councilwoman uh at our next meetings exec some uh more detail in terms of like for example the firm we're using um timeline uh more insight into the Maryland lawsuit that was filed.

That's essentially we're looking at the same model.

Uh so in our next meeting exec, we'll we'll have a more refined update and timeline.

Okay.

All right, that would be helpful.

And um the last thing that I just wanted to mention was for items 20 and 21.

I support what council member McCurjuga said.

And I think for 21, why there's still some ambiguity is because we're trying to figure out what's possible.

Like that's what I was just asking council member.

We want to see for item 21 what is possible within the bounds for city staff.

Um lastly, just uh quick shout out, we're doing a know your rights virtual town hall this evening.

So if anyone wants to join, um it's online, so you can join us at 6 p.m.

All right, thanks.

Thanks, Mayor.

Councilwoman Corps, just because um I think that clarification may be helpful be helpful for me.

The last point that you just made is we want to understand what's possible.

Do you mean what's possible for the staff to do?

Okay.

So that speaks almost to kind of your your left and right limits, not just hey, right?

When you're sharing somebody's um what somebody's rights may be, but also um frankly also a list of what you cannot do, which probably would be as important.

Um that is included.

I do want to confirm with the staff and with legal um that is included in item seven, things that those folks should not uh our city staff should not do when ICE enters a facility.

Is that correct?

We uh we address that usually in the questions and answers that follow uh mayor, but we'll make sure that we'll we'll make that as part of the presentation and the actual training.

Yeah, thank you.

I want to make sure that um, you know, frankly, staff with with good intentions don't inadvertently get themselves into um to frankly some some legal trouble based on a lack of understanding of what they could not they should not have done, right?

Um okay, thank you for that.

You have something okay.

Councilwoman Mesa Gonzalez.

Thank you.

Um, just wanted uh make a note on item 20.

Um, just some flagging some concerns is it penalizes could penalize our small businesses, our local small businesses.

Um, and then ultimately we end up with a lot of out-of-town vendors who don't share the values that we have as a city.

So making sure how do we balance that.

I I understand the points that have been made.

Um, but just recognizing again, and those contracts vary from housekeeping to construction to you know, um food.

So um how are we balancing that?

Um council uh councilwoman, uh to answer your question.

That's the uh the primary reason we're recommending that it go to a committee that is that is used to dealing with procurement issues and frankly is very adept at identifying unintended consequences and making sure that from a policy standpoint what the council is trying to do uh uh takes into account, for example, our small businesses and other necessary goods and services that the city may require.

So that's why we're recommending it go to a committee.

Thank you, Andy.

Appreciate it.

Any th further comments on this on this item?

Okay.

I I do want to make sure this is an area obviously we have folks you know in in the public, and we hear about this at every single opportunity that the con the public is able to speak with us, um, that we are managing expectations about what some of these actions are designed to do.

And so um there is I think a difference in we want you to report it, and then we've got to manage expectations about with people about what that is actually going to mean once they report it.

So there's two pieces, there's two there may be several approaches here.

Do we want to just get kind of the number of activities?

That's one thing.

If we want to have people understand how that act that um that information will or will not be enacted, that's another thing.

And then secondly, if we also want to make sure we are having the greatest response from the community, that requires they trust, in fact, that that the entity that is doing that intake, which is why that third party entity is so important, as we also don't want to make sure we want to make sure we're not clogging up um SAPD, which as just mentioned is not gonna act on it.

Okay.

Thank you, Maria, for that.

Anything else you'd like to add?

No, Mayor, thank you.

Uh colleagues, is there any objections to taking the consent agenda before the individual items so that we may clear the business for the day?

Okay.

Hearing none, items six through 46 are on the consent agenda.

This means they will be considered as a group and there will not be a staff presentation unless pulled for individual consideration.

Are there any items council members would like to pull from the consent agenda to be heard individually?

These are not these are not highlights, these are things you'd like to have pulled uh for individual consideration.

Okay.

I'll be pulling item number 33 and number 34.

Okay.

We have several um members of the community signed up to speak on the consent agenda.

I will call the individuals up in the order that they have signed up.

The first person is Antonio Diaz, followed by Jack Finger.

All individuals will have three minutes to speak, and the groups of three or more will have a total of nine minutes.

Antonio Diaz, followed by Jack Finger.

Please make your way to the front of the question.

I think I set it up myself there.

As you can see, if what I've placed in the monitor, is we reject these concentration camps, and I brought up at several times that we should have a way to have some oversight if nothing else can be done to stop this concentration camps from being housed or built in our in our city.

We we have to do something.

Hey, quick question.

Uh so we haven't gotten to item five just yet.

Oh the consent is 14 and 20.

14 and 20 as well.

He's he's signed up for 14 and 20.

We're on uh Yes, he's speaking on item five.

Yeah.

Point of order.

Okay, thank you.

Sir, do you have comments on item 14?

Yes, would that be the one that is uh the grants from Governor Abbott?

And the tag well on that, um it's to me it's virtually the same thing.

That I I would I would ask our city council to reject that funding for those six agents, if they're going to be ICE agents, uh policing our our streets and why should we accept more money?

I know that our police would want more monies.

I know that our police would want more monies, but to me it it again is is just uh 287G and and and and uh as before already are turning our police officers into ICE agents now to make it official by accepting funds from the governor to have more, six more, actually from GPS and uh trained ICE agents.

That just instills more fear into our communities.

Where why should they even call police officers?

Why are they going to call them to report mistreatment by ICE when our own police officers are ICE?

That is that that is very idiotic, very ridiculous.

Hopefully, our city council and our city manager and attorney can uh advise on on rejecting these funds from the governor because they they they don't serve as our community to any good at all.

Our communities are already in fear over the police that they are acting as ICE agents, which is why you you may see less and less calls from our community because of this.

And thank you for any positive action in rejecting these funding from Governor Abbott, as we know he is the same as talking to Donald Trump.

Plus comati.

Jack Finger, followed by Herschel Boyd and Don Bamond.

Madam Mayor, other members of our illustrious Sanitary City Council.

For the record, my name is Jack M.

Finger.

Well, at least one I'm uh item I wish to bring your attention on today's agenda.

Mr.

Audiovisual man, would you please uh show the uh the underlined area there?

So today's agenda, what does it say?

Yeah, approving the appointment of Hector Barrera, District 9 to the lesbian gay, bisexual, transgender queer LGBDQ advisory board for the remainder of a term of office expired May 31st.

Yes, okay.

Return the camera if you would.

Yes, um Ms.

Spears, you're you're uh uh uh recommending this person.

Uh I I did uh look at Mr.

Barrera's uh uh communications with uh well with Facebook right here, and and yes, he is a bona fide member of the homosexual community.

But here and uh Mr.

Audiovisual man, let's take a look and see what the uh audio the uh LGBTQ Mr.

Mr.

Finger, you're personally attacking this appointee.

I need you to modify your comments, please.

You you'll be happy to know, Madam Mayor, that we're gonna do just that.

What does it say there, Mr.

Audi Vision?

LBD Key Advisory Board should have this is from the city documents, should have balanced membership reflecting the challenges and concerns of LGBT communities, and should represent diversity, ethnicities, national orange, races, colors, disabilities, religious genders, gender identities, and gender expressions, sexual orientation, etc.

etc.

etc.

Well, okay, you return the camera if you would.

Here's uh the problem, Ms.

Uh Spears.

I went to to one of one of those meetings and I didn't see anyone representing the well, conservative Christian uh viewpoints at that meeting there.

I don't see uh anyone any appointees ever representing that uh uh section of our population.

And so this is why we have some some problems with that, especially if you're a Christian conservative there, sir.

So what does the uh the Christian teaching say about these things?

Well, the uh the catechism mentions about homosexuality, and just scrolling on down there, it says basing itself on sacred scripture, which presents homosexuality acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.

They are contrary to natural law.

They close the sexual act to the gift of life.

They do not proceed from a genuine effective sexual compliment complimentary under no circumstances can they be approved.

Yes, and yeah, um that's why we have and you Ms.

Spears, you also claim to be uh member of the the uh Republican Party.

It uh let me just put that up there, show you what you as a member of the Republicans to say about these things, sir.

Homosexual and gender, homosexuality is abnormal lifestyle choice, gender identity.

We oppose all left to validate transgender identity.

Do you see where we're coming from?

Uh thank you, your time is up.

Um Herschel Boyd, followed by Don Bamond, followed by the final speaker, Montgomery Howard.

A point of order.

That was the last two are for 33.

Item 33 that's been pulled.

You're on it today, thank you.

Item 31, thanks.

Sorry, I've had some printer issues.

Uh oh.

Okay.

Good morning.

My name is Herschel Boyd.

You've probably seen me at many meetings before, and you will continue to see me as much as I can be here.

I'm here to learn and to be a good influence on you before you move behind closed doors to make dealings against other citizens, as you must have done with Via to allow them to take my property at 107 Mary Louise Drive.

If the answer to the following question about Via's power is yes.

I've done all the research I can on my own because I can't afford to pay a lawyer three to four hundred dollars an hour to interpret all of the policies for me.

If I have read the information right and that indeed all real estate decisions are discussed only with that lack of transparency, then I and any other unsuspecting landowner might be completely blindsided in the taking of their property through the unfair practice of imminent domain.

I had a statement that if I spoke very fast, I would take six minutes to make, but I have been too late so far to share it.

So I decided that I'll be.

Sir, the item that you're speaking on has to do with scheduling between this.

That's coming up.

Okay, we need to get to that portion of your comments.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um, so I decided to give you an overview today and come back to complete this talk in three minute increments until I've said all that I need to say.

If I understand correctly, the appropriate time for such comments is only on Wednesday nights.

Again, of course, if I read the rules right.

But Wednesday just so happens to be the only night of the week that I have a night course that I must attend, so I must do this on Thursday mornings.

I thought about dropping out of school, but I didn't want via and the SA government to take anything else else away from me.

Um in this process of stealing my newfound livelihood and that of my tenant of 30 years and my other tenant.

This has already cost me 4,500 since January, and my health is definitely suffering.

Also, if I understood correctly, I know you're not supposed to respond to questions, but perhaps someone could at least confirm or deny that the power of imminent domain was indeed given to VIA to acquire my property.

And also if that was done simply by a vote of the city council without my awareness.

I'm about to sit down to negotiate with them, and I just want to make sure that I know all the facts before I'm forced to do so.

Of all of my open record record requests, the only response so far is we have no records responsive to your request.

I know you don't make these laws, but I do think you should know about their usage.

And one of the reasons you'll see me here, perhaps sitting beside you on the council one day, is that it is my goal to change this law, or at least the unfair verbiage of this misnomer that's titled a Bill of Rights, which gives landowners landowners less rights than an alleged criminal with their right to an attorney.

I just want to serve an example of it of the consequence of voting to implement such a limitless power without a bona fide investigation into a private entity's true purpose in order to find any dis deceptive practices in the process of securing the government's granting of power over its citizens.

For example, in my limited investigation, I found some of VIA's behaviors to be reprehensible, and it seemed to me that they were planning this for years before I got only two months to come to terms with their plan.

Because once approved by law, this for-profit company can decide on their own how they will arrive at that adequate amount of the case.

Well, that maybe it should be rotating so that if I somebody has a Wednesday night class, and that's the only time that we can make these comments that maybe we could go on a Tuesday or uh, you know, on a separate week or something like that, you know.

Thank you, sir.

You can submit the rest of your comments for the record.

Thank you.

Okay.

Slow down the process to do an actual.

So you can submit the rest of your comments for the record.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Okay.

That's everybody.

Okay.

That is all uh the individuals that have signed up to speak.

Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda items uh minus items 33 and 34?

I make a motion to approve.

Okay.

It is moved and a second to approve the consent agenda item minus items 33 and 34.

Council members, um, I know we have a few highlights or questions about the agenda.

Okay, so I'll start from my right.

Um Councilmember McKee Rodriguez.

Thank you, Mayor.

And uh, Mr.

Diaz, I thought you were going to uh talk about I item 14, and so I was interested in what you were gonna say.

Uh today I'm excited to highlight two items, uh, starting with item 14, which is approval of a contract for a project aiming to improve neighborhood access across I-37.

I want to thank Kat and Shannon at the Transportation Department for taking the lead on this project.

Regardless of whether it is a land bridge or some other project, I know you will ensure that we'll uh that we are engaging with the surrounding community and that the number one goal will be to increase access and quality of life for east side residents by reconnecting the east side to the economic opportunity of downtown and reconnecting downtown to the history, culture, and beauty of the east side.

I'm also excited to highlight item 45 approval of funds for the design of a community center and park at the intersection of Mid Crown Drive and Eisenhower Road.

Uh, this is a partnership with the Inner City Tours Board, which I have the honor of serving as chair alongside members, Councilwoman Corps and Councilwoman Castillo.

Y'all are familiar with the senior uh the senior center and affordable housing development that I'm working on on the east side on Lorne Road, uh right next to Copernicus Community Center, but I consider this project to be a sister uh sort of sister project to that one.

My colleagues know I have been in my land acquisition bag, and over the past several years driving along this corridor, more and more vacant land has been developed into warehouses and industrial spaces, which we are now learning that we have way too many of.

Um I took a photo of the for sale signage for one of the last parcels of land on this stretch along Eisenhower and immediately reached out uh to Pete with the housing trust and said, you know, let's purchase this land and build a community center or park and affordable housing uh similar to what we're doing on Lord Road.

Fast forward to last year, we wrapped up a very robust community engagement process facilitated by the housing trust, neighborhood and housing services, and borderless studios, which resulted in a very beautiful schematic design concept that will guide the final project design.

Uh so by the end of this phase, we'll have a shovel ready project, and I am so excited.

Uh, and I thank my colleagues for their support.

Thank you.

Uh Councilmember Aldrate Gavito.

Thank you.

I have two items I wanted to quickly highlight highlight.

Item number 12.

Um, thank you to the transportation department and city staff for advocating advocating for this raised planning grant improvements on Caliba Road, especially inside 410.

Uh with this, this will save lives.

We know that Culebo Road is one of the most dangerous roads for cyclists and pedestrians in our city, so this work cannot start soon enough.

Uh this project has been years in the making, even before my time.

So I'm anxious for the process to begin, and I look forward to seeing the results of this effort.

And I see Mike Shannon, or I did see Mike Shannon.

Uh, where is he?

Somewhere here.

Um, with his team.

Uh I see him here today, and I know that his team will ultimately deliver meaningful infrastructure for the safety of our residents.

So thank you.

I also wanted to quickly highlight item number 30, the reappointing of Marionella Morillo and Dr.

Adriana Rocha Garcia to the boards of the housing trust.

Um, quickly, I just wanted to give a shout out to Dr.

Adriana Rocha Garcia, who's a past colleague and longtime friend.

We served on council together.

We're also in the Texas Lyceum together.

Um, we all know Dr.

Adriana Rocha Garcia does her homework, and so and she's always prepared to serve her community.

So thank you for continuing or service on the housing trust.

Marionella, your passion in uplifting people in our city and providing access to opportunity and ensuring workers are represented are represented is commendable.

Your wealth of knowledge and your unique unique expertise make you a huge asset to the housing trust.

So I'm I'm proud to support your reappointment.

And last but not least, Jordan Gowie.

You've done such an excellent job with Strak over the years and improving disaster and emergency response in San Antonio, but you also give back in so many other ways.

You've been a huge advocate for housing and have impacted a number of housing projects throughout your term on the housing trust.

I'm so happy to see council get to reappoint you today.

So congratulations to all three of you and and thank you so much for more continued service to our community.

Thank you.

Councilman Corps Thank you, Mayor.

I wanted to highlight my appointment for the Veterans Advisory Commission.

He had to leave, but this is item number 22.

Mike was a Mike Vasquez.

He was a United States Army heavy equipment operator, combat engineer.

He's a firefighter, was firefighter of the year 2017.

He's a real estate broker, also a paramedic, American Heart Association instructor.

His uh his credentials are very long, and he's going to be an amazing member to that commission.

He also started a nonprofit Guitars for Vets chapter here in San Antonio.

So grateful for him and his work there.

And then lastly, we um wanted to highlight item number 41.

We have leadership from Goodwill here.

Carlos, who many of you all know and worked dearly with at Goodwill San Antonio and his leadership team.

We are helping support their new operations center that's also going to be located in District One.

Goodwill does so much amazing work for upskilling a lot of our community members.

They're a great ready-to-work partner, and this new building is going to be able to offer a lot of nonprofit nonprofits space for partner supports as well.

And so we're grateful for their work, their partnership, and we're also grateful that we're out of your way on Santa Rosa finally.

And thank you for putting up with us throughout that.

Thank you so much.

Thanks, Mayor.

Councilmember Mungia.

On the consent catam.

Councilmember Castillo.

Thank you, Mayor.

A handful of items that we're excited to highlight today, beginning with item 46.

I just want to thank Francesca with the YWCA for their continued initiative with the Women's Live and Learn Center.

This item is approving the release of the remaining half million in the project development agreement.

So congratulations, eager to see that project continue to develop.

She also became an officer candidate in the Marines.

After she was released from orders in 2020, she gave birth to her son Little Hawk, and she continued to advance her education, graduating from Oklahoma University with a master's in Indigenous People's Law.

She currently practices with the Society of Native Nations, an intertribal Native American Indian nonprofit as a senior policy officer.

In tandem, she's always been an active community member of her neighborhood association and environmental justice.

Lastly, I would like to highlight item 43 and thank the Metro Health Department and Jesse Higgins for spearheading the development and implementation of a robust response measure to the opiate crisis informed by local needs and best practices.

On June 23rd, 2023, my team and I initiated a council consideration request, making overdose a public health crisis, requesting the following items.

Establishing a budget plan with harm reduction strategies for the expenditure of funds related to the opioid settlement payment, explore expanding availability training and use of Narcan for community-based nonprofits, develop and fund a COSA-sponsored program for pregnant people and new mothers experiencing an opioid addiction.

And it brings me such great pleasure and joy to see that the issuing out of opioid opioid settlement money to organizations that are providing invaluable work to our community.

Jesse Higgins briefed us at the community health committee, and our number of overdose deaths uh throughout the city and county have lowered, but they're still higher than the Texas average.

We have a lot of work to do to get our people healthy, and this distribution is a big step in the right direction.

I look forward to how we continue to not just treat opioid and substance abuse addiction in a silo but see how interconnected it is in our society and as well as how it intersects with the diversion program.

Uh it's all about creating a network of care, and just grateful uh for the leadership of Jesse and this initiative.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Spears.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh I would like to highlight item 20, and that is where um we are applying for the grant and acceptance of funds upon award for the Texas Anti-Gang Unit Program.

Um I went on a ride along with the anti-gang unit with Commissioner Moody uh, I guess about a year ago, and I learned so much about organized criminal activity in our city.

And it's all over, it moves.

It is um not where you think it is.

And so I have great respect for this this organization.

Um it's critical for public safety, and it helps c strengthen collaboration between SAPD, DPS, and our Bear County Sheriff's Office.

And it really is the way that we're able to disrupt organized criminal activity in our neighbor and protect our neighborhoods.

So I'm very happy to see this here.

And public safety remains our number one responsibility for city government.

And I think leveraging state grant funding helps reduce the strain on our local taxpayers.

So I'm fully supportive of renewing this grant and uh the continuing collaborative efforts, and I look forward to going again out with the um the unit again.

So and then I also wanted to highlight item 27.

I'm proud to appoint my friend Daniel Meza to the Small Business Advisory Commission.

Daniel is an entrepreneur and founder of Pure Nitro Coffee, a business he has built over the past seven years.

It is his passion and his craft.

And he's also served in public service roles, including as district director for former Congressman Will Heard and as a regional director for Senator John Cornen.

Beyond that, he is actively engaged in our community through service on multiple local boards, including the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Texas AM San Antonio Foundation.

And I am excited to see what he does and how he strengthened San Antonio's small business ecosystem.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilman White.

Yeah, just a couple of um appointments here.

Item 28.

I'm really excited to appoint Adrian Baruman to the San Antonio DSU SAIS Commission.

Adrian is a lifelong district 10 resident who's been very active in our community, regularly attends Northeast Neighborhood Alliance meetings, and even shared his incredible musical talent by playing with his band at our at our holiday party a few months ago.

We're thrilled to welcome such a dedicated community member and wonderful musician to the DSE SAIS Commission, and I know he's gonna help us celebrate and honor this important uh tradition with with pride and passion.

Um item 29, proud to appoint John Spitz to the stormwater management advisory board.

Uh he has over 40 years of construction experience and leadership managing government uh commissary projects nationwide, and uh John will be a tremendous asset to the board, and we look forward to all the positive impact um that he's gonna make.

Thanks, Mayor.

Thank you.

And I wanted to uh highlight one item.

Um item 43.

Um Maria, we had talked about this, but just for everyone's edification, uh, when we look at the funding, the the federal funding that we lost in the grants for HIV testing.

Would you um clarify how uh the funding in item 43 potentially backfills that loss capacity?

If it does or if it does not, thanks.

Thank you, Mayor.

So the uh settlement funding that we receive from uh for this for the opioid settlement, is that eligible to be able to be utilized for those uh grants that were re reduced by HIV.

This is uh specific for opioid related um type of uh operations that we're allowed to use the funding for.

Okay, thank you for clarifying.

Okay, there being no further discussion, there's a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda minus items 33 and 34.

Please vote.

Okay.

Um Councilman Alderte Gavita will need a voice vote from you.

I the motion carries.

Is a resolution directing city staff to bring forth for city council consideration proposed code or policy changes related to the construction or operation of detention facilities within city limits.

Go ahead, thank you.

Good morning, Mayor, Council.

My name is Amin Tomaz, director of development services, and I'm here today to brief you or talk to you about the resolution directing staff to evaluate standards for detention centers.

Before I start, I just want to say uh my presentation will be mainly talking about out-of-cycle unified development uh codes, uh changes and amendments.

And I'm gonna present two different options for the out of cycle process.

One is the standard process and one is expedited process.

So again, uh we we are seeking direction uh from council to direct staff to evaluate the processes for code and policy amendments for detention centers within the city limits.

It's mainly based on city authority to regulate land use and building operations to protect public health, safety, and welfare.

As I mentioned, those amendments will be uh in regards to Unified Development Code, Chapter 35 of the City Code.

Here is a couple of options, uh potential amendments that we we we have on the table.

One of them is to create a separate distinct zoning district for detention centers specifically.

If we do that, we're gonna have to come up with uh definition as well to make sure it's very clear.

The other potential potential uh amendment is uh for detention facilities to be uh authorized uh by utilizing an S-specific use authorization by council.

The third option could be for city council to consider minimum spacing, creating buffer requirements.

Example, you know, a thousand foot from residential or parks or any use that you believe is appropriate.

This slide talks about side by side two different processes for again out of cycle UDC uh timeline.

One is the standard process, it takes about five month average.

Um we we need the resolution from city council.

That's what we are seeking today.

And then if we get that, we proceed with creating a task force.

It takes us about two weeks to create the task force.

Then we establish meetings to discuss the item with the task force.

Normally it's about three months.

Then after that, if we reach uh some recommendations, we do have to advertise for the zoning commission in the newspaper.

And with that in place, looking at you know future dates, the zoning commission will be held on July 7th.

And then we will brief PCDC and following that with uh advertising in the newspaper for city council hearing, which will put the city council meeting on August 20th.

That's overall the time frame for the standard process for again out of cycle UDC amendment.

The other one is expedited process.

So what we can do is as soon as we get the resolution from council, we expedite the zoning amendment within a month.

We'll try to discuss it and create that recommendation, bring it back.

What we need to do at that point is publish in the newspaper for both the zoning commission and council at the same time to save some time with that.

And then the zoning commission will be on April 7th, and Council will be on April 16th, which again it's about 45 days.

So that's the difference between those two options.

So uh again, staff's recommendation.

Today we we don't have any immediate code changes.

We are not proposing anything today.

We have to go through that process again, either the expedited or the standard process.

And uh we can coordinate those uh meetings and we can coordinate with the boards and commissions prior to coming back to council with final recommendation.

That concludes my presentation, and I'm available for questions.

Thank you, Anna.

Uh just for clarification in case it it uh informs any of the public comment we may hear.

Uh, would uh a moratorium on um non-municipal detention facilities be included in your uh policy amendments that you undertake a review of.

So that's more uh city attorney's question, but I'll answer it based on my understanding, and I'll let them continue with that.

My understanding, if we utilize that option, number one, that is a temporary solution.

So as soon as it's in place, it's maximum for 180 days.

And then after that, you cannot start that process again for two more years, versus this will be a code that is in the unified development code.

But again, Andy, can you elaborate on that?

Yeah, if I and I I apologize, I thought it was going to be part of the presentation, Mayor and Council.

The reason staff is not recommending a moratorium, is a moratorium at most will get you six months of uh not having uh a facility there, and it would require, frankly, and it's counterintuitive, a much longer process that would take six to nine months that would that would require two hearings, 30 days no notice, uh findings, uh uh written findings saying how the facility would harm uh the community, public health, etc.

So the reason we're not recommending a moratorium is again it it it will only get you six months of a moratorium, and the process is much longer and drawn out I'm in similarly in case it informs other people's comments.

We have similar we have previously made the distinction uh between municipal detention facilities, right?

Um, and non-municipal.

Um your the presentation or does the resolution specifically speak to that?

Um, because I think when we look at some of these amendments, we're also fully cognizant, if I understand correctly, that none of those, these minimum requirements, any of that, would actually could they use could be totally waived by um the federal um entities, correct, Andy?

That's correct, Mayor.

Okay.

So what we're talking about here then would just be for municipal detention facilities or privately run detention facilities.

Is that correct, Andy?

That's correct, Mayor.

Okay, thank you.

Just want to manage people's expectations about what we're actually able to do and and doing here.

Okay.

Uh we have several members of the public that have signed up to speak.

Uh Priscilla Olivares, followed by Hilda Santiago.

Priscilla Olivares.

Okay.

Hilda Santiago, Hilda okay, and followed by Pedro Ruiz.

You have three minutes, ma'am.

I want to show something.

Thank you.

All right.

My name is Hilda.

I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a social worker, a Christian, and a longtime San Antonio resident.

I'm here to urge you to pass the resolution before you and to do everything in your power, understanding the limitations to prevent the operation of a nice detention facility in San Antonio.

In January of this year, my husband was detained by ICE on his way to work shortly after dropping off our daughter with family.

He was on West Avenue and Northwest Military Highway.

The state trooper who stopped him said that my husband's registration sticker was too high.

Shortly after ICE arrived.

Like almost half of the people detained by ICE as of January 7 of 2026.

My husband has no criminal record, but he does have a truck.

He works in construction, and that day he had tools for a paint job visible in the back of that truck.

He also looks Hispanic.

So when I found out my husband had been detained, I dropped to the ground and cried.

Over those days when my daughter heard noises in the morning, she would call out, Papi, Papi, Papi.

I'd go after her saying, No, Nena, Papi isn't here.

Papi is far away.

Papi wants to be with us, but he can't.

The first time I visited my spouse in the detention facility, I cried over the phone as I looked at my loved one through the plexiglass.

He had a blue uniform and a plastic ID bracelet.

He hadn't slept well and his back hurt.

The room was full of people who looked like me, who looked like many of the people in San Antonio, many speaking Spanish, there were babies, children, partners, parents, siblings, friends, all talking to their detained loved one.

When I took my daughter to visit, she didn't look at my husband.

She struggled to understand that she needed to talk through the phone.

But she would listen to her dad sing nursery rhymes to her in Spanish.

Pio Pio Pio.

After almost four weeks, prayers from across the US and beyond, 10,000 in legal fees on top of the legal fees we've already paid over the years.

More than 500 in commissary and communication fees.

My husband was released from immigration detention.

I say all this to illustrate the harm immigration detention is already causing San Antonio residents.

Harm that would be multiplied by more than 1,500, the number of beds proposed for the San Antonio facility.

This harm would be done to children, mothers, families, faith communities, neighbors, to all of San Antonio.

And so again, as leaders who priority it is to provide for the welfare of its residents, I urge you to pass the resolution and to do everything in your power to prevent the operation of the ICE facility.

Thank you.

Pedro Ruiz, followed by Ricardo Jimenez.

Oh, still good morning.

My bad.

And you know, you gotta validate your ticket.

There was about 20 nails and screws right behind my vehicle.

And I was like, wow, who's that evil to do that here?

So is there any right wingers here that hate me?

So fuck you if you did it yesterday.

I really don't appreciate that.

You know, we we're taking our time out of our days to come over here, and people put shit like that.

It's gonna prevent us from coming here to City Council.

And especially a very important issue of detention facilities.

Uh being built here.

Just imagine having children being in there.

It could become a butterfly zone for young women as young as 13 who are being raped by detention center guards and brought here to San Antonio.

Who knows that what it could be?

But we don't know yet.

This is all open uh in the air.

If this facility actually goes through, what what accommodations are you gonna have for the children being detained here in San Antonio?

You know, there's gotta be some something.

A daycare, or what's it gonna be?

Or what about the war zone that it's gonna create?

You're gonna have riot police there every day.

We're gonna be out there protesting, we're gonna be fighting.

We might be wearing protective gear, and just back and forth, you know.

We're not gonna give up.

If it does happen, I'll just give you a friendly reminder what happened uh few weeks ago in Dilly.

People from San Antonio went out there to protest.

They were met by DPS troopers.

Those are Greg Abbott's Nazis.

So those guys were all in riot gear, and they threw tear gas, pepper spray balls at these activists that were there.

Just imagine that it's gonna happen here in San Antonio.

So that's why I'm here to say I am against the detention centers being built in San Antonio in the east side.

I live in the Southeast side.

So we've already encountered several DPS troopers on South Presa.

I heard some that were on WWE White Road.

So they work with ICE.

I'm very sure.

And that's the thing.

The question is does SAPD also work with ICE?

Law enforcement agencies have been known to be sharing information.

So I'm very sure they use their video cameras for surveillance on us citizens.

Thank you very much.

Ricardo Jimenez, followed by Antonio Diaz and then Diana Flores Uriegas.

Good morning, mayor.

Good morning, Council members.

My name is Ricardo Jimenez Reyes, and I serve on the staff of the Southwestern Texas Senate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America as a bishop's associate for community networks and Latin ministries.

I'm also a clinical psychologist and have been a resident of San Antonio for the past eight years.

I stand before you today as a faith leader, but also as someone who has witnessed the human cause of immigration detention up close.

In my work as a pastor, I have sat with families whose lives were shattered overnight by detention.

I have listened to mothers trying to explain to their children why a parent is suddenly gone.

Detention centers do not just hold individuals.

They spread fear through the entire neighborhoods.

And they ask us as a society to accept the suffering of our neighbors as normal.

As a pastor, I believe every human being carries the image of God.

As a psychologist, I know that the trauma of detention and family separation can echo for years in the lives of children and families.

And as a recent resident of San Antonio, I believe this city is capable of choosing a more humane path.

San Antonio has always been a city shaped by immigrants, by people who crossed borders, build families, opens businesses, plant the churches, and help create the vibrant community we share today.

Today you have the opportunity to affirm that legacy.

But you're saying this is only going to affect municipal jail facilities, which is very disheartening to think that all you can do is monitor our own police uh jails and detention centers and not ice.

So that's what I've been asking, either for the UDC or for uh and uh intergovernmental service contract agreement, which kind of is or we're already in by 287G.

So all we would be asking for is an oversight into this facility using their own legislation that this racist Republicans have created, which is 287G, as before.

So if if if our police officers are already going to be forced as to be ICE agents for the federal government, then we can at least go in there and make sure that those standards that they are employing meet at least our own municipal standards of jailing people.

That is what I talk about when I'm talking about intergovernmental service agreements, since we're already forced into 287g.

So hopefully, Andy, you can look into this a little bit further.

Uh a moratorium, as you're saying, maybe in combination with uh the UDC.

Uh which one you could employ first to try to delay them from moving into that facility.

Maybe those talks you could have and and continue to figure out a way to to stop that.

I mean, maybe not not stop it, but delay it uh long enough to where maybe uh our democrats can take over, at least uh the Congress, and and start to prevent some of what is already being enacted.

And that that gang unit, I mean it's nice that you did it right along, but if we're all gonna be looked as gang members, as that's gonna be another pretext for being able to arrest brown people as being gang members like they're doing in in Venezuela, saying that they're gang members and now we're terrorists along with gang members.

I that's why I reject those funds.

I would reject those funds from Greg Abbott because he's just another white supremacist racist.

Thank you very much.

Diana Flores Uriegas, followed by Diana Lopez.

Here I am uh a descendant from uh my ancestors here that were kept in San Jose Mission.

These are very old pictures, they came from my mom, you know, and uh her mom and her mom and her mom.

Uh back then they used to have uh a lot of kids, and here is that those pictures represent when they took those kids away from them and left them with two, a boy and a girl, and with that we all had whatever we could.

God gave us all these kids that we had.

We all are uh what do you call it?

All mix.

We're all indigenous, we got indigenous blood in us, all of us.

You might be white, black, brown, yellow, whatever, but you are mixed there's not one that is a hundred percent.

So when I you know comes around and tries to ask you for your papers and you don't have them, they're gonna take you in.

You know, and that's not right.

We said the pledge of allegiance, and yes, I said it out loud, because I want you to have it in your head and not forget it.

Because apparently y'all do forget it, and y'all don't follow it, y'all break all the rules, and y'all are just depending on yourselves, and not everybody here.

You have to break that wall in your heart.

Not for up you.

Not for the whites only.

We were here first, and we're gonna continue marching.

Here comes a women's mars, and we're gonna march in that marsh too.

Because we have to fight for justice because y'all don't want to do justice for us.

None of you take money under the table to you know cover yourselves and follow the corporations, and it's not right.

You're not doing right.

You're sitting on these chairs that we set you in.

We voted you in, and you don't do justice for us for none of us.

You just do justice for yourself.

Ice out.

Diana Lopez, followed by Thomas Robison.

Diana Lopez.

Okay.

Thomas Robison.

Okay.

At this point, we'll take a 10 minute recess.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um so that was um all of the uh public comments.

May I have a motion to approve item number five so we may begin council discussion?

Okay, we'll now move on to council discussion.

As folks are signing in.

Um, Andy, for for clarification, um, on the um you mentioned the uh the time aspects of uh potential moratorium, right?

Um while that process plays out, is the effect of the moratorium of the moratorium in place until that process is resolved.

Uh no mayor uh uh under the uh moratorium process is not in effect until the council votes at the end of the process um well to be clear with the um the council has to vote on a moratorium to put that into effect via ordinance.

Is that correct, right?

At the end at the end of the process I described.

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

Um so as a reminder again, the amendment before us, uh excuse me, the uh resolution before us would only apply to um uh to non-municipal um uh excuse me to municipal as well as um um private detention facilities um in the instances of of a federal like the instance that we have on on the uh on the east side, potentially uh these may or may not be waived by uh the federal authorities who have discretion there.

Okay, councilman McKee Rodriguez first thank you.

Um thank you for the presentation of the city manager's report, Maria.

As it relates to this item, uh I would request that we establish the strictest guidelines we can and think of even more than schools, religious or residential uses that these uses would be incompatible near and around uh within a thousand feet, and I would personally say that these facilities don't belong within a thousand feet of any use.

Uh so do with that what you will.

Um I also would appreciate the expedited approach.

That's the direction I'd think I'd give.

And then can you explain one more time uh clearly and plainly what are the challenges with the moratorium?

Challenges with the moratorium are twofold.

The timing.

One, if council were direct a moratorium, we would need to publish a notice.

There would have to be at least 30 days from that first notice before the first public hearing.

We would have to wait another 30 days for a second public hearing, and then within 12 days from the second public hearing, then we would have to have a reading of the findings and the moratorium and wait then an additional 28 days.

So that's a lengthy time frame.

Development services can probably get here faster with code changes than we could adopt a moratorium.

The moratorium is only good for 90 days, but if you follow the state process, it could be extended 90 more maximum.

So 180 days total for any moratorium on anything.

Yes.

Wow.

Wow.

Well, then yes, I guess it is what it is.

get here faster with code changes than we could adopt a moratorium the moratorium is only good for 90 days but if you follow the state process it could be extended 90 more maximum so 180 days total for any moratorium on anything yes wow wow well then yes I guess it is what it is at rough news um well I'll continue to think about that a little bit as it relates to the zoning and uh the zoning uh that is an update to the UDC correct yes it would be okay so zoning we would be create as creating a zoning designation that would uh be a part of an update to our unified development code it would not impact the federal government's ability to do what they're what they have planned to do it would impact any private or municipal it would any private uh detention center or similar use uh and to the point made uh by council member via gran earlier um can we be sure that we're uh in the language detention center processing center any use that could I don't want to pigeonhole ourselves I want to be able to stop anything similar to to a detention center um I also do want to acknowledge thank you uh I also do want to acknowledge there has been tremendous organizing work and the results that we're getting are very marginal I know that y'all are doing everything in your power to to put pressure on us and to man us to do XYZ thing and we are doing everything in our power and I want to I want to recognize you've placed a lot of emphasis on us as a city and as a city council while at the same time recognizing our limits uh and today is a clear example where you know I was ready today to say let's go on and let's let's go for this moratorium if it's gonna be 180 days that accomplishes nothing for us however there are people who hold tangible who hold positions of tangible influence uh in our federal government that you can contact and give them these same demands because they're causing this harm and they're getting off scot free because they're telling people oh count contact your your city council because they're gonna be able to do something knowing that we won't be able to stop them.

Congress members Tom Suozi and Lauren Gillen of New York, Don Davis of North Carolina, Marie Glusencamp Perez of Washington, Jared Golden of Maine, and of course our very own Vicente Gonzalez and Henry Quayar of Texas, Monica Delacruz is another Tony Gonzalez who won't be here much longer, good riddance get on your Congress members push them because they are allowing this this behavior they are funding ICE actively they are actively promoting and accepting the creation of these facilities and then they're pushing the blame onto us redirecting y'all to us knowing we can't stop them and it's preventing them from feeling any of this pressure so you have got to get on every single level of government.

You don't have to stop uh talking to us you don't have to stop coming here I love it but you also have to extend that same energy and that same power power and organizing capacity to the state and federal government because they are inflicting tremendous harm on our community and again getting none of the none of the effects of y'all's organizing.

And so please continue pushing forward I'll continue to provide calls to action but I know y'all have much greater capacity for change than what we can do here.

Thank you.

Councilmember Via Garan Yeah thank you for that presentation and the information I think right now in an agreement with Councilman McKee Rodriguez is we um we are we can ask for the details in terms of what are we calling these um facilities and these detention centers and these places that are housing children that should not be housing children um here in the state of Texas.

So as we move forward I think uh today's call to action for me with you is that we because I am a uh neighbor to where they want to put this and my residents are unhappy about this is that we will be working we will be organizing and talking within the district and working with council McKee uh Rodriguez in his office in terms of what are our what are our opportunities out there.

What does the private sector have to do what do our advocates advocacy groups what can they do and how as we as the city can help in our roles as city council members and then as our roles as just citizens of the United States um the one thing I will be looking towards and and I hope that you said is taking councilman McKee Rodriguez's um action in terms of contacting our um representatives that are here that that are are not looking in the best interest of Texas and there's quite a few right now and quite a few are in runoffs and quite a few are um seeking reelection in November.

So that is going to be our thing is this is this is not something we want we we have we have made it clear and I think the next step is to work as as team San Antonio and work specifically within our districts to organize our I've got neighborhood associations and thank y'all for reaching out that are saying we don't want this this does not belong here.

We we have we have made it clear, and I think the next step is to work as as Team San Antonio and work specifically within our districts to organize our I've got neighborhood associations and thank y'all for reaching out that are saying we don't want this, this does not belong here.

And I think for us right now, Mania is making sure that we get the right verbiage that we're using and we're seeing what the national trends is, and then in um and then I mean it as we look at code, unified development code is really taking in that big picture and then bringing in all the stakeholders and all the other code issues that we talked about yesterday too, about how we we we do that process and we create policy around it.

Thank you again for coming out and speaking.

This is something that uh Hilda, this is something that should not be happening at all.

And um thank you for sharing your story as we go through this process.

We need to remember that this is about our people.

So thank you again for for uh coming out and sharing and knowing that what we what we're having to do right now really is uh uh what I'm doing right now is taking this back to the district.

And I know that councilwoman Core mentioned her know your rights um seminar.

So we we got we're gonna take this back to the district, see what we can do, and then hopefully come and get more council colleagues involved.

Thank you.

Councilman Mungia.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I do concur with my colleagues on their statements, and I think it's worthwhile to look at not only doing this resolution and of course the expedited process, which I'm in favor of expediting the process, is can we do this alongside the conversation moratorium?

Because I know that is obviously I'm assuming that's a state mandated process, but we know that it is gonna be at least another couple years of the same administration, and who knows what happens after that.

So there could be even further escalations more than just the center.

So while not this may not be able to help us in the immediate, we do have to consider the fact that there could be other things coming to the city.

So look at both things and see what it looks like to do concurrently concurrent processes on those, just to have it in our back pocket.

Um yeah, uh to everybody who's watching and who came out to speak, you know, these congressional races are extremely important.

We have one open seat right now in District 35, which is my congressional district, and um I'm actually now thinking maybe we should have a forum for both parties uh candidates in the runoffs to have a conversation about this in general.

Uh and the pressure to Councilman McKee Rodriguez's point is working.

There's a congressman south of us who changed his mind, say it on Facebook.

I heard y'all, I heard the criticism, I'm not going to support this right now.

Um so that pressure is working on the political side of it as well.

But I do appreciate the team looking into this seriously, and I know there are some state mandated timelines we have to follow, but let's get to it and end to it quick.

Thanks.

Mayor, if I may, uh to answer uh your question, Councilman, we can follow both paths in parallel.

But uh the reason we were recommending that the code change again is because it's it's a more permanent, but we can do both in parallel.

Councilman White.

Thanks, Mayor.

Well, I I guess I'm happy to hear my colleagues today talk about the fact that folks that are um wanting action here need to go and uh speak to Congress, speak to members of Congress, because um as the Constitution of the United States clearly lays out, uh immigration law is exclusively uh the province of our of our federal government.

And um, if we're really honest about what's happening here today is is this is an attempt to use the EDC, the UDC as a vehicle uh to make immigration policy.

Um and that's wrong, and that sets a uh a very dangerous precedent um for things that could happen in in the future, and uh it's disappointing that we are spending so much time and taxpayer money um on this today.

Uh Andy, I I just have a couple of questions for you.

Uh number one, anything in this resolution here, anything that would come from it uh would never do anything to stop um what the federal government may be doing with that facility uh on the east side right now.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

Under current law, it would not impact that company.

And even if a let's say a private company in the future owned a facility and then leased it to the federal government uh to conduct immigration enforcement activities, this wouldn't stop that either.

Is that right?

If it's a g it to answer your question, if it's a government facility, no, if it's a if it's a private facility, we'd have to look at at the facts.

But if it's a if it's a federal uh if the federal government either loans it or leases it, the answer is no.

Okay.

Yeah.

So again, um a lot of time, a lot of staff time, council time, council staff time, taxpayer money spent on this.

Um just I guess to make to make some sort of statement.

I won't be supporting it.

Thanks, Mayor.

Councilmember Castillo.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I wanted to express um the same desire that we move to expedite this process.

Uh wanted to also echo the sentiment in which you know, or let me back up a bit, right?

Uh again, when we look at how city council and local municipalities throughout the nation are restricted on how we can uh regulate and or prevent these facilities from opening up in our community, it's essentially what we're seeing is textbook fascism, right?

Oftentimes fascism, authoritizer authoritarianism is carried out under the guise and cloak of rule of law.

And when the rule of law doesn't cover and allow us to arrest and incarcerate individuals, we create more laws that allow us to create uh a process in which to arrest and incarcerate those individuals.

Uh I am going to echo the call in which, right, we do have congressional races where there's uh a lot of uh opportunity and on the line, but beyond electoralism, right, we need to continue to hold our electeds to the fire uh in terms of what our expectations are of them beyond election season, right?

I'm grateful that community and community organizers have led the charge and the call to say ICE out of the city of San Antonio, and because of community taking it out to the streets, many elected officials uh who who weren't expressing uh that their sentiment towards ice uh are now saying ice out of San Antonio, we will not fund ice.

But that wasn't the sentiment two years ago.

Two years ago we were seeing uh congressional representatives funding ice.

Um and now because of community, we're seeing a shift in sentiment, but that's primarily because of San Antonio residents continuing to take it to the streets to say we expect better and we expect you not to fund uh this organization.

Uh those are all my comments, and I'll be supporting this resolution.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilwoman Spears.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I I think my biggest concerns and I just want to stress that this is about municipal authority zoning and land use.

It is not about setting federal immigration policy.

Um, can you tell me how many private detention facilities we have currently in the city?

Uh councilwoman, I'm not aware of any right now in the city.

I mean, sorry, Andy.

That's probably we are not aware of any uh privately owned or privately around detention centers in San Antonio.

And no one is teed up for anything?

No, ma'am.

Okay, thank you.

Um so maybe I don't know who these questions maybe are best for.

Does this I wanted to know if this restriction violates any zoning by right uses if we if we proceed with this changes to the zoning?

Uh no, because there are no existing facilities, we wouldn't be looking at any property being made non-conforming by adopting rules for them.

Okay, and then um could this be considered singling out or reverse or discriminatory zoning?

That may be ending.

I can answer that uh councilwoman is it's essentially the same way.

Uh we we will work our process as we look through as we go through it to ensure that uh at the end of the day we it won't be characterized as that.

No one's we we we're very careful about ensuring that whatever zoning we do is not discriminatory.

Okay.

I think those are my biggest concerns because I uh any changes to the zoning has has to be legally defensible, um, remain in full compliance with SB4 and be within our scope of authority.

Um I'm I'm concerned about unintended consequences here that we we just will I mean you wouldn't foresee that right.

So um if any potential changes are coming, we need to be thinking about the comprehensive impact across the city on any facility that could come forward since we don't have any right now.

But um beyond that, I I'm just not supportive of this resolution.

I feel it's too vague and it's it's not gonna be very effective.

So thank you, Mayor.

Councilwoman Messagonzalez.

Thank you.

Um just wanted to support uh really the comments that have already been said by some of my colleagues in District 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Um also supportive of the expedited process.

Um that's all.

Thank you.

Has everyone who's liked to speak on this issue spoken?

Oh council okay, council member Mungia and then Councilmember Corps.

I'll be brief.

Uh it's also I just think it's a coincidence that today we're also gonna be discussing Greater CTX and last time we had a great B session from you all, it was the same day we were discussing much of this.

Um and I remember in your presentation, one of the headwinds for business development um nationally is immigration policies.

So this issue that we're tackling is bad for business, and they've said it and documented it.

So I think we need to be aware of that.

Thank you.

Councilmember Corr.

Thank you, Mayor.

I wanted to reiterate what much of what my colleagues have already said.

Um I also had some questions about the moratorium, and I think it's um unfortunate for some of the situation that we're in, but I do understand with why now you all made this recommendation.

So with that, I am supportive of additional scrutiny on this and um a specific use case, and uh you I know it's going to be important for you guys to do this immediately and quickly because that's what our residents want us to see, and just wanted to echo everything else that my um council colleagues said.

Thanks, Mayor.

Has everyone who'd like to speak on this issue spoken?

Sorry, we're having technical difficulties here, so you're just gonna have to raise your hand if you'd like to speak.

Okay, Councilman Rodriguez on the uh McKee Rodriguez on the second round.

Thank you.

I am interested in also exploring the um simultaneously exploring the moratorium and what that might look like, and so I wanted to be sure that um there wasn't a an amendment required, and it sounds like there is.

Um so I'll say I move to amend the main motion to approve item five to initiate a moratorium to prohibit detention facilities within the city of San Antonio.

Okay, okay.

So there's been a motion and amendment.

I think Andy um to clarify though, I was that not already that could have already been included in the resolution as presented, correct?

It could have been.

Thank you.

All right.

Um so now there's a um a motion um and amended uh based on what has been just described.

Okay.

So any other comments here on the second round.

Okay.

Can you restate the amendment?

Thank you.

Clerk.

Okay, Councilman Rucky Rodriguez, just for everyone's advocation, if you please restate that.

Move to amend the motion to approve the item to include um export uh initiating the process of a moratorium for detention facilities in San Antonio.

So in effect, it would um approve the resolution and and then do the moratorium process in parallel.

That's what it does.

Yeah, okay.

Any further questions or comments on this?

Okay.

Um thank you, Councilmember Mungia.

I was actually going to raise that same point, uh, which is not just um immigration when it comes to the cost of labor and how that's driven up cost for our economy on top of tariffs and top of um inflation.

Um and so I am supportive of of expediting um uh the the policy amendments review uh and I want to make sure that it sufficiently accounts for two areas that we are very concerned about, uh which are going to be the um environmental impact uh studies, anything that's related to that, I'd really want to make sure when you pr when you present that to us, we have the full accounting of um what is the range, the full range, right, of of our um uh uh of any leverage or any opportunities we may have there.

I similarly um would like frankly Greater SATX uh to be part of that process um because it's not just the driving up the labor costs, it's no kidding.

I'm guessing when Greater SATX hosts different uh uh de delegations to our community and and we're able to bring them to shovel ready sites when you're driving down 410 and somebody asks, oh, what's that?

And you have to say, oh, it's a detention facility, I'm thinking that is not the best selling point.

Um, but that's not even five miles from our downtown.

And on a part of town that is already so economically um depressed.

So I'd really welcome um some uh outside uh um incorporation of the economic um impact of the the location of where these may be as part of our zoning process.

Um I see graders here.

I know we're gonna talk about your budget here shortly.

If you'd like to comment on what I just said, you're more than welcome to to provide a few comments if you'd like.

Okay.

Thank you.

Appreciate your participation.

Okay, so there is a motion and a second on the um resolution as amended.

Um please vote.

I thought you have the vote.

Go ahead.

If you can vote on the amendment first, and then on the as amended.

Yes.

I I think procedurally, Mary, you vote on the amendment first, and then if the amendment passes on on the motion as amended.

So there's a motion and a second on the amendment as stated.

Please vote.

We need a voice vote from council member Alder de Gavito.

I this is really quick.

Sorry, this is for the the um is this the one as amended, the one that Jalen mentioned.

This is just for the uh the moratorium piece.

I okay the motion carries okay.

And now um on the motion as amended, there's a uh motion to approve and a second on the motion as amended.

Please vote, council member Alderta Gavito.

Hi great.

Okay, the motion carries okay.

I pulled item number 33 uh for individual consideration.

Madam Clerk, please read the caption.

Item number 33 is an ordinance approving the strategic plan for code enforcement.

Great.

Thank you so much.

Um I mean, I really appreciate the um the presentation.

Is there a motion and a second for approval so we may begin discussion?

Yes, thank you.

It has been moved in second to approve item number 33.

Um I very much appreciated um the original the original document.

I know we went back and forth on that, just and and really just because this is something that I also get a lot of emails about, um, and I know my colleagues do as well.

So if we're gonna take the time to do a strategic plan, I think everybody in the community, we all want to sell it hard, right?

And we think we do that when we can help people understand where ultimately we are going, which really speaks to again the metrics, the performance, because when we understand those things, then it's actually much easier for us to budget those things and say, you know what, when you say we're doing X because we want to get to a 50% reduction in activity Y or these types of violations, um, and you say this is a plan that gets us there, then we budget for that.

Um my only concern and what I have seen is um it's still quite vague in that way.

And so I appreciated your executive summary of that.

Um, and uh I want to make sure that we all can expect uh another level of due diligence that really speaks to again um what this plan that we want to support that we want to budget is trying to accomplish.

So the executive summary, and I'll just give you a couple of examples, right?

Um so when we talk about um connecting staff and community, develop stronger partnerships with neighborhood associations and community organizations by increasing partnership meetings by 20 percent to achieve what amplify social media comm strategies by increasing the frequency of educational and in informational code enforcement social media content from 40 to 80 posts annually to achieve what some of these also require a significant amount of resources, and as we go into the budget season, and we just cut a bunch of positions going into 26.

We may need to do that again to close the gap that we have.

And so when we talk about launching a pilot program focused on delivering high quality enforcement that requires people knocking on people's doors, that's very manually intensive, um, and it's not quite clear, you know, how that is going to help us achieve other than somebody understanding it, but but again, what are we actually trying to achieve?

A decrease in what how do we know that that in fact is going to lead to the the change in behavior that we're after?

Um so those are some of my my challenges with the um with the strategic plan as presented um in that it's really hard for us to um I think understand where it's going and then how we best allocate resources for that when we compare it to other things in this very challenging fiscal environment.

So um I will stop there, see if my any of my other colleagues have any questions um on this strategic plan.

Again, I think we're all committed, spirit and intent, and now it's just when we're trying to have to make budgetary decisions.

How do we understand what one dollar for your strategy frankly our strategic plan on quote enforcement versus a dollar somewhere else, right?

That's why this level of fidelity and metrics and performance um is really really important.

So, Councilman Magia.

Thank you, uh Mayor, and thank you, Amin, for your work and all that.

And um I know that when we had our input meeting at Johnston Library, it was well attended.

May not have been the most attended of the city, but for district four, I was actually a huge turnout uh because people really care about it.

So I was very fortunate that my predecessor let me work on this with her uh when I was a council aide.

And um it really goes back to the fact that it was such a high need in our community, and at the time it was a pretty high dissatisfaction, right?

And we know we've talked about it, right?

You're not gonna please somebody, right?

Because one person is reporting the issue and one person has the issue, and one of those two people are probably gonna be unhappy at the end of the day, no matter what happens with that situation.

So it's very difficult.

I've worked with the code officers in D4 for 10 years now, and I know them to be really great partners in the community, and they're not there to just a cite people, right?

They want to get to a solution there.

So um I think this is a great start, and there was a lot of community input on there and what they wanted to see because sometimes your upper management goals uh for your officers are not necessarily what the community goals are, right?

So I think this is trying to mesh that together.

And one of the big things that we've talked about is proactive versus reactive, right?

I want to make sure that when people call in 311 that those cases are getting addressed as quickly as possible.

The proactive ones, that's a little less important to community, right?

Because they want to make sure that what they're calling in is getting addressed versus having to go and see proactive cases.

So I think it's a great start to this, and I appreciate the mayor's comments about wanting to be direct because we want to make sure that we help get you to where you need to be, right?

Financially, and if there's more support that's needed.

And I think even Councilman Castillo has said she wants more code officers to be okay with that, right?

Which is a big difference from uh a few years ago.

But because we know it's more aligned with what the community is interested in, right?

We have a lot of vacant lots in D4, as you well know, that have dumping.

I just got a call recently.

It was like there's trash on all these different streets in our community, right?

And code is always there.

So we will, of course, check in with you on this plan at PCDC.

Um we have no problem getting you there uh every few months to make sure we're meeting our goals there and we're continuing the engagement with our community.

But as I've been reaching out to community associations and talking to residents about this plan, and it hasn't been done in over 10 years, right?

15 years, they're really excited.

Uh, right, because some of those brochures you have are people that no longer work with a department and it's kind of older.

And so I think we're trying to do some better bigger and better things with the department and make sure they're out there.

So I appreciate that.

Look forward to getting this past today and continuing the momentum with y'all on this.

Thank you.

Councilmember Castillo.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Amin Uh, and the entire development services team for this initiative and your work on the strategic plan, particularly with the district five code compliance officers who uh have done a great job at connecting residents with city services and resources, uh oftentimes beyond uh what the city offers.

Uh and I just wanted to commend Anna, who's been promoted to train code officers.

Uh, pleased to hear that she'll be uh taking the charge and training code compliance officers on best practices, uh, and of course, to Danny for your new role as well.

Uh just grateful for y'all's leadership and y'all's uh team work uh within the code compliance team in particular, and then of course to the district four team, council member Mongia for them working on the strategic uh plan council consideration requests uh with the district five community meeting, there was robust participation, and uh as folks have highlighted, right?

There's a spectrum in which folks feel that code is too harsh and code is not harsh enough.

So uh there's a balance that your code compliance officers have to manage in terms of how are we ensuring that homes are within compliance but also connecting the resources.

So uh pleased to see uh the initiative and work that y'all's team have been putting in uh and just a lot of great input, a lot of great opportunity, and as the council member mentioned, uh I was eager to support uh a new code officer for the apartment inspections team in particular, uh, and just uh eager to see um the policy and the investment that comes to help support this plan come into fruition.

So just uh thank you, I mean, and to the entire development services team.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Via Gran.

Yeah, I I just wanted to do a point of order.

I thought we had to, I'd like to hear from the community members that wanted to speak if they're still here.

Would you like to provide your comments and then we can go to the city?

No, I I would rather I'd rather hear from the community first before I I understood.

Thank you.

Give my comments.

Thank you.

Um Bamonde, thank you.

Followed by Montgomery Howard.

Thank you, Mayor, and uh thank you, council.

I am Don Bemunda, and I live in D1.

I live in the north side of D1 across the street from D9.

And I have to come to tell you today that uh this last year I was president of the Greater Harmony Hills Neighborhood Association and spent a lot of time working with our councilwoman Succur to mitigate a lot of code enforcement issues.

The code enforcement team that came out daily, well, they were amazing.

I can't say enough about how they worked with us to mitigate these issues that we have in the north part of San Antonio.

Um I I just want to take the time to also maybe answer a couple of those questions.

When we have our meetings, our neighborhood association meetings, we have representatives from code enforcement, like for instance, Alisa Valdez comes every single time.

And throughout this last year and moving into this year, more and more of our neighbors became and felt emboldened to call 311 on their own and help with making the community feel safer and uh and also more in compliant.

The only problem that they had was during the day.

If they called and 311 would come out, code enforcement would come out the next day.

I mean, it was amazing what we were mitigating, but the only issue we had was some of the homes that were not in compliant, those issues were happening after five or on the weekends.

So maybe with this new um this new the budgets, we're training code enforcement officers to go out after five and on the weekends, where some of these code infractions are happening, and then of course they don't happen during the week because some of the times it's a truck that's sitting on a somebody's lawn and they have to use it for work, and then they work with that particular homeowner and and um neighbor, and they come to a good solution.

So I'm standing here today, um, outgoing president, but still very passionate about my community and neighborhood, completely carrying on all the time about the great work that we're doing, not only with D1, but also with D9 right across the street.

And we stand and I stand uh here to hopefully that you will pass this ordinance.

Thank you.

Montgomery Howard My name is Gomery Howard.

I'm the 2026 president of Greater Harmony Hills Neighborhood Association, and I would like to send my greetings to the mayor and city council for letting us be here to speak today.

Uh I'm also here, uh Don is on my board with me, but we're we're here in support of uh your code enforcement group and this master plan.

And I think uh what I'd like to do is speak a little bit to the metrics that would that were talked about uh and some of the questions.

We are a great conduit, particularly working with council office staff, and I have to give an awful lot of credit to Council Core and her staff for helping us so much.

They've been a terrific conduit and an assistance to help gather up the city services and get things working for our citizens.

This is a great opportunity for the city to do some high profile interaction with citizens on a level that's really the core responsibility for city government to deliver services.

Um again, I'd like to compliment the D9 office and I hope that D10 office is still doing what some of my former councilmen when I lived there were doing in terms of integrating with neighborhood associations.

It's a fabulous conduit for getting this kind of thing organized and implemented.

And I would like to encourage all of you to ramp up your council staffs to create liaison positions with neighborhood associations so that you can take on some of your responsibility to help them do what they need to do and help us help all of y'all do what we need to do to make city government better and to do these kinds of services, deliver these kinds of services effectively for our citizens and our neighbors and our members.

So thank you very much for listening to us, and I encourage better budget support for this group.

They deserve it.

Thank you very much.

Great.

Thank you.

That was my oversight.

Thank you, Councilwoman View Garan.

You're recognized to speak.

Thank you.

And I didn't I didn't tee up Don and Montgomery on purpose, but I did want you to speak because this is what I love about the strategic plan.

And I was on PCDC when we first begun the initial conversations, is that it is something that is fluid so we can add to it.

Um something that we can look and what is impacting district one uh at this point of time may not be impacting districts four and five.

But how do we do this and have a plan to move forward?

And the one thing that they brought up that I think is key is more officers or code enforcement officers that can work that weekend and uh late night shift and how do we incentivize that?

And that's what I really want to look for at the budget.

And I know we can't talk too much budget, but I I think I I have people that agree with me there, and it's good to hear from the residents because this is what we want to see moving forward.

So I'll be supporting this today.

I'm glad we were able to pull it so we could brag on what code is doing, and yes, my team liaisons with my code officers all the time, and the neighborhood associations are doing a great job.

So as we move forward, I think what it's going to look like is manpower and empowering our residents to call 311.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilman Corps.

Um please sign in if you'd like to speak on the item.

Oh, sorry, I thought the system wasn't working.

Um thank you, Mayor.

Uh, thank you so much, Don and Montgomery, for coming out.

I had didn't even recognize y'all in the audience, and I said, wow, you waited all this time to talk about how amazing our staff is, and that really shows you the work that you guys do really makes an impact on the daily lives of our residents.

And so thank you all for staying this entire morning and for speaking.

No, Councilmember White, I did not pay them to come up here and speak today and say all those things.

Um, but I really appreciate you guys.

And um, you know, Amin doesn't hear enough from our office clearly, but our office is very much both of you guys know how engaged we are with our code officers, and it is just as councilman Castillo mentioned, a very fine balance because the second someone complains, the other person is like, well, why are you complaining?

And I feel like we're in the middle of neighborly disputes all the time.

And it is, and I the work that you do is really important, and I want to reiterate how much this strategic plan was important.

So thank you to Councilmember Mungia for pushing this on.

But at the same time, I understand that you guys are working through some challenges and some changes.

Keep pushing on those metrics, see what works, see what doesn't, and try to see how we can make them even more successful.

We talked about the survey when you guys um briefed me on that.

So we're curious to see how what the baseline is and then where we can go from there.

Um, just a couple of uh things that I wanted to reinforce is proactive enforcement, making sure we're using those 311 calls to really target specific areas to ensure that all of our residents are getting what they need.

Um the online uh in for informing our customers online and residents online of what's happening and the progress that we're making, and then lastly, as you see the code officers at neighborhood association meetings really do make a difference, at least for the folks that are going to the association meetings.

And I told them I was like, here's our list of meetings, here's our liaison.

So we shared all that information so that we can get that kind of level of support for as many folks as possible.

Thank you for your work, I mean.

Thanks, Mayor.

Councilwoman Spears.

Thanks, Mayor.

Um I agree.

This is something I hear about almost daily.

We just had um we have a um quarterly HOA president luncheon in our in our district where we bring the presidents together, and this is routinely what comes up.

But this last one we had on I think Monday or Tuesday this week.

Uh we had the integrated community safety office come and assess what each HOA is experiencing as their top priorities, and um overwhelmingly it's code enforcement.

And so uh to um the speakers' comments about we need this in the in the weekends and in the evenings.

Um, that's something we hear routinely as well.

But um I'm very supportive of the efforts to come out to communities and talk about 311.

We press that at every meeting that we attend and our HOA luncheons to call one, get the app, use the app, and and it's extremely helpful for the integrated community safety office to track data, which is is really what they're gonna be able to do and help us to make informed decisions about budget every year.

So um thanks for coming out, and I just want to reiterate the support for uh the code enforcement strategic plan.

Thank you.

Councilman White.

So for the record, I didn't really think that councilwoman paid you to come out here because Councilwoman Corps does amazing work in her neighborhoods, and um that that is widely known.

So it is no surprise to me.

It is no surprise to me uh that people are here singing her praises.

Um I just want to thank Amin for for for his work.

Um as the councilwoman just stated, code enforcement is right at the top of the list on what we get calls on.

Um I would like to see us add code enforcement officers uh in the coming years, specifically for that reason.

Uh so I'm supportive of the plan and appreciate the work.

Thanks.

Council uh member Mesa Gonzalez.

Sorry, just uh quick highlight.

Um so thank you to all the work that development services is doing.

Um currently, obviously, code enforcement makes all of our years kind of perk up when we hear it.

So we but I'm also when I look to the right and I see districts one through six or one through five all nod at the same time.

I know that they're they're supportive of this plan and our neighborhoods have different needs, but older neighborhoods, um inner city neighborhoods have very different needs, and obviously um other districts.

So just very supportive of the work that they've done um in their committees um and with their residents um and grateful to support this.

Thank you.

Is everyone who'd like to speak on this issue spoken?

May I may I right here?

Oh, sorry.

Maria, please, thank you.

Um I just wanted to add to to what the work of the department as well as some of the comments.

So this strategic uh plan is trying to balance educating the community in terms of what co-compliance is, connecting to resources, uh, and also achieving compliance.

So we know the metrics is important.

So I've spoken to John Peterick, and we're gonna use 2025 as our baseline for metrics, and then come to PCDC and report um perhaps on a quarterly basis, similar to what we're doing with the ACS strategic plan going to public safety, so that way we can measure the progress that we're making and be able to ensure that we're making progress on those goals of the strategic plan.

Maria, thank you for that.

I appreciate it.

Um understanding the progress that's being made.

I think uh what I would also, and again, I look forward to supporting this.

I think um you see you hear from here the appreciation for your for your hard work.

Um so reporting on the progress is good.

Understanding ultimately where we're going, though, is really really important.

So, for example, for for me to be able to say when I do my monthly town halls, hey, the reason we're going to do the pilot on that um on that education program, I'll just say for shorthand, is because we want to see a 50% reduction in these kinds of violations.

Something very simple like that, so people understand what we're actually trying to achieve.

Um so I very much appreciate the reporting and the frequency of that, Maria.

Um, and if we can, even just to the very helpful executive summary, I mean, that you shared with me.

If you could um uh provide a follow-on document, I think my colleagues would appreciate it as well, which is what is the goal of each of those things?

What are we actually trying to achieve?

Thank you.

So, with that, there's a motion and a second to approve item number 33.

Councilwoman The Gavito.

I'm gonna I'm the motion passes.

Okay.

The next item is item number 34 that I pulled.

Uh, Madam Clerk, please read the caption.

Item number 34 is an ordinance approving the greater SATX Regional Economic Partnership 2026 services agreement for a one-year term with two one-year renewal options for an annual amount of up to 759,250.

Funding for the first year in the amount of 759,250 is available from the fiscal year 2026 general fund adopted budget.

Funding for renewal periods are subject to subsequent to appropriation of funds through the annual budget process and council approval of subsequent operational plans.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

I'm gonna take us into executive section.

Uh, point of order at this time, uh please explain the reason for going into executive session on this item.

I understand consultation with the attorney and economic development negotiations are acceptable, but if the reason is solely the merits of the agreement, whether or not we should be entering into this agreement, that is something that should be discussed in open session, not executive behind closed doors because of the Texas Open Meetings Act.

So I would like an explanation of why we're going into executive session.

Sure.

The economic development negotiation as part of the as part of the contract.

I want to make sure that I sufficiently hear from folks here aspects that may not be available or legal in open session, and I'm sure Andy, as he does, if it is appropriate for open session, he'll tell us that that's the case.

Certainly procedurally, yes.

I mean, we we we can go into exec at any time and and and again to answer your question, Councilwoman.

Uh, we can go to exec to talk about uh legal interpretation of the provisions, legal remedies, obligations of the city.

Um and and I can do that either publicly or or uh in executive session, we can certainly set the parameters as a discussion moves forward.

At this time I'd like to make a motion to approve item 34, and then that way we can see if the conversation merits an executive session.

Second and do you said I can take us into executive session currently, right now?

Yes, Mayor, we're in what we can we can talk about what what we can or can't talk about uh in exec.

Okay.

The time is now 1249 p.m.

on March 5th, 2026.

The City Council of the City of San Antonio will now meet in executive session to consult with the city attorney's office pursuant to chapter 551 of the Texas government code and to deliberate or discuss the following items economic development negotiations pursuant to section 551.087, the purchase exchange lease or value of real property pursuant to section 551.072, and legal issues related to litigation involving the city emergency preparedness and collective bargaining, all pursuant to section 551.071.

Okay, we are back.

Uh we did not have an executive session.

There are several council members uh and myself that had questions and we had those answered.

Thank you.

Okay, so it's been moved and seconded to approve item number 34.

Um members of this uh public that have signed up to speak on this item.

Um actually staff, Alex, just to just to confirm for everybody's public awareness.

Economic development is extremely important to our community, um, and we know Greater SATX is an important partner in that, uh, which is why I have monthly meetings with them, and I very much appreciate the team's efforts to support those as well as the uh business retention and growth meetings that I have throughout the community, uh which helps me shape the agenda both for things like SADDC as well as um frankly the upcoming trip that I have uh to uh to Taiwan.

I do want to make sure though, given the importance of this contract um, which is uh 700,000 plus that we're all clear and the public is clear um about what we what it does and does not do, especially because it is a new approach to contracting.

Um and so this is for you, or this is for um anyone from greater that wants to explain why the the difference in approach and we can we can do an abbreviated version of this.

I know we had a longer discussion on it.

Um, but I think at the end of the day, when we are looking at this and we are saying at the very least, this contract, we will spend at the very least six hundred thousand dollars.

Um over seven hundred spending that amount of money.

Um, and it may not, it may not yield one additional company coming here, or it may not yield one additional growth and retention uh to the existing companies that we have here.

So at base, we're spending six hundred just as a minimum for this contract.

Correct.

Um similar to most of our contracts, this contract is also structured in a way that there is a base amount that will be paid based on deliverables that the organization is gonna be um producing and providing.

It includes a significant amount of work, day-to-day economic development work.

And yes, the payments are tied with the reporting of that work that they're completing.

But at the end of the year, just to be very clear, and I understand there's a you know, there's a stability in funding that is very helpful for an organization as they are creating, frankly, their plan to do this work.

So stability of funding for the organization, very helpful, understood.

But I just want to manage people's expectations.

I think when we also looked at the metrics over time, um, there's been some areas where it's been difficult uh for for greater uh and it maybe not all through their own efforts, but also there's the fiscal reality, economic realities that we're faced with, um, in which those metrics have not been met.

The only aspect here in which there would be kind of pay performance for performance, if you will, um, is going to be when it comes to those jobs that are a hundred and uh a hundred thousand dollars or more, correct?

Can you because that is the only flexibility, if you will, in the um in the in the contract?

If you just want to lay flat um once more for the group and for the public listening, um, how that's going to be done.

And then the attestation process, which I think is really important part of this.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

So there is um, I believe it's 150, it's a little over 150,000 of this contract that is specifically associated with jobs that a company, uh a prospect or uh or a local company that Greater SATX works with that will attest to the fact that because of the assistance that they receive from Greater SATX, they are creating or committing to create a job that will pay over 100,000.

For every one of those, there is a uh that performance uh pay in this contract that greater will will receive 500.

That's the total of a little over 150.

That's also included in the contract.

I see that that's capped at 306 jobs.

What what happens if we reach that if there's wild success, and hopefully there is.

What happens um to that amount of um our ability to to be flexible with additional resources if needed?

We have not allocated any additional funding for um performance based um additional performance based funding.

But we'd be able to if we needed to.

If I if the council decided to add funding to it and it was identified, yes, so yes.

Okay.

Since your it's it'll be your office that handles the attestation process.

Can you speak a little bit to that?

I think frankly, from to be frank, from staff.

I've heard about some concerns about an inflation of attribution of who has done the work to bring businesses in and who hasn't, right?

So can you please speak to your attestation process and how we'll address that?

Yes, ma'am.

I'm actually gonna ask Brenda, um, Brenda Hicksorenson, our economic development department director that's been working on what that document will include.

Thank you, Alex.

Brenda Hicks Orns and uh as Alex mentioned, economic development director.

Uh yes, so historically we have validated all of the projects.

We literally have a staff member go over, look at any public announcements, any documents submitted, emails, anything from the company.

This attestation for this contract takes out one step further, where again the the company themselves will be asked to fill out that form indicating how many jobs, at what wages, et cetera.

And again, that it was but for basically the the work that Greater SATX has done that will be incorporated into that document and will be signed and so forth.

We are still going to be looking.

Again, we look at public announcements, there's just a variety of other things, but we're taking it that one step further with that attestation.

Thank you.

And I appreciate that frankly the challenge with that process and the need to add an additional level of attestation speaks to frankly how difficult that has traditionally been over time.

Um any of my colleagues like to speak on this.

Have you have folks signed in?

Just via Grand.

Okay, Councilman Vigoran.

Thank you, Mayor.

I want to thank you all for coming and being so patient.

Sarah, Randy, I see you there, Romanita.

Um, thank you all for the process.

I uh I was hoping to leave it on consent and let my council colleague, uh, Councilman White uh speak on it because when we went through audit and on other committees, he has been the biggest advocate to ask y'all questions and the biggest uh one to ask about our foreign investments and where we're bringing that in.

So I think we got to a spot here where we you understood our goals as we're moving forward, and we worked as uh a team and Brenda, thank you for your team and really trying to move forward with understanding our limits of what our our uh our EDD can do because I've I EWDC economic workforce development asks you to do so much from advanced manufacturing, small business, we're asking you to do the gamut in your team is working, and we appreciate our partners at Greater SATX who've been 50 plus years, I think, um doing this work, uh bringing our stakeholders because getting Randy in a room and the USAA executives and everybody in one room to try and and move forward, it's it's not easy.

And so um, I think about how you bring those leaders in the room and how you've made space for the new companies that have come in, like well, they're not very new, but Toyota and JCB.

So uh I look forward to moving this forward today, look forward to getting updates.

We had a B session on this, and while I would love everything to come through economic workforce and development.

If if we need to have you present at B session to make sure we're moving in the right direction, I know Brenda looks forward to B sessions.

So um thank you, and I look forward to supporting this today, and I look forward to my council member support.

Thank you.

Councilmember Corps.

Thanks, Mayor.

I just wanted to quickly highlight because Romanita was telling me that you just yesterday, all how many of the universities?

All eight of the universities partners came together and said that they're going to double down and go after that 45% educational attainment goal that we talked about several weeks ago.

And y'all know that that I think is going to be a game changer for our community in the long term.

And so I wanted to commend you on getting eight university presidents to agree to that.

So good job, Romanita.

You have a great one in here, Sarah.

Would anyone else like to speak on this item?

Okay, thank you.

Yes, I appreciate Councilman Corps um talking about one of the metrics that in the Tarlington report.

One of the metrics I've shared with Sarah numerous times is my concern about the wage grace wage growth number, our ranking rather us relative to our peers, and how unfortunately it's going in the wrong direction.

Um, and so I've I've asked and I've appreciated the answers.

Obviously, that's not all on Greater SATX, frankly, that's also on on this body to make sure we're doing our part uh to help in that in that vein.

Uh, but understand uh and and appreciate the efforts for that to be a focus area, uh, wage growth in our community.

Okay.

Okay, councilwoman Eldrate Gabito.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh I just wanted to also make mention that Greater SATS has been great partners.

Thank you all for that special session that we had what two weeks ago where we were able to dive through the contract and talk about the strengths and opportunities and and how we look forward to partnering in the upcoming year.

Councilwoman Mesa Gonzalez and I were at the announcement yesterday.

Y'all y'all are continuing to do great work and and we're we're supportive.

Thanks.

Do you have something?

Councilmember Councilmember White.

Yeah, I'll just briefly thank Greater SATX for for all of their work.

This is an area we talk about all the time.

We need increased focus on bringing companies to San Antonio, uh creating jobs for our citizens, good paying jobs.

Uh we definitely need to make sure, as with any other group that that we give dollars to, that we have metrics to uh to make sure that we're getting uh the bang for the buck for for our citizens.

Um but let's keep up the great work.

Let's bring more businesses here.

Let's create those jobs that our citizens rely on.

Thanks, Mayor.

Okay.

There being no further discussion, there's a motion and a second uh to approve item number 34.

Please vote.

Councilmember Aldrete Gavito.

I okay.

The motion carries and do confirming you did you have any items for executive session?

No, Mayor.

Okay.

Um I have one short item for executive session, so I'm gonna take us into that.

The time is now 117 p.m.

on March 5th, 2026.

The city council of the city of San Antonio will now meet in executive session to consult with the city attorney's office pursuant to chapter 551 of the Texas government code and to deliberate or discuss the following items.

Economic development negotiations pursuant to chapter 551.087.

The purchase exchange lease or value of real property pursuant to section 551.072, and legal issues related to litigation involving the city, emergency preparedness, and collective bargaining, all pursuant to section 551.071.

The time is now 1.58 p.m.

on Thursday, March 5th, and the San Antonio City Council will now reconvene in open session.

No official action was taken in executive session.

The time is now 1.58 p.m.

and this meeting is adjourned.