Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.
The San Antonio City Council's Public Safety Committee, chaired by Councilmember Corps, convened on October 20, 2026, at 2:38 PM. The agenda included updates from Animal Care Services (ACS) on FY26 metrics and a distemper outbreak, the Bexar County Collaborative Commission on Domestic Violence (CCDV) 2025 report, a proposal for a Chronic Nuisance Property Ordinance, SAPD crime statistics, and the DART program. The meeting was adjourned at 5:01 PM.
Director John Gary presented FY26 metrics. Shelter intake decreased by 5.6% (1,663 fewer animals) after removing "diversions" from the count. The live release rate increased 1% to a target of 90%, alongside a 25% increase in adoptions and a 10% decrease in euthanasia. Critical call response rates reached a historic high of 94.2%. The department performed nearly 41,000 spay/neuter surgeries, slightly below a 41,000+ goal due to veterinarian staffing challenges, particularly in contract roles. A significant distemper outbreak required the temporary clearing of the shelter with partner Dogtopia; seven dogs were euthanized, and new isolation protocols were implemented. Council discussion focused on the capacity to respond to stray calls (policy of not responding to non-threatening strays due to staffing), the need for a comprehensive strategic plan to address the stray population, and the high cost of spay/neuter operations relative to the numbers achieved. Councilmember Core questioned why a request for more veterinarians was not made in the budget. Councilmember White requested cost-recovery data. Councilmember Castillo asked for breakdowns of spay/neuter referral sources and adoption fee comparisons with Dallas.
Maria Vargas Yates and Judge Diaz presented the 2025 report from the CCDV. The report indicated 42% of assessed children witnessed family violence. There were over 58,000 combined SAPD/BCSO domestic violence calls for service and roughly 22,000 offense reports. Family violence homicides declined to 28, with 13 intimate partner fatalities. Support services connected with 1,900 individuals via 211. The DA's office received nearly 14,000 family violence cases. Councilmembers White and Castillo requested more detailed data on the specific delegate agencies providing services, survivor outcomes, and how the city connects with victims who do not enter the criminal justice system. The CCDV outlined its five-year plan focusing on a communications campaign, data utilization, and lifespan prevention.
Maria Vargas Yates presented the Good Neighbor program, which currently manages 55 cases (37 active). A proposed chronic nuisance property ordinance is intended to address challenges of cyclical compliance, unresponsiveness (35% of cases), and chronic callers. The ordinance would require property owners to register and create an abatement plan, with violations carrying a fine of up to $500. Councilmember Castillo asked about overlapping cases with the DART program and a sliding scale for repeat violators; staff clarified that escalating enforcement can be managed through the Standard Operating Procedure rather than the ordinance text.
Chief presented crime data for January to September 2025/2026. Overall offenses decreased by 6.1%. Crimes against persons were up 1.5% (attributed to a slight rise in assaults and proactive human trafficking operations). Property crimes were down 10%. Homicides were down nearly 40% compared to the previous year, consistent with national trends. Hotspot policing initiatives are sustaining high fidelity and crime reductions. Councilmember White reiterated his disappointment that the budget did not fund additional patrol officers. Councilmember Core requested a holistic staffing model overview (substations, patrol units, detective divisions) for the next meeting.
Joe Nina reported that the DART task force inspected 40 properties in FY26 (down from 57 due to partner availability). The Building Standards Board (BSB) remains the most common enforcement tool for uncooperative or deceased owners. A success story involving the cleanup of illegally stored microplastics on Creek View was highlighted. Recidivism was estimated at 25-30%. Staff agreed to provide an individual memo to councilmembers listing properties on the potential DART list that have not yet been formally reviewed.
We'll be good. We'll be efficient. Okay, time is now 2 38 p.m. We're gonna call public safety committee to order. Madam Clerk, could you please call roll? Councilmember McKee Rodriguez. Councilmember Castillo. Councilmember Spears. Councilmember White? Council or Chair Corps here. Chair, we have a core. Okay, great. Okay, so we're gonna go ahead and take item number one first, which is approval of the minutes from the September 23rd public safety committee meeting. If there are no changes, can I have a motion? Is there a second? Okay, all in favor, aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. I didn't even wait for you all to vote. But they move me the motion. There you go. I um Terry said, Councilman Castillo, said I. All right, motion uh item number two. So we're gonna um we're gonna change the agenda briefly today. We're gonna take item number two, and then we're gonna go to item number five, and then we'll go through three four six. Okay, so let's go ahead and take item number two. We'll take the briefing and then we'll do public comment. John Gary. Thank you. Good afternoon, uh Chair and and members of the committee. Um, John Gary, the director for animal care services, and uh we'll um kind of briefly go over some of our metrics and uh some of what we've done for uh FY26. Uh there's some comparisons, and we'll look back uh over a few years of through FY24 to through FY26, and then uh there's some at the end we'll have some uh city comparisons that we'll work on. So again, just brief briefly the agenda uh first uh data point is gonna be talking about our shelter intake and what that looks like for us. Uh our return to owners, uh, which was requested, uh, our live release rate, calls for service, uh free roaming dog, spay near, and then our comparison city analysis. So uh the first slide actually shows our shelter intake, and as you can see, we we did see a little dip in FY26 in our intake about 5.6% or about 1,663 animals uh less came in in FY26 versus FY25. Um however, uh FY26 was still a higher intake than what we saw in FY24. Uh I I did want to uh point out on this slide. So in FY26, we made the decision to remove diversions from our intake, and what diversions were were the animals that came that were coming to the shelter, uh and we worked with that resident in some way. So it could be an owner that we provided resources to. Uh, it could be uh a person where we scanned for a microchip and they took the animal back and they just and they chose they were gonna try to relocate the owner on their own. So if those animals were diverted, they never came into the shelter. And prior to FY26, we were counting those numbers in our intake, even though they never came. And some of those were done over the phone, some of them weren't even, we didn't even see them in person.