Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo held a joint Town Hall in District 5. The meeting was held at the Plaza de Sueños on April 9 where Jones and Castillo addressed constituents’ concerns. Jones discussed the state of her voter commission and fining landlords over refusal to accept veterans’ housing voucher proposals.
Jones referenced a survey for San Antonians to provide feedback on what they would like covered in the fiscal year 2027 budget. The five-minute survey can be found at sanantoniosurvey.org.
Jones reiterated the low 2027 city bond.
“Just based on economic factors now, our bond is $600 million. That’s significantly lower than what we were hoping and planning for,” Jones stated. “What that means is we just got to be ruthless, ruthless in how we prioritize who gets what.”
The mayor also brought up her proposal to fine landlords who refuse veterans’ housing vouchers $500 per violation.
“If there’s not enough people who accept vouchers near the VA, that means we might have veterans living further away from where it is convenient for them to access their healthcare,” Jones said. “This is why it was really important for me to remove that source of income discrimination.
“Sometimes the state really is interested in helping the landlord, and sometimes they’re really interested in helping the tenant. This is an area where we can actually help the tenant.”
The City Council must pass the proposed ordinance for it to become a law.
Jones also took questions from the crowd. A student from a local charter school asked for Jones’ thoughts on charter schools.
“People [who] are utilizing and benefiting from the vouchers are those [who] are already in private schools, largely, so this defunding of public education, for some, is a matter of campaign contributions,” Jones stated. “At the end of the day, what I want to make sure is that we’ve got a youth that is well educated and ready for the economy. There’s a balance there. I don’t think vouchers are part of that, and if folks want something different, then they should pay for that fully out of the adult pocket.”
Jones addressed community concerns with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the East Side detention center, explaining what San Antonio was doing to block the center’s opening.
“I sent a letter to the new Secretary [of the Department of Homeland Security], Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin,” Jones said. “Despite having asked for communication, we haven’t gotten anything formally. We have yet to be formally notified of any activities on DHS regarding any site facility. The recent news article that I read is that there is some attempt at the DHS, in the DHS office with the new secretary, to review decisions by his predecessor. That, to me, sounded like an opportunity to remind him that we still don’t want this.”
Jones then took the opportunity to highlight her proposed voting commission, which would advise the City Council on how to improve voter participation. The proposal was delayed after a 9-2 vote by the City Council.
“At the end of the day, these are a selection of a cast election, so all we can do to make sure that we are preparing ourselves and make sure people are heard, which is why I wanted to establish a voting commission,” Jones stated. “We got to help ourselves as much, which was the extent of the voting commission.”
The City Council will next convene on April 15 at 2 p.m. at the City Council Complex.
