The City Council will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday to revisit whether council aides must cooperate with internal investigations — along with a long list of other administrative directives that typically only apply to other types of city employees.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones made the request last month in response to allegations that a top aide to one of her council rivals, Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), declined to be interviewed about a leak involving the mayor’s personal security detail.
Now consider the changes on Wednesday in executive session — the latest chapter in a City Hall whodunit that may never be resolved.
Last fall’s security detail leak revealed that Jones would be receiving more police security than past mayors, at the same time the city was discussing whether to fund more officers in the coming year.
The change came after at least one credible threat was made on her life, however, and the leak made public details about police security protocols at Jones’ private residence.
First San Antonio Police Chief William McManus blasted television media for publishing the reports, then called for an internal investigation to identify who on his team shared the details with the press.
The city’s Internal Affairs Unit interviewed a total of 115 police officers in an effort that didn’t turn turn up a leak — but led one of them to identify District 7 chief of staff James Branch as having also had access to the information.
KSAT broke the news of the security details and said that Branch wasn’t among the multiple sources who leaked it.
Nevertheless, a letter the mayor sent to top city leaders on May 20 raised fresh scrutiny surrounding a council office she’s been at odds with.
Jones’ now-widely shared letter notes that Branch declined requests to be interviewed for the Internal Affairs investigation, and instead provided a statement through a lawyer.
“[Branch] did not comply, thus preventing a full and thorough investigation of a major security breach,” Jones wrote.
A policy for a closed case
The investigation has been closed. But now, as a result, the city is once again considering new rules to govern the behavior of its council members and employees that could have wide-ranging effects.
Two years ago City Council created its own code of conduct to govern the behavior of elected officials — something that Alderete Gavito and others looking to flex their power used in February to censure Jones and temporarily strip some of her mayoral duties.
In the end Jones had to agree to an in-person leadership training addressing “civility, deescalation conflict resolution, and effective workplace interaction” — though an investigation into the Feb. 5 incident spurring the censure will likely never become public.
Jones’ crackdown on council aides would also leave key details in the dark.
According to a city statement last week, the changes have already been green-lit by a subcommittee overseeing council staff policies — including Council members Sukh Kaur (D1), Edward Mungia (D4) and Ric Galvan (D6).
The panel that moved the changes forward gave council members the authority to decide whether their aides must participate in internal investigations, but it would not apply retroactively to Branch.
The full council will now consider the changes on Wednesday in executive session.
It could apply thousands of city administrative directives to council aides who have a different set of rules from other city employees, because they serve at the will of their council member.
