Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones will go before the city’s Ethics Review Board over a complaint about her request for San Antonio to host the Democratic National Convention in 2028.
Republican Party of Bexar County Vice Chair Kyle Sinclair said that by writing to national Democratic Party leaders on city letterhead, Jones had used city resources for political purposes.
“The city’s Ethics Code restricts city officials from using their official position or city resources, like the city seal and letterhead, for private or political purposes,” Sinclair said in the July 16 complaint. “Since the Democratic National Convention is a partisan political event, using official resources to request hosting is in direct violation.”
It’s an about-face from the time local Republicans accused the left-leaning City Council of picking politics over tourism dollars by turning down the Republican National Convention in 2020.
“This is not a political decision, but an economic one,” some of the city’s biggest GOP donors wrote at the time — pointing to all of the money spent on hotel rooms, rental cars and restaurants when a major national event comes to San Antonio.
The city’s tourism arm, Visit San Antonio, assisted Jones with the DNC application.
The group’s president and CEO Mario Bass said at the time that he was “honored” to work with Jones and the city on an opportunity to “bring positive economic impact and exposure for San Antonio.”
The city hired attorney Nadeen Abou-Hossa, who has now handled a slew of recent ethics complaints against city officials and council candidates, to review the issue.
Jones was alerted on Aug. 26 that the complaint would be forwarded to the full board for consideration. A date for the meeting has not yet been set.
Jones has not filed a formal response, but defended her actions in a statement to the San Antonio Report on Wednesday.
“The mayor plays a legitimate role in bringing major conventions of that scope to the city,” Jones’ office said in a statement. “The letter to the DNC was reviewed by the City Attorney and no legal issues were identified.”
