San Antonio City Council approves censure of Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones after independent investigator’s findings

The San Antonio City Council voted Feb. 27 to approve a resolution censuring Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones after an independent investigation concluded she used verbally abusive language toward a colleague during a Feb. 5 encounter.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones apologized at the start of the meeting, saying she had raised her voice and used profanity and that she “should not have raised my voice at my colleague, and I should not have used profanity. I apologize for doing so.” She told the council she would step aside from the governance committee for three months starting the day of the vote and that she will participate in in-person leadership training next week.

The council’s presentation said the city hired Natalie C. Ruggie, a board-certified labor and employment attorney, to conduct an independent investigation after a formal complaint was filed. The presenter for the city described the investigation’s scope and findings: “Findings, based on the, her investigation,…