SAN ANTONIO – Two weeks after San Antonio police arrested District 10 councilman Marc Whyte on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, fellow city councilmembers voted to censure Whyte — at his urging.
The decision to pass a censure resolution was the only item of discussion during Sunday’s special meeting.
Whyte, who admitted to having drinks before getting behind the wheel on Dec. 29, spoke before the vote.
He said several people told him to push back against the resolution but that he would not.
“Let there be no dispute, let there be no fight — let’s move forward and let’s pass it,” said Whyte.
At San Antonio City Hall this Sunday morning for a special meeting where city councilors will consider a censure of D10 Councilman Marc Whyte. He was arrested in December on suspicion of DWI. #KSATnews
— KSAT Daniela Ibarra (@KSATDaniela) January 14, 2024
MORE: https://t.co/R3fIAFWEjG pic.twitter.com/eIoZjRtqwL
During council discussion, several councilmembers praised Whyte for owning up to his actions, but also said he’s held to a higher standard as a public official.
“If one of us makes a mistake, it reflects on all of us to a certain extent,” said District 9 councilman John Courage.
District 2 councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said that the council needs to be held to a high standard.
“As a friend and colleague, what I hope to hear from you, councilman Whyte, is a shift in rhetoric because you now know what it feels like to be criminalized for something you’ve done that you now regret, actions that don’t reflect on your character and I believe that’s what you owe to our community,” McKee-Rodriguez said.
The council’s decision to censure Whtye comes three days after San Antonio police released video of the councilman’s arrest on December 29.
That same day, Nirenberg temporarily suspended Whyte from his committee assignments.
“The council will likely have a conversation when the toxicology report comes back,” said Nirenberg on Sunday.
Whyte said he looks forward to being put back on the committees, which he said is the mayor’s decision.
“Committees or not, that doesn’t affect the work that I’m doing here at City Hall, right?” said Whyte. “Nothing gets voted on nothing gets passed without the full council hearing it out there.”
Latest in a string of incidents involving council
This is not the first time in the past two years council had to publicly rebuke their own.
In November 2022, council members censured and passed a no-confidence vote on then-District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo over an angry confrontation he had with a council colleague.
Within a week of that vote, council scrapped plans to call for Whyte’s predecessor Clayton Perry’s resignation, instead issuing a ‘no-confidence’ vote.
Perry pleaded no contest in April 2023 to driving while intoxicated and failure to stop and provide information charges in exchange for one year of deferred adjudication.