Update at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 10: This story has been updated with a response from the District 7 council office and a correction to the date Jones originally had the animal abandonment item withdrawn.
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones joined the KSAT Q&A on Tuesday to discuss several topics, including recent contention between council members for a vote on pet dumping fines.
On Sept. 3, Jones had the vote pulled off the council’s Sept. 4 agenda. The following day, Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5), Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito (D7) and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) filed a three-signature memo forcing the vote.
Jones argued that the proposed abandonment policy would be difficult to enforce and that she wanted to address the issue with due diligence.
“What happened with this CCR in particular is exactly what we need to avoid,” Jones said. “We shouldn’t be rushing them through the process. We need to look at them with fresh eyes.”
“We have received a lot of feedback from those animal rights activists that are very concerned about how that CCR, in particular, will be implemented,” she said.
Jones also told KSAT anchors Myra Arthur and Stephania Jimenez, “My understanding is it has actually also been pulled from this week. The councilwoman from District 7 has pulled that back herself.”
However, on Wednesday, Alderete Gavito’s office emailed KSAT to clarify that the item was being “pulled” for discussion, not withdrawn from the agenda as Jones had done the previous week.
When Jones was asked if she has a good working relationship with the council members, she said, “I think we all bring our different experiences, life experiences to this.”
Jones also discussed flooding mitigation work and Project Marvel.
Watch the full interview in the video player above.