SAN ANTONIO – A group created by Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones to find ways to increase voter turnout has delivered a list of recommendations to improve the wider idea of what it calls “civic participation” in San Antonio.
The nine recommendations from the Mayor’s Commission on Voting range from transitioning a current city department into an “Office of Civic Participation” to increasing the number of polling locations during local elections to establishing a fund that could support civic engagement organizations.
At least some of the recommendations will likely require city council action, and each has a different timeline and potential cost to implement.
“Some of these aren’t all or nothing, right,” Jones said when asked about the total potential cost. “I think there’s a discussion to be had about how can we, you know, better support and invest in the civic participation infrastructure our community deserves.”
Jones created the group in May, asking council colleagues for recommendations on potential members before selecting the final participants.
Despite its name, city staff said the group is actually an advisory board or task force, created under the mayor’s own authority, rather than a municipal board or commission, which requires approval from the whole city council.
In any case, the group’s 56-page report is available online. The report encourages the city to solicit feedback on the recommendations — something the mayor echoed.
A link to do so is available on the city website through July 31.
“In concert with the city staff, my council colleagues, as well as of course the city attorney, we’ll make sure that we look at what is the most the judicious way, appropriate way to implement those,” she said.
Recommendations
- Transform the City of San Antonio’s Communications and Engagement Department into a dedicated office of civic participation with expanded authority, mission, and community accountability.
- Leverage city administrative and fiduciary authority to engrain civic participation access across all city-funded venues, events, projects, and partners
- Establish a civic engagement nonprofit coordination roundtable as a collaboration hub.
- Establish a city-supported community civic engagement fund and strategic corporate partnership program to sustain nonpartisan civic participation infrastructure in San Antonio.
- Launch a city-supported culture of voting initiative to build long-term civic participation habits among San Antonians.
- Establish annual municipal civic participation goals.
- Expand polling-location availability during municipal, bond, and local ballot-initiative elections.
- Establish a city-managed centralized voting information hub with proactive multichannel outreach.
- Standardize dormitory addresses for voter registration purposes across San Antonio university and college campuses.
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