By Edmond Ortiz
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones will face a censure vote Feb. 27 from City Council for allegedly violating the city’s code of conduct.
Following a two-hour closed session discussion Feb. 23, the council proceeded to schedule the censure vote. That meeting begins at 10 a.m.
Five council members sent a memo to city management Feb. 9, seeking to hold a special meeting concerning a complaint that Councilmember Sukh Kaur filed against Jones after the latter two reportedly had a private, tense confrontation Feb. 5 at the City Hall complex.
Kaur’s complaint triggered an internal investigation. The confrontation, which centered around the city’s efforts to get management of The Bonham Exchange to comply with local fire suppression system codes, reportedly included Jones and Kaur using raised voices with each other.
Kaur, who was absent from the Feb. 23 session, has not publicly commented about the subsequent investigation.
Jones publicly confirmed that she and Kaur talked about the downtown nightclub, and that the exchange between the two women became tense and even involved profanity. But Jones initially denied that she berated Kaur, contrary to some eyewitnesses’ claims.
Jones then held a Feb. 24 press conference, issuing a public apology for the Feb. 5 incident involving Kaur, saying she was sorry for hurting the council member’s feelings.
Jones also said it was not her intent to offend Kaur, and that her experiences as a U.S. Air Force veteran continue to inform how she engages her colleagues, and how she addresses issues such as public safety.
“I should not have raised my voice, and I should not have used profanity, and for that, I apologize,” Jones said.
Jones continued: “That morning. I was very passionate about public safety, the issue that we were about to discuss. There’s a great diversity of experiences on the council. I think at the end of the day, I will continue to remind myself is that we are teammates, and we’ve got a lot of good work to do for our city, and I look forward to doing that.”
Neither Jones nor District 9 Councilmember Misty Spears attended the Feb. 23 meeting. District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, presiding as mayor pro tem, said it is understandable that people may become too passionate in their attempt to work with one another and arrive at the same positive outcome on a sensitive topic.
City officials said a censure, in this case, is a reprimand of an elected leader, but not a means to automatically bring about a harsher form of punishment. He added that the council’s consideration of censuring the mayor is no different than a human resources department responding to an employee’s complaint about unacceptable behavior and policy violation in the workplace.
“We remain focused on the issues our constituents expect us to be, but we also need to have a work environment that is conducive to that business and to treat each other with respect, even when we disagree,” McKee-Rodriguez said on his Facebook page after the meeting.
“This resolution of censure is not about any individual disagreement, but about the way we communicate with one another and the type of behavior that is acceptable in our workplace. I maintain the belief that we can turn the page on this issue and get back to the work we were sent here to do.”
