Mayor Ron Nirenberg restructured City Council committees Tuesday, eliminating two that oversaw policies pertaining to municipally owned utilities and coordinated intergovernmental relations. One newly created committee will serve as a liaison between the council and the city’s municipal courts.
Nirenberg wrote in a letter to his council colleagues that the changes are aimed at “continuity and quality of policy development, eliminating redundancies” and ensuring “a balanced workload” for members of the council.
Nirenberg wrote that “the scope of the former Municipal Utilities Committee will now be addressed by the entire City Council” at regularly occurring meetings. The committee was created two years ago in the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri, when most San Antonio residents experienced widespread power and water outages.
The work of the former Intergovernmental Relations Committee, which coordinated legislative policy priorities with county government and facilitated cooperation between agencies, will now be undertaken by the Governance Committee, which the mayor chairs.
The new Municipal Court Advisory Committee “shall recommend judicial nominations for full-time and associate judges, act as a liaison between the Municipal Court Judges and City Council, as well as any other duties assigned by the Council,” Nirenberg wrote. Municipal court judges are nominated by the council every two years.
The letter also laid out new assignments for council members, three of whom are new to the dais after this year’s municipal election.
Three returning members — Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Phyllis Viagran (D3) and Teri Castillo (D5) — were named committee chairs for the first time since they were elected in 2021.
Here is the full list of council committees (* denotes chair):
Audit Committee
- Phyllis Viagran, District 3*
- John Courage, District 9
- Marc Whyte, District 10
Community Health Committee
- Teri Castillo, District 5*
- Sukh Kaur, District 1
- Phyllis Viagran, District 3
- Adriana Rocha Garcia, District 4
- Marina Gavito, District 7
Economic and Workforce Development Committee
- Manny Pelaez, District 8*
- Phyllis Viagran, District 3
- Adriana Rocha Garcia, District 4
- Teri Castillo, District 5
- Marc Whyte, District 10
Governance Committee
- Mayor Ron Nirenberg*
- Adriana Rocha Garcia, District 4
- Melissa Cabello Havrda, District 6
- Manny Pelaez, District 8
- John Courage, District 9
Planning and Community Development Committee
- Adriana Rocha Garcia, District 4*
- Phyllis Viagran, District 3
- Teri Castillo, District 5
- Manny Pelaez, District 8
- John Courage, District 9
Public Safety Committee
- Melissa Cabello Havrda, District 6*
- Sukh Kaur, District 1
- Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, District 2
- Marina Gavito, District 7
- Marc Whyte, District 10
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- John Courage, District 9*
- Sukh Kaur, District 1
- Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, District 2
- Melissa Cabello Havrda, District 6
- Marina Gavito, District 7
Municipal Court Advisory Committee
- Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, District 2*
- Melissa Cabello Havrda, District 6
- Manny Pelaez, District 8
