Subcommittee says council employees must be held to same standards as other city workers

District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito meets with constituents during an event last month. Credit: Facebook / Marina Alderete Gavito

San Antonio City Council subcommittee on Thursday unanimously agreed that council staffers should be held to the same standard as city employees, including requiring their full participation in internal investigations, Express-News reports.

The decision comes after Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones issued memo Wednesday accusing District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito’s chief-of-staff, James Branch, of refusing to participate in a city probe of a leak last year regarding aspects of the mayor’s security detail.

Although the subcommittee ruled that the city’s Administrative Directives, or employee handbook, also applies to council staffers, they decided that any disciplinary action taken against Branch should be deferred to Alderete Gavito, according to the Express-News’ report.

The subcommittee also reportedly said City Council staffers, unlike city employees, won’t be subject to the city’s driving requirements or subject to random drug testing — at least, for now.

Jones accused Branch of conspiring with SAPD officers to leak information about her security detail to the press. The accusations stem from a statement from an SAPD officer who allegedly told investigators that Branch “had access to the security information,” Jones’ memo states.

Branch sent a statement to investigators, but refused to participate in a sit-down interview, which was his right under the old rules regulating city council staff.

Branch’s attorney, Mariah Medina, called Jones’ accusations “character assassination.”

“We call on the Mayor to cease these unfounded attacks, retract the defamatory statements, and allow this matter to rest on the actual facts: Mr. Branch had nothing to do with the disclosure of the Mayor’s security information,” Medina said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Alderete Gavito said in a statement that she supports Branch.

“I stand firmly with my chief of staff and will continue to defend his integrity and his right to due process,” the councilwoman said in a statement. “The Mayor should immediately retract these unfounded accusations and allow us to focus on the real challenges facing our city, rather than manufacturing conflicts that serve no public purpose.”

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