SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Attorney General's office ruled this month that the City of San Antonio is not required to release the results of an investigation into a Feb. 5 confrontation between Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur. Assistant Attorney General James Coggeshall said the report was covered by attorney-client privilege and may be withheld. The review was triggered by the city, which tried to block the report from being released to KSAT.

"Based on these representations and our review, we find the city has demonstrated the applicability of the attorney-client privilege to the information at issue," Coggeshall wrote in the ruling.

The investigation followed a Feb. 5 encounter in which Jones acknowledged swearing and raising her voice during a discussion about fire sprinkler regulations and Bonham Exchange. Kaur filed a complaint under the City Council's Code of Conduct on Feb. 9, accusing the mayor of profanity, abusive language, and intimidating behavior. That same day, five councilmembers requested a meeting to consider censuring Jones following an investigation into the complaint.

The city hired an outside attorney to investigate. The attorney determined that Jones violated the City Council Code of Conduct, administrative directives on Equal Employment Opportunity and Anti-harassment, and the Violence in the Workplace directive.

On Feb. 27, the City Council voted 8-1 to censure Jones. Neither Kaur nor Jones was present for the vote, though the mayor made a short statement before recusing herself. The censure resolution accused Jones of being verbally abusive during the Feb. 5 incident and cited prior inappropriate interactions with councilmembers, city staff, and constituents.

District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez spoke in support of the censure. "I do not clutch my pearls at profanity," McKee-Rodriguez said. "The independent investigation found repeated, directed, and aggressive language. It found intimidation. It found proximity, posture, and threats that crossed a line."

Kaur drew a distinction in her remarks. "It is very different to use the curse word as an adjective versus to use it to continuously berate someone and intimidate them," she said.

The censure resolution called for Jones to complete leadership training and to step aside as chair of the Governance Committee until she completed the training or until three months had passed, whichever was longer. A city spokeswoman confirmed that Jones has completed the required leadership training.