SAN ANTONIO — At its April 17 a-session, the San Antonio City Council considered an interlocal agreement with Bexar County to fund harm-reduction services delivered by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. Public comment criticized components of the program, while council members framed the purchase as disease-prevention. The item was approved as part of the consent agenda.

Jack M. Finger, who signed up to speak on item 22, told the council he reviewed the backup documents and objected to specific line items. "What are we going to give to the patients on this, Mr. Lieberman?... Operating supplies, syringes, new sterile syringes provided through syringe exchange programs," Finger said, also reading references to "safer smoking supplies," condoms and lubricants, and "wound care supplies" from the packet. He urged a second look at the item and asked that council pull item 22 for discussion.

Council members who highlighted consent items during the meeting later defended funding for harm-reduction and related programs. "I wanna highlight item number 18, which is us accepting our grant... for our early head start program," Councilmember Korr said during consent highlights before the vote; Councilmember Castillo specifically addressed the harm-reduction plan, saying she appreciated "its emphasis on keeping residents safe and stopping the spread of other diseases and reducing syringes on the streets. This is exactly how we should be using our opioid settlement dollars." (Statements attributed to speakers as recorded in the meeting.)

The agenda describes the item as an agreement to provide harm-reduction services through the city's Metro Health program in partnership with Bexar County. A member of the public estimated the amount discussed in the packet at "about a hundred thousand dollars" while reading the packet aloud; the meeting record does not include a staff breakdown or the council's roll-call vote totals for item 22. The consent agenda motion was carried by the council, and the mayor announced that items saved for recusal would be handled separately; the record shows the consent motion passed with the notation "Motion carries." The transcript does not record a separate roll-call tally for item 22.

No additional direction to staff or follow-up tasks specific to item 22 were shown in the portion of the meeting transcript provided. The interlocal agreement language and the Metro Health program description appear in the meeting backup materials cited by the public commenter but are not reproduced in full in the public transcript.

The council moved on to ceremonial recognitions and other business after the consent vote; no further debate of item 22 is included in the available transcript.