Council reviews $1 million in short-term immunization agreements as resident raises conflict-of-interest concerns
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Summary
At the Jan. 16 San Antonio City Council meeting, the council read an ordinance to approve $100,000 agreements with multiple local organizations for a metropolitan immunization program covering Dec. 1, 2024to June 30, 2025; a public commenter urged councilmembers to abstain because of campaign contributions from some grantees.
SAN ANTONIO Jan. 16, 2025 — City Council members on Thursday reviewed an ordinance that would authorize one-year agreements worth $100,000 each with a set of local organizations to provide immunization services and vaccine education through the metropolitan health district.
The ordinance as read on the dais lists ADMT Soluciones LLC; Alamo Home Health Inc., dba Touchtone Health; Bate Age Collision Trust; Coirageus Creativity; Dunn Well, LLC; Parenting Plus (listed as Parenting Plus in the agenda packet); Stability Staffing and Consulting LLC; the Immunization Society (translation/recording: "la inmunizaci—n, la sociedad de inmunizaci—n"); The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; and the Young Women—s Christian Association of San Antonio. Each agreement is described in the ordinance as $100,000 and the ordinance notes an aggregate amount of $1,000,000 for the period Dec. 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, for immunization and vaccine services for children.
Why it matters: the agreements would allocate a six-month funding window to multiple community providers for vaccines and vaccine education targeted at children, and the total package represents a concentrated short-term investment that affects public-health outreach and contract administration.
During the council meeting, a public commenter, Jack Finger, urged elected officials to abstain from the vote, saying several listed organizations had made campaign contributions to council members and implying that those relationships warranted recusal. "Ustedes deberían de abstenerse en este..." he told the council, naming specific contribution amounts he said appeared in the backup materials. The speaker urged transparency and abstentions where campaign contributions exist.
Council procedure and record: Councilmember Castillo removed a related consent item earlier in the meeting so it could be heard individually. The ordinance was read aloud and a motion and second were called for discussion and vote. The transcript records a roll-call-style note that "la concejal Castillo está no votando," but the final tally or formal adoption outcome for this specific ordinance is not specified in the available record.
What the record does and does not show: the ordinance text and the list of proposed contractors and dollar amounts appear in the meeting materials and were read on the record. The public comment raising potential conflicts and urging abstentions is recorded verbatim. The transcript does not include a complete vote tally or a clear statement that the ordinance was approved or defeated.
Next steps: the council handled other consent items and proceeded to an executive session later in the meeting; no additional action on this item is recorded in the transcript provided.