Between 2021 and 2023, there was a slight increase in representation for people of color; however, the City's limited tracking and reporting makes it difficult to determine if San Antonio is making progress on this indicator. The City does not require appointees to report their demographics, offers limited demographic categories, uses outdated demographic terminology, and lumps multiple demographic categories into one.
As of October 2023, the end of the City of San Antonio's fiscal year, there were 861 board/commission seats available with 96 vacancies for a total of 765 occupied seats. In some instances, one person fills multiple seats and may include the Mayor, Councilmembers, and City staffers who serve on boards and commissions due to their positions. After SA2020 cleaned the City Clerk's data to account for individuals who serve in multiple seats and removed vacancies, there were a total of 671 individuals that served on the City of San Antonio Boards and Commissions in 2023.
135 appointees left their race/ethnicity blank, wrote in "other," "NA," or self-identified (which means they wrote-in an answer outside of what the City offers as options), so the level of representation is difficult to know with certainty. The City only offers "male" or "female" when tracking gender, and approximately 55 people left this blank or self-identified. Approximately 47.8% of appointees are male and 44.0% are female.
SA2020's data by race requires an understanding of historic and systemic racial inequity. The demographic categories reported on SA2020's data dashboards are consistent with the sources referenced. SA2020 promotes best practices in collecting inclusive demographic data. To see vacancies and apply for City of San Antonio Boards and Commissions, visit the City Clerk's website.
