Some wonder why domestic violence not a focus of San...

After news broke in March of mayoral candidate Greg Brockhouse’s two past alleged instances of domestic violence, some hoped the revelations would spark a public discussion, especially at a time when family violence deaths in San Antonio are on the upswing.

But the reaction — apart from scattered protests by activists and a plea from a handful of City Council members for more domestic violence funding — largely has been silence.

Far from becoming a cause célébre as voters choose their next leader, the issue seems to be getting brushed under the rug — a reflection, women’s advocates say, of a widespread discomfort with talking about domestic violence, still viewed by some as a “private matter” between adults.

“What is truly alarming is the whole process of trying to hide it and not talk about it,” said Patricia Castillo, head of the P.E.A.C.E Initiative, a San Antonio nonprofit and advocacy group that helps survivors of family violence. “We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and say, ‘What can we do to make this better?’ Our community is in denial.”

Brockhouse, who is in a June 8 runoff with Mayor Ron Nirenberg, has avoided giving an in-depth explanation of either incident, both documented in police reports. In the first, he described himself as the victim. In the second, he initially said he couldn’t recall police coming to his home, then later denied it happened.

For the most part, he has been spared public questioning about the allegations, telling moderators at one debate that he would walk out if the police reports were brought up (they weren’t). The moderator at a subsequent debate sponsored by the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce never asked, saying later that he didn’t have time to get to the question.

Brockhouse recently declined to be interviewed by a television station about the allegations, according to a local anchor.

Brockhouse, a city councilman representing District 6, was not arrested or charged in either incident.

As the candidate has batted away direct questions, some in the community downplayed the subject. Richard Perez, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said domestic violence was not “a business issue” in explaining why the issue wasn’t raised in the chamber-sponsored debate. Perez apologized after the remark sparked criticism.

The CEO of the city’s largest battered women’s shelter wonders why not a single leader in the faith-based community has appealed to her for guidance in teaching their flocks about the problem.

(Click here to see the 2009 report of alleged domestic violence by Greg Brockhouse. Some personal details have been redacted for privacy reasons.)

Those who work to help women harmed by family violence say they’re frustrated other issues have taken precedence over an epidemic that claimed 28 lives in Bexar County last year alone, triple the number of fatalities in 2015.

One advocacy group estimates Bexar County has the highest per capita rate of intimate partner homicides in the state. The lack of public discussion around domestic violence allows misconceptions and ignorance about its causes and dynamics to flourish, experts say.

Linda Chavez-Thompson, a retired national labor leader in San Antonio who served as the first female executive vice president of the AFL-CIO, is baffled by the muted reaction.

“Why aren’t women’s organizations speaking out?” she asked. “They should all be talking about this”

Some argue that efforts by the Nirenberg campaign to politicize his opponent’s past has prevented a deeper discussion of family violence.

“Domestic violence has been turned into a wedge issue,” said Thomas Marks, a government relations specialist with the DeBerry Group, a local communications firm. “Making it a political issue has made it easier for people to discount the problem. It’s trivializing an issue that is non-trivial.”

Two months after Brockhouse’s past made headlines, at least one group of local women is taking action.

On Monday, they plan to hold a news conference to present a petition, signed by more than 100, that says Brockhouse hasn’t adequately addressed the past allegations of violence. Until he does, they say, he’s not a fit candidate.

“We’re women who are outraged about this,” said artist Kathy Sosa, a former high-profile advertising executive and one of the group’s organizers. “If the whole world isn’t watching, it should be.”

Questions not asked

The two incidents involving Brockhouse took place in 2006 and 2009.

On ExpressNews.com: Past allegations of domestic violence emerge

In the first, Brockhouse’s second wife, Christine Rivera, from whom he was separated, told police he assaulted her when he returned to their home on the Northwest Side on April 29, 2006, to retrieve some belongings. She told the Express-News that Brockhouse pushed her into a wall. Both she and Brockhouse called police to report the incident. Brockhouse claimed he was the victim, and that her boyfriend hit and choked him.

After learning about the incident in March, the Express-News contacted Rivera in Washington D.C., where she now lives, and interviewed her. Rivera said Brockhouse later called her and told her not to say anything to the paper. She first sought to withdraw her comments, then decided to stand by her account and allow it to be published.

She said she’s afraid to come home to San Antonio because of her ex-husband’s “anger issues.”

For his part, Brockhouse said the episode prompted him to examine his life and convert to Catholicism.

In the second incident, his third and current wife, Annalisa, told police on the night of Dec. 23, 2009, that Brockhouse grabbed her, threw her to the ground and tried to hit her. He climbed on top of her and got off only when their children came into the room and told him to stop, according to the police report. She told police her husband had been drinking over a job loss, the report says.

Annalisa, a special education teacher, declined to be interviewed by the Express-News. In a Facebook post, she said: “I refute the allegations ... to include any references to treatment of me, and I stand proudly with Greg.”

Brockhouse has given shifting explanations over time, and now denies the incident took place.

When the Express-News offered him a chance to look at the 2009 report, he refused and accused the paper of carrying water for the Nirenberg campaign.

Just before the start of an April 17 debate sponsored by the Rivard Report, Brockhouse told the two moderators he would leave if anyone asked about the police reports. They didn’t.

On ExpressNews.com: Brockhouse told moderators he’d leave if asked about allegations

City Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said the lack of discussion of the allegations hasn’t surprised her.

“This issue makes people very uncomfortable,” said Gonzales, who has promoted peer-to-peer programs to address the high rate of child abuse in her council district on the near West Side. “But we have to take it seriously. Domestic violence impacts our workforce, our quality of life and it keeps a whole segment of women nonfunctional.”

Fake document?

The San Antonio Police Department released a copy of the 2006 incident report in response to a public records request. However, news organizations that asked for the 2009 report were told the department had no records “responsive to your request.” Legal experts say this suggests the 2009 report was expunged by court order, although no one in authority will say so.

Express-News reporter Brian Chasnoff independently obtained a copy of the 2009 report and has written about it. Still, the absence of a public record of that incident has dampened media coverage and public discussion.

And it has fueled speculation that it might all be fabricated.

“Both the candidate and his wife said it didn’t happen,” said Louis Barrios, president and CEO of the popular Los Barrios family restaurants who has helped raise money for Brockhouse’s campaign. “The report hasn’t been presented. Where did it come from? Who gave it to the Express-News? You guys are adamant about saying it’s legitimate. Prove it.”

On Friday, the Express-News published a copy of the complete report online for the first time.

Barrios said the issue of domestic violence should be more widely discussed.

“We have a big problem with it because we’re a poor city,” he said. “All of that is the result of government policies and over-regulation.”

Once Brockhouse takes office and reduces regulations and taxes, Barrios said, “the economy is going to take off,” reducing levels of violence.

“What do couples argue about the most? Money,” Barrios said. “One of the spouses spends more than the other, and that causes an argument, which becomes a fight. You’ve got to take it back to root issues.”

Experts say domestic violence goes far deeper than money squabbles.

The real problem stems from ingrained individual and cultural beliefs about male entitlement that view women as subservient to men, more like property than autonomous beings.

Poverty and other stresses like mental illness and substance abuse can exacerbate domestic violence, but they aren’t root causes. Abusers also tend to rate high for narcissism, studies show.

Many victims are trapped in a complex web of emotional, psychological and financial dependency with their tormentor; most try to leave an average of seven times before they break free. That’s also when they’re in the most danger.

On ExpressNews.com: What happened to the Brockhouse police report?

Some Brockhouse supporters have remained steadfast in light of the allegations.

At a watch party for the candidate on the night of the election, Tonya Spellmon waited over a plate of puffy tacos at Viola’s Ventanas, hoping Brockhouse would win.

An associate pastor at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, she said the domestic violence allegations are too old to be relevant.

“If you look back 25 years ago, I may not be suitable for what I do right now. We all have a past,” Spellmon said. “We don’t know about the wife’s mental capacity, so we can’t make that call.”

Michelle Batilla, who sat across from Spellmon, agreed.

“I think that’s their business,” she said. “If you’re not there, you don’t know what happened.”

Marta Peláez, president and CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services, which runs the city’s battered women’s shelter and related services, said she’s concerned not just with Brockhouse’s alleged history but with his reaction to being asked about it.

She’s not surprised his current wife now denies being abused — it’s common for victims to recant.

“I’d like for Mr. Brockhouse to let the public know what he feels on domestic violence, and what he’d do if elected mayor,” she said. “The last thing I want is a mayor with that flaw in his character. If it was me, I’d jump at the opportunity to clear my name, and I hope that happens soon.”

Peláez finds it ironic that some high-profile faith leaders erupted at the council’s recent decision to ban Chick-fil-A as a vendor at San Antonio International Airport, in part because of its position on same-sex marriage. But none have spoken publicly about domestic violence as it is playing out in the election.

“They are the very people that have the attention of their followers and could exhort them to be respectful of the people they claim to love,” she said.

A chance to speak declined

Brockhouse declined to be interviewed about the two incidents and the issue of domestic violence in general.

He told the Express-News he would respond only to written questions and would provide written answers only, by email.

On ExpressNews.com: Police and fire union spend big in mayoral race

When the paper declined to accept those conditions, Brockhouse said Wednesday he would send a written statement to be included in this article.

On Friday, he said he didn’t have time to provide a statement.

His wife later emailed one that combined an attack on Nirenberg with a defense of her husband:

“We are supposed to ‘Believe Women,’ yet there remains a small group who refuse (to) believe me. I have never been in nor would I ever stay in an abusive relationship and I certainly wouldn't keep my kids in an abusive environment. … I have never been hurt by my husband, at ANY point in our relationship.”

Brockhouse is scheduled to appear with Nirenberg at a town hall forum at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Travis Park Church. Whether the former’s domestic violence history comes up is anyone’s guess.

As the runoff nears, each candidates’ supporters continue to block-walk and campaign in hopes of rousing a complacent electorate — only 11 percent of registered voters turned out for the May 4 election.

Despite the muffled conversation around domestic violence, the rise in fatalities — many of them murder-suicides — is stirring government leaders to take action.

Recent developments include proposed legislation that would provide drug treatment to domestic violence offenders in Bexar County, increased training for police and additional felony prosecutors in the district attorney’s office.

Advocates like Castillo say Brockhouse could move the needle on the issue by speaking forthrightly about his past.

“If you can’t acknowledge the harm that’s been done, it speaks volumes about your ability to change,” she said.

Staff Writer Silvia Foster-Frau contributed to this article. | Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, cultural trends and interesting people and goings-on around San Antonio and Bexar County, as well as all across South Texas. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje