San Antonio is locking horns over whether to lift the voter-approved restrictions on city manager pay and tenure. A proposed change has business leaders and some progressive forces at odds, each with a vision for the city's future fiscal policies and democratic practices.
Current City Manager Erik Walsh has hit the salary ceiling of $364,000, drawing Mayor Ron Nirenberg to consider asking voters to nix the limits imposed in 2018. The caps were part of a trio of amendments powered by the firefighter's union during a contentious period with former City Manager Sheryl Sculley. But now, in a change of tone, the fire union, under new leadership, is not resisting the potential for re-evaluation. "We understand his desire to study it, to look at it in terms of the fairness, the ability to compete for talent moving forward," Joe Jones, current union president, told the Express-News.
The discussions arrive with recommendations from the Charter Review Commission in tow. On one end, business proponents like North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brett Finley argue that to retain top talent for the crucial role of city manager, competitive pay in alignment with the market is necessary. "The size and complexity of city operations should be a fundamental consideration in creating a transparent, market-responsive, competitive approach to compensation and performance evaluation," Finley said in a statement obtained by the San Antonio Report.
Yet, there's vocal opposition against such a move. Ananda Tomas, a renowned progressive organizer, has already started drumming up resistance to the proposed changes. "We don’t get to elect the city manager who has more power than a mayor himself," Tomas told the San Antonio Report. "Taking power away from voters to decide tenure and pay for the city manager is frankly undemocratic."
While the potential for greater salaries for future city managers is hotly debated, the topic of redistricting has also surfaced. A subcommittee is discussing whether to enlist an independent redistricting commission to redraw San Antonio's city council districts, aiming to prevent gerrymandering and keep politics at bay. Frank Garza, chairing this subcommittee, promotes a hybrid system, allowing for citizen creation of maps but with final approval by council members. "They’re the ones elected by the residents. They’re the ones that, if a citizen has a complaint about the map, that’s where they go," Garza told the San Antonio Report.
The coming months signal an administrative crossroads for San Antonio, with the Charter Review Commission set to lay down recommendations on these pivotal issues to the City Council — and potentially, back into hands of the electorate.
