San Antonio's City Charter Review Commission is pushing bold moves, recommending nearly doubling the pay for City Council members and ditching salary caps for the city manager. This came after months of study and amid a budget crisis that could force the city to cut jobs, according to the San Antonio Report. The commission's push didn't sway in the face of City Hall drama where a group of council members accused top city officials of shutting them out of contract talks with the fire department.
At a recent meeting marked by public sparring among city officials, the recommendations were finally approved. They suggest raising council salaries from $45,700 to $80,000 and amending the terms of service eligibility from four two-year terms to two four-year terms. The Charter Review Commission's actions come as the city faces a looming $10.6 million budget shortfall.
Andrew Vicencio, an army vet, pointed out at the commission meeting that, unlike council members, firefighters risk their lives for an annual $62,000. "Last I checked, the City Council members don’t carry people out of a burning building," Vicencio told the commission. Nevertheless, the proposals will be on the Nov. 5 ballot for voter approval.
The commission also wants to free up the city manager's salary, currently capped at 10 times the wage of the lowest-paid city employee. The contentious cap was a result of a firefighter union campaign against then-City Manager Sheryl Sculley. Ex-City Attorney Frank Garza, part of the commission, was keen on eliminating the tenure cap of the city manager, saying in their meeting, "While all the committee’s works have been very important to me, this is the priority."
Questions abound on whether these changes will hold up when residents vote, especially as budget debates heat up with expected cuts. The commission believes the salary increases could be balanced by savings from less frequent elections. Former City Attorney Andy Segovia has come under fire outside City Hall as Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez questioned his "fitness" for the role, possibly stirring negative public sentiment regarding the charter amendments.
Luisa Casso and Josh Baugh of the Charter Review Commission are unfazed by the need for public support for their recommendations, with Baugh stating, "There's going be a whole other process with a different group of people that come together for a political campaign.".
Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce head Jeff Webster threw his support behind reshaping the city manager's position. "There are a lot of challenging things happening [in] this community," Webster said at the meeting. "But this is something to help move our city forward when we talk about who are our next elected officials."
