Texas

Repealing city manager limits, higher council pay, and 4-year terms are on San Antonio voters’ Nov. 5 ballots

October 24, 2024
Garrett Brnger

  

Read the latest election and political headlines on the Vote 2024 page. See the full ballot here and information on where to vote here.

A half dozen proposed changes to the San Antonio city charter will be at the end of a lengthy ballot on Nov. 5.

San Antonio voters will be asked whether to pay their council members more, extend their terms and whether to repeal the voter-approved caps on the city manager’s salary and tenure.

The city charter can only be changed every two years, and a charter review commission assembled by Mayor Ron Nirenberg came up with six possible amendments — most of which he had asked the commission to consider.

While council members agreed to put the six questions onto the ballot, it will be up to San Antonio voters whether the changes actually get made. The questions will be at the end of the ballot, after dozens of federal, state, judicial, and county races.

A business community-backed PAC, Renew SA, is running a campaign in favor of all six amendments, which are labled Propositions A through F.

The fire union has come out specifically against Proposition C, which would repeal the limits on the city manager position for which it led the charge in 2018 during a years-long contract battle with the city.

While polling by the UTSA Center for Public Opinion Research found several of the ballot propositions were struggling, Renew SA’s internal polling showed them doing much more favorably.

Read below for a breakdown of each proposition.

A – ETHICS REVIEW BOARD

  • Proposition A would add a definition for “conflicts of interest,” require adequate funding for the board, and authorize the board to accept or decline complaints that have been resolved elsewhere.
  • BALLOT LANGUAGE: Shall Article XIII, entitled Ethics Review Board, of the City Charter be amended to add a definition of “conflicts of interest”; require sufficient funding to the Ethics Review Board so it may perform all its assigned duties, and authorize the Ethics Review Board to accept or decline complaints that have been resolved by an entity other than the Ethics Review Board?

B – LANGUAGE UPDATES

  • Proposition B updates outdated and superseded language, but is not meant to make any substantive change.
  • BALLOT LANGUAGE: Shall the following sections of the City Charter be amended to revise or eliminate provisions which have been superseded by state law and to update archaic language to current usage: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 53a, 54, 55, 56, 58, 67, 68, Article V.A., 69, 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, Article VIII, 112, 117, 119, 121, 122, 123, 123A, 124, 125, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, and 136?

C – CITY MANAGER PAY & TERM

  • Proposition C would remove both caps and allow the city council to set the terms of the city manager’s contract.
  • 59% of San Antonio voters in Nov. 2018 approved capping the city manager’s pay at 10 times the lowest-paid city employee’s. They also voted to limit the city manager to serving eight years in the position.
  • Under the current caps, City Manager Erik Walsh has a $374,000 salary (based on the city’s $18 per hour starting wage) and must leave the role by March 2027.
  • BALLOT LANGUAGE: Shall the Charter of the City of San Antonio be amended to grant to City Council the authority to set the full terms of the City Manager’s employment including tenure and compensation?

D – POLITICAL ACTIVITY FOR CITY EMPLOYEES

  • Proposition D would allow city employees to participate in local political activity while protecting against retribution.
  • A general prohibition on participating in local political activity would remain for the City Leadership Team.
  • Civilian city employees are not currently allowed to participate in local council or mayoral campaigns, though members of the fire and police unions can.
  • BALLOT LANGUAGE: Shall the Charter of the City of San Antonio be amended to allow City employees to participate in local political activity consistent with State and Federal law while protecting employees against political retribution and maintaining a general prohibition on participation in local political activity for the city leadership team?

E – COUNCIL PAY RAISE

  • Proposition E would raise council and mayor salaries to $70,200 and $87,800 starting with council members elected in May 2025.
  • Future raises would be based on the HUD Income Limits (80% and 100% for a family of four) for the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Area.
  • The council member and mayor salaries were set in $45,722 and $61,725 in 2015, based on the area median income at the time, but did not include a way to adjust for inflation.
  • BALLOT LANGUAGE: Shall the Charter of the City of San Antonio be amended to set and limit the compensation for City Council members and the Mayor at $70,200 and $87,800 annually with annual future adjustments to correlate to the United States Housing and Urban Development 4-member household median income for San Antonio, and authorize a Council member or the Mayor to decline any or all of the established compensation?

F – COUNCIL TERM LENGTHS

  • Proposition F would create four-year terms, beginning with the May 2025 election. Council members would still be limited to eight years in office.
  • Five current council members, including some who plan to run for mayor, could be forced out mid-term in the future to avoid going past the eight-year term limit. Their terms would be filled by the winners of special elections
  • Council members currently serve two-year terms and are limited to eight years in office. The 10 council members and mayor are all elected concurrently.
  • BALLOT LANGUAGE: Shall the Charter of the City of San Antonio be amended to extend the terms of all elected members of City Council, including the Mayor, from two (2) years to four (4) years and changing the term limits from four (4) full terms to two (2) full terms while keeping the terms concurrent?

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