SAN ANTONIO – Sheryl Sculley, the former city manager of San Antonio, surely has people’s attention with the title of her new book, “Greedy Bastards: One City’s Texas-sized Struggle to Avoid a Financial Crisis.”
Sculley, who served as city manager from 2005 to 2019, helped champion new labor contracts with the police and firefighter unions.
“Well, trying to change the 25 year old union contracts that had been in place for a very long time was a hardball experience. And I think the title reflects that,” Sculley said.
Sculley said the cost of the contracts would have eventually consumed “100% of the city’s general fund budget” in 2031 if nothing was changed.
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The collective bargaining agreement with the San Antonio Police Officers Association, which was approved in 2016, saved the city and taxpayers more than $100 million, Sculley said. The contract expires on Sept. 30, 2021.
The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association’s collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 31, 2024.
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Sculley said she wrote the book to help San Antonio residents understand the financial strain the city was experiencing and the importance of changing the contracts.
“And also as a guide for other city managers, elected officials in cities that are looking to undertake these kinds of changes because cities across the country are faced with some of the very same issues,” she said.
Sculley said more work still needs to be done -- specifically providing San Antonio Police Chief William McManus more “control over the discipline of officers and officers who’ve committed egregious acts.”
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“Greedy Bastards” will be available on Aug. 11. Click here to read the introduction.