SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council appears ready to ask voters to raise their pay and extend their terms, though the finer points haven’t been hammered out yet.
After a months-long process by the mayor’s Charter Review Commission and two council discussions, the city council is expected to vote Aug. 8 to add several proposed charter amendments to the Nov. 5 ballot. But after the second discussion Thursday morning, it’s still not clear exactly how much the raises will be or how the transition from two-year to four-year terms might be handled.
The $45,722 and $61,725 salaries for the council members and mayor, respectively, haven’t been updated since they were put into effect in 2015, based on the area median income at the time.
The mayor’s Charter Review Commission had originally discussed raises possibly reaching into the six-figure range. But its final recommendation in June was to raise the salaries to $80,000 and $95,000, respectively, and to adjust them in the future based on raises given to the city’s civilian employees.
Council members appear to be considering a lower raise. The proposal on Thursday was for raising the pay to $58,000 and $73,000, respectively, and tying future raises to the city’s area median income in the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
Supporters of raising council pay generally frame it as a way to make the positions more accessible to regular San Antonio residents, not just those with their own businesses or additional income streams.
However, council members still appeared split Wednesday on whether the raises were enough, too much, or even if they should be tied to a different pay scale - like the levels calculated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“We use it for everything else. I think it makes sense,” said Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2).
The latest HUD AMI levels are higher — $62,000 for a one-person household in 2024 and $88,500 for a four-person household — but city staff noted the numbers are based on the wider metropolitan area, not just within the San Antonio city limits.
Four-year terms a possibility
Council members were broadly supportive of a switch to four-year terms instead of the current two-year cycle, but they appeared split on some details.
The Charter Review Commission had recommended keeping all 11 council positions on the same election cycle, but several council members supported a staggered approach, voicing concerns of an entirely new council coming in at one time.
Some, like Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5), though, worried that the districts on the same cycle as the mayor’s race would get an advantage in voter turnout.
Plus, by transitioning to a four-year cycle, about half of the current council members could possibly run into the eight-year term limit mid-term.
Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) and Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) are both in their third term on council, though they’re both considering mayoral runs. Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), Councilwoman Mariana Alderete Gavito (D7), and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) are all in their first term.
As a transition measure in the current proposal, those council members would be able to still run for a full four-year term after reaching six years on council, meaning they could potentially serve 10 years.
Multiples council members, though, suggested it would be better for any of those council members to max out at eight years and hold special elections to fill any remaining time in their terms.
The council is also considering charter amendments for various changes the Ethics Review Board, doing away with the caps on the city manager’s pay and tenure, and allowing city employees to participate in local political campaigns.
Despite the more than hour-and-a-half discussion Thursday, Nirenberg told reporters he expected only “minor tweaks” in the language before next week’s vote.
Last-minute additions?
Cabello Havrda tried to slide a pair of additional amendments into the conversation Thursday, though Nirenberg moved to quash further discussion.
The District 6 councilwoman, who has said she plans to run for mayor, proposed adding elected positions to the CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System boards and giving the city council, rather than the city manager, hiring power for the city attorney position. Alternatively, she said the council could have the power to hire its own city attorney.
“Throughout this process we’ve been focusing on propositions that direct directly impacts City Hall operations and our government officials,” Cabello Havrda said. “While these are important changes to the city charter, we’re missing opportunities to propose amendments that directly affect our residents daily lives. We need propositions that empower the people we serve. Not just the way we serve them.”
Nirenberg, though, told council members they should stick to the proposed amendments in front of them. He allowed comments on a separate proposal for earmarking funds for children’s programs, which had come up during the Charter Review Commission’s meetings, but said “I think it would be a disservice to our community and to the process if we just make this an open season on any idea that you all have to put on the ballot.”
Whyte, who had joined Cabello Havrda in a direct challenge to City Attorney Andy Segovia earlier this year, supported her position on changing the city attorney hiring process, and Kaur said she supported adding elected positions to the utility boards.
Whyte also confirmed with Segovia that council members would have the option to add items during the Aug. 8 vote.