SAN ANTONIO – All six amendments to San Antonio’s city charter passed easily Tuesday night, including pay raises for council members, longer terms, and removing the caps on the city manager’s position.
The changes don’t become official until the San Antonio City Council canvasses the results on Nov. 19 but not all of them take effect right away.
PROP A — Ethics Review Board
The first proposition adds a definition for conflicts of interest and allows the Ethics Review Board to decline taking up an ethics complaint if it was handled somewhere else, such as a Human Resources investigation against a city employee.
Both are changes on paper that take effect immediately.
The proposition also calls for the ERB to get adequate funding. City Attorney Andy Segovia said it already has that and that measure is more about looking forward.
PROP B — Updating language
This only changes outdated language and portions superseded by state law. The changes will happen immediately, but there is no substantive effect on city operations.
PROP C — City manager pay & tenure
Under caps set by voters in 2018, the city manager is not currently allowed to have a salary higher than 10 times that of the lowest-paid city employee, and they have to leave the position after eight years.
Current City Manager Erik Walsh’s salary of $374,400 is based on the minimum $18 per hour starting wage for the city, and he would have to leave by March 2027. Or, at least, he did.
The ticking clock on his time as city manager will stop immediately, but a pay raise likely won’t come until city council does his yearly evaluation around the end of the year.
PROP D — Employee political activity
Police officers and firefighters can already participate in local campaigns. Now, most civilian employees will be able to, too.
Once the vote is canvassed on Nov. 19, most city employees can volunteer with whatever council or mayoral campaign they choose. They will not be allowed to do it on city time, though, or use city resources.
Top city staffers, from department heads upwards, are still barred from participating in local campaigns.
Prop D also includes a prohibition on retaliation for political activity, either from the employees’ bosses in the city ranks or from elected officials.
PROP E — Council & Mayor pay
The pay raises for council members and the mayor won’t hit this council’s bank accounts. Instead, they’ll take effect with the next 11 members sworn in June.
- COUNCIL: $70,200 (up from $45,722)
- MAYOR: $87,800 (up from $61,725)
Prop E also tied future changes to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development four-member household median income for the San Antonio metropolitan area (80% and 100%).
Segovia said it was designed so there’s no discussion or discretion. Each year, the pay is adjusted as soon as the city receives those numbers.
PROP F — Council term length
The length of a council or mayoral term will double from two years to four years, beginning with the winners of the May 2025 election.
However, the overarching cap of eight years in office will remain.
If any sitting council members are in danger of going over the eight-year limit, they would have to leave office partway through their final term. A special election would then be held for someone to complete their remaining two years.
Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) and Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) are both in their third term on council but are unlikely to be affected. Rocha Garcia is already running for mayor, and Cabello Havrda has said she plans to run.
Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), Councilwoman Mariana Alderete Gavito (D7) and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) are all in their first terms and could eventually bump up against the eight-year cap if they continue to be re-elected.
Members currently on their second terms — like Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3) and Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) — are finishing their second terms on city council now and aren’t in danger of breaking the cap.
More coverage of the City of San Antonio’s charter amendments on KSAT: