san antonio – Some San Antonio City Council members are resisting the six-figure numbers thrown around in early discussions about pay increases.
City council members' salaries have remained unchanged since salaries were first established in 2015. As a city council member he makes $45,722 and as mayor he makes $61,725. Before that, city council members were paid $20 per meeting.
Current salaries for City Council members are based on median incomes at the time, and many City Council members still continue to work at least part-time outside of city government. Former 7th District Councilwoman Ana Sandoval even cited her salary as one of the reasons she chose to resign from her council seat in early 2023.
Among other issues, Mayor Ron Nirenberg told the Charter Review Commission he formed last fall to increase salaries for City Council members to better reflect the cost of living and “lower barriers to participation in city government.” I was ordered to make a recommendation as to whether or not.
This committee is comprised of a number of prominent community members. The subcommittee investigated not only the work of San Antonio City Council members, but also council compensation in other cities. He also met with former City Council members, including Sandoval.
On Monday, the subcommittee issued interim recommendations. The idea was to select a group of people to base city councilors' salaries on and periodically review their salaries.
The subcommittee cited director-level city employees, whose median salary is $192,582, as an example.
Even if city council members' salaries were set at a fraction of that amount (39% to 72% in the subcommittee example), their salaries could more than double.
Based on the salary ranges included in the subcommittee example, a city council member's salary would be between $75,000 and $125,000, and a mayor's salary would be between $90,000 and $140,000.
In an interview with KSAT, committee co-chair Bonnie Prosser Elder stressed that these numbers are “an example” of how the indexing process works, not actual recommendations. .
“They are still considering other metrics for indexing, because again, we are not final,” she said.
The commission is expected to submit its final recommendations on councilor pay and other issues in June.
Changes to the city charter, including salaries for city council members, would require approval from San Antonio voters. But first, the City Council must decide whether to put these issues on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The decision alone is likely to provoke a political backlash, with some city council members already shying away from the idea of raising salaries at least by the amount offered.
“That should shock the conscience.”
KSAT heard from five of the 11 San Antonio City Council members Wednesday, four of whom thought the subcommittee's example salary range was too high.
Coincidentally, all five members serve on the Planning and Community Development Committee and received a presentation last week on the state of poverty in San Antonio, although not all members attended.
Nearly 252,000 San Antonians, or 17.7% of the city, are estimated to live in poverty, according to city officials.
Councilman John Courage (D-9), who is running for mayor next year, said he doesn't think the community would support a pay increase as large as the one on offer. Instead, the retired teacher said $60,000 to $70,000 “would be reasonable” for city council members and “probably 20% on top of that” because the mayor has additional duties. Ta.
“We're not trying to give a final number, but we want to make sure that whatever we propose as new salaries for councilors and the mayor is something that we believe is also reasonable for the community. I think there is a need,” he said. He said.
City Councilmember Adriana Rocha Garcia (D-4) and Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D-5), who are also considering running for mayor, say salaries should be more in line with the incomes of average residents rather than city executives. said.
Rocha-Garcia said staff told her they had already heard from residents who were upset about the salary levels cited.
“Our job may be at a supervisory level, and we appreciate that. But we also need to be sensitive to what the residents of San Antonio are doing, and we need to be sensitive to what the residents of San Antonio are doing, and we need to be sensitive to what the residents of San Antonio are doing.” I also think we need to make sure that it doesn't happen,” said Rocha Garcia, who teaches at Our Lady of the Lake College.
Rocha Garcia said it “doesn't seem sustainable” to serve on the city council at the current salary level, but the Southwest Side councilman also thinks it's “unsustainable.” It's important that people think that we should always have a side job because we shouldn't be career politicians. ”
But Castillo believes the pay increase should be achieved by “ensuring that every council member is a full-time council member.”
“I work full time as a City Council member and believe that is what all residents of the City of San Antonio should expect from their elected officials,” she said.
One of the most vocal opponents of the wage hike debate was City Councilman Manny Pelaez (D-8), who said it “should shock the conscience.”
Pelaez, a practicing lawyer who is widely expected to run for mayor, believes city councilors' salaries should remain as they are. He also scoffed at the idea that higher salaries would make it easier for inflexible people to serve on city council.
“Many of the people running for city council don't have lucrative jobs or are independently wealthy,” he says.
“We had really solid people working here days before we got our paychecks. Now that we have our paychecks, we can look to the city council and say, “Oh, we're smarter and better because of our paychecks.'' Is there anyone who can say, “There are more talented people with ideas?'' In fact, a record number of people are running for city council. ”
Councilwoman Phyllis Biagran (D3) was an outlier among the five council members, appearing to demand a salary range even higher than the one offered.
“City council members' compensation should be increased,” she said in a short statement emailed by a spokesperson. “It's important to understand that elected officials are exposed to 60-hour work weeks. I believe we should more closely match the salaries of county commissioners.”
The four Bexar County commissioners make $157,500 a year, and the county judge makes $198,920 a year.
A Viagran spokesperson said the Southeast Side City Council member works “very part-time” in technology services for seniors.
further input
Although the Charter Review Commission has more than three months to submit its recommendations to the City Council, Prosser-Elder said the committee “ We are still receiving input from both committee members and the public. ”
The committee's next meeting is scheduled Thursday, March 21st from 5:30pm to 7:30pm at the Central Library. Public comment is expected to result in preliminary recommendations on issues such as the term and salary of the city manager, whether to add more city council districts and whether rezoning should be handled by an independent commission.
For more information on the committee's activities, please visit the city's website.
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