A group of San Antonio business leaders held a press conference in support of Proposition C on Monday morning. The charter amendment, which is on the ballot this fall, would remove salary and tenure caps San Antonio residents voted to place on the San Antonio city manager in 2018.
The city manager can only serve for eight years under current restrictions, and their salary cannot exceed 10 times the lowest-paid salaried city employee. That’s currently about $370,000. City Manager Erik Walsh will be termed out in 2027 if the restrictions remain.
The San Antonio Business Coalition, the group’s name, is composed of CEOs, executive directors, and leaders of trade associations and chambers of commerce.
Gilbert Gonzalez is the CEO of the San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR) and a member of the coalition. He said the caps do harm to the city beyond the city manager.
“When this ordinance first passed [back] then, it downgraded our bond rating, and we know if we don’t take actions to change it now, then it will again affect our bond rating, which will have an effect on the city’s ability to borrow money,” Gonzalez said.
Fitch downgraded San Antonio’s bond rating from the highest level — AAA — to AA+ in 2018 after voters approved the city manager restrictions as well as a charter amendment that forced the city to engage in an arbitration process San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association (SAPFFA) if union contract talks broke down.
The other two major bond rating agencies Moody and Standard & Poor’s did not downgrade the city’s bond rating. All three agencies have maintained their ratings for San Antonio since 2018.
Lower bond ratings, like the AA+, mean higher interest rates for loans the city takes out. That leads to higher overall costs to the city on those loans.
Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jeff Webster said Prop C was also about where power to manage the city manager should lie.
“We gotta keep in mind that we want to put that authority to hire and fire immediately, or in [the] long term, in the hands of city council,” Webster said. “That group should be deciding if and when and how long a city manager serves, not just an arbitrary term or limits.”
Almost every member of council spoke in favor of Prop C when they approved the charter amendments for the November ballot. They said the caps will make it harder for them to bring in top talent because potential applicants will know they can only serve for eight years and only make a certain amount of money.
Opponents to Prop C, including the fire union, have said the limits are about fairness and compared the term limit to the eight-year term limits elected officials in the city also have.
A statement from SAPFFA president Joe Jones from early October explained their reasoning to oppose the charter amendment.
“These measures were designed to ensure accountability, fairness, and balance within our city’s administration,” he said. “Our advocacy is rooted in the principles of progressive leadership and is not personal against any current City leadership.”
The 2018 charter amendment was proposed during a bitter contract fight between the fire union and the previous city manager Sheryl Sculley. The fire union membership ratified their first collective bargaining agreement since 2009 last month. That contract included 20% raises for firefighters over three years.
Business leaders are not pushing on an open door with their advocacy — a September poll from UTSA’s Center for Public Opinion Research found that nearly 70% of polled voters opposed the charter amendment.
Early voting began today, and Election Day is November 5.
