Nothing took up more time at Thursday’s meeting than the city’s proposed $500,000 fund for women’s reproductive health. Credit: Shutterstock

San Antonio City Council members have so far shared widely divergent views of a recent analysis that recommended sending their salaries into the six-figure range.

Several said the raise shouldn’t be that high while at least one said the pay could go higher and another said such a hefty salary would be “insensitive” to low-income constituents.

On Monday, the city’s Charter Review Commission subcommittee on council pay and compensation presented a proposal to increase council members’ pay to an annual package between $75,00 and $125,0000. The subcommittee also proposed bumping the mayor’s annual pay to between $90,000 and $140,000.

Those on council now earn a meager $45,722 annual salary, while Mayor Ron Nirenberg pulls in $61,725 a year.

Although both council members and the mayor earn far less than their peers in other large Texas cities, several members of the body said they’re uncomfortable with such steep raises.

“It is insensitive to vulnerable neighbors for us to consider a six-figure salary when so many vulnerable families are barely holding on,” District 8 Councilman Manny Pelaez, a potential mayoral candidate, tweeted Thursday.

On the other hand, District 3’s Phyllis Viagran told KSAT in a statement that council members work 60 hours a week and should be compensated similarly to county commissioners, who earn a starting salary of $150,000.

District 5’s Teri Castillo, District 2’s Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, and District 9 rep and announced mayoral candidate John Courage agree that there should be a pay raise, but not as high as the subcommittee recommends.

McKee-Rodriguez wrote in a February memo that councilmembers’ salaries should be equal to San Antonio’s median income for a four-person household, or about $88,000. Meanwhile, Courage said during Monday’s meeting that $60,000 seemed like an appropriate figure.

Castillo also told KSAT the salary should be based on San Antonians’ median incomes.

“I do believe that look at what the average city of San Antonio resident is earning and evaluating from there would be a great start,” she told the TV station.

The subcommittee has until May to finalize its pay raise proposal to the City Council. If council approves, voters will decide in November whether to let elected officials have a raise.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Mar 6-19, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...