San Antonio’s politically powerful firefighters’ union will fight against a November ballot measure that would eliminate the city-manager tenure and pay limits that the labor organization successfully sought to implement in 2018.
The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association voiced its opposition to Proposition C in a Monday news release. The move sets up an influence battle with RenewSA, a business-backed political action committee that supports the proposition and five other changes to the city code voters will decide on this fall.
“These measures were designed to ensure accountability, fairness, and balance within our city’s administration,” fire union President Joe Jones said in Monday’s release. “Term limits promote a healthy rotation of leadership and fresh perspectives in our city’s governance. Furthermore, tying the City Manager’s salary boundary to the lowest-paid city employee’s wage underscores our commitment to fair and healthy working conditions for all city employees.”
Amid a contentious fight with then-City Manager Sheryl Sculley over a new labor contract, the union six years ago landed a charter amendment on the ballot that would limit future city managers to terms no longer than eight years and hold their salaries to no more than 10 times that of the lowest paid full-time city employee.
Nearly 60% of voters approved the change, and Sculley resigned shortly after.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg and other political and business leaders maintain the limits on the city managers’ pay and salary hinder the city’s ability to attract strong candidates for the job. Current City Manager Erik Walsh has been in the position since 2019, meaning he won’t be required to leave the role until 2027.
Although recent polling suggests most voters are unfamiliar with Prop C and November’s other proposed charter changes, RenewSA plans to spend $1 million pushing for their approval, according to the San Antonio Report.
While the fire union didn’t say how much it’s prepared to outlay in its battle against Prop C, its political action committee listed nearly $920,000 in contributions in its September monthly report.
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This article appears in Sep 18-24, 2024.
