The six city charter propositions this year range in topic from the political activity of city employees to raising the salary of city leaders, including the mayor.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio will soon await the results of Election Day, where voters were also asked to weigh in on several possible changes to the city charger in addition to headlining political races.
So far, with Bexar County reporting the early vote returns as well as numbers from 82 of 302 voting centers, each of those six ballot propositions are in position to pass—including proposals to raise the salaries of City Council members and the mayor.
Thus far, results are tightest on propositions to remove the cap on city manager tenure and adjusting council member terms.
Below is a breakdown of the propositions. Click here for updates on all other races, from the White House contest to Bexar County campaigns.
Proposition A: Enhancing the city’s ethics process
Prop A would strengthen and enhance the city’s process of dealing with ethics. The measure would add a definition of “conflicts of interest” which is not currently defined. It would also more funding to the Ethics Review Board and would allow the board to review complaints already addressed by other agencies.
Proposition B: Modernizing language
This proposition would update the charter’s language and replace outdated terms. The ballot measure does not specify which language would be replaced, but cites sections that contain archaic language. There’s a lot of them.
Proposition C: City manager term and pay
This measure would remove a cap that is currently in place. The cap for salary is set at ten times the lowest paid city employee with a term limit of eight years. This ballot item would the City Council to determine the city manager’s pay and term length.
Proposition D: City employee political activity
City employees are currently restricted on political activity, but this measure would remove some of those limits. It would allow city employees to participate in politics as long as it was not during work hours or using city resources. The city leadership team, including senior city leaders, would still be subject to higher restrictions on political activity.
Proposition E: City Council, mayoral pay
The proposition would increase the pay for city council members and for the mayor of San Antonio. Currently, city council members earn $45,722 and the proposition would raise it to $70,200. The mayor currently makes $61,725 per year and this would raise the salary to $87,800. The ballot measure would allow the salaries to adjust in the future based on federal guidelines of median household income for San Antonio.
Proposition F: City Council terms
This proposition would change the term length for a city council member and mayor from two years to four years. It would also change the term limits from four two-year terms to two four-year terms. The limit of eight years total would still be in place.