Voters approved of all six ballot propositions updating the city charter, including one that San Antonio’s fire union was campaigning against.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio voters made their voices heard on Election Day, approving all six proposed updates to the city charter that will boost the pay of council members and the mayor; remove term and salary caps for the city manager position; and allow city employees to participate in political activities.
The remain ballot propositions will update the ethics complaints investigation process, remove outdated language and adjust city council members’ term limits from four two-year terms to two four-year terms.
With Bexar County reporting the early vote returns as well as figures from 243 of 302 voting centers, each of those six ballot propositions remain in position to pass. The tightest race is still Proposition F, concerning term limits for council members and the mayor.
Below is a breakdown of the propositions and where numbers stand. 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This proposition would update the charter’s language and replace outdated terms.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.