BY PARKS KUGLE & ERIC WEILBACHER
Proposition F
What they’re saying
District 10 council member Whyte said he is not in favor of the extended terms. “The positive is less elections, which would save the city some money, but I’m for two—keeping it at two years—because we are the closest level of government to the people, and to have to wait four years to change … if [a council member is] not doing a good job, in my opinion, is too long,” Whyte said.
City Council members are currently elected to two-year terms and can be re-elected four times. District 9 council member John Courage said it is difficult for council members to see city projects through from start to finish within the current sys- tem, and supports the switch to four-year terms. “I see two four-year terms enabling a council member to be, I think, more effective over the long term, and I think even more efficient,” Courage said.
Gervais said attracting top talent into city government is one of the major priorities of the charter amendments. Because the city manager’s pay has already reached its limit of 10 times the salary of the lowest-paid full-time city employee, passing Proposition C would allow the city to compete with other major cities in Texas for top talent.
Election turnover on City Council 2017-2023 More than one dot shows changes that occurred mid-term.
“We need to make sure we're in a situation in San Antonio where we can hire and retain the very
Re-elected Newly elected Appointed/resigned
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best talent in order to be our city manager.” JOHN COURAGE, DISTRICT 9 COUNCIL MEMBER
2017 2019 2021 2023
SOURCE: CITY OF SAN ANTONIO/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Stay tuned
Proposition D
Sepulveda said the upcoming vote is important for San Antonians to determine the city's path forward. With the presidential election and other national and statewide races, Sepulveda said that he hopes the charter amendments do not get lost. “Can I persuade you to actually go vote, and then even if you’re in the ballot box, can I get you to stick around for the whole thing?” Sepulveda said.
Luke Simons, communications manager for San Antonio, said the city of Austin has similar language to what is in the proposition. Juan Sepulveda, a political science professor at Trinity University, said there are exceptions to who is allowed to engage politically. “It’s not going to be for 100% of all city employ- ees. City executives are still going to be restricted, but this is going to allow the bulk of the frontline employees to be able to do work in politics after hours,” Sepulveda said.
The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2021, a union of San Antonio city employees, pushed to allow city employees to participate in local elections, which culminated into Proposition D. That measure would allow them to participate in local politics. “It’s something that these folks have been after for a while, believing that they should have a voice in the political process,” Whyte said. “The majority of the council felt like allowing them to participate was the right thing to do.”
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