San Antonio’s next city manager will be hired through a public, transparent process early next year, Mayor Ron Nirenberg told reporters Wednesday evening after he discussed the process with City Council colleagues.
Update: The job description and application instructions were posted online Thursday evening on the City’s website here.
The deadline to apply is Jan. 3, Nirenberg said, and he expects the City will have a new top executive in place by the end of that month. Internal and external candidates may apply, he added, but the City will not be hiring an executive search firm.
“We have an executive recruiter here in the City’s organization who will handle it,” he said, and City Council will make the final decision.
The City will have to work within the boundaries of new rules surrounding compensation and term limits for future city managers that were approved by voters Nov. 6. Total annual compensation cannot exceed 10 times that of the lowest-paid full-time City employee (or roughly $300,000) and can serve in that role for eight years at most. A supermajority vote by Council is now also required to approve their contract.
“We are abiding by the spirit of what the voters of San Antonio said with Proposition B,” Nirenberg said. “There’s not going to be any flouting of that. … We will stay within the specificity of Proposition B.”
It’s legally unclear if the next contract could add on bonuses and other benefits to the position that exceeds the limit that Proposition B imposed, he said.
Outgoing City Manager Sheryl Sculley, who has held the position for 13 years, has a $475,000 salary and other benefits. She has declined to accept an up to $100,000 performance bonus this year. Sculley has agreed to help the new city manager transition into the position but will stay no later than June 30.
“If we do have an internal candidate selected as the next city manager, I would expect the transition would be much shorter,” Nirenberg said. “It’s not restricted to just internal candidates, but I would expect our most competitive applicants will be here in the city.”
There will be a “public symposium” during which residents can hear from the candidates, Nirenberg said, likely in late January. The City will also release a list of applicants.
The campaign season for the next City election will start in earnest in January, and most seats have already begun to attract challengers. The new city manager could have a new team of bosses after the May election.
“I have no concerns at all [about that] because voters elect their representatives to get the work done professionally and thoughtfully, and that’s what the next Council will be obligated to do,” Nirenberg said, adding that he thinks it’s possible to get a unanimous decision from the current members.
Requirements for the job, as posted on the city’s website, are:
- A bachelor’s degree in public administration, or related field. A master’s degree is strongly preferred;
- Ten (10) years of progressively responsible, high-level administrative experience to include six (6) years of experience as a Deputy City Manager / Assistant City Manager / Department Director in comparable
municipal government; - Must have experience managing multiple departments;
- Must have demonstrated experience in fiscal stewardship, leadership and development, strategic planning and organization, succession planning, dynamic thinking and community engagement;
- Must be a resident of the City of San Antonio during entire tenure.
Councilman Greg Brockhouse (D6), who will likely run for mayor next year, said the process should have been discussed in a public session.
Brockhouse agreed that the process should be open to the public. “Total transparency is key,” he said. “No closed door meetings. … We don’t need to politicize the hiring process on this at all.”
“It’s legally unclear if the next contract could add on bonuses…”
With this bonus issue unresolved, can the city offer a manager
candidate the “roughly $300,000” example in this article, or $400,000,
including a $100,000 bonus opportunity? Where is our City Attorney
when we need him — Andy Segovia (whose boss is Sheryl Sculley)?
Clearly, Council’s City Manager compensation thinking is not ready for
prime time!
Actually, Stan, it’s the CM compensation itself that is not ready for prime candidates. Did you see the RR article yesterday or day before about Alamo Hts CM taking the CM job in Schertz (population 41,000) with a salary of $180,000. SA’s new CM will get $300,000 max. for managing a city of 1.5 million. Tiny Schertz pays its CM relatively more than big ol’ SA? Really????
Phoenix’s city manager makes $315,000 a year. Phoenix is larger than San Antonio.
Ballot language .. “Shall the City Charter be amended .. to limit the compensation of the City Manager to no more than ten times the annual salary furnished to the lowest paid full-time city employee .. ?” Pretty clear. What will Nirenberg try next .. to say that ten times might mean 11 times and that 8 years might really mean 9 years ?
See : https://www.thebalancecareers.com/compensation-definition-and-inclusions-1918085 – (explains what compensation means, something Nirenberg and Segovia apparently are having difficulty with) ..
Compensation is defined as the total amount of the monetary and non-monetary pay provided to an employee by an employer in return for work performed as required. Essentially, it’s a combination of the value of your pay, vacation, BONUSES, health insurance, and any other perk you may receive, such as free lunches, free events, and parking. These components are encompassed when you define compensation. Compensation is TOTAL amount of monetary and non-monetary pay and includes bonuses. To say otherwise, is to go against the intent of the voters to limit the pay of the CM to 10 times the annual salary of the lowest paid employee. RE: Council, we need to throw ’em out in May if they don’t abide by the vote of the people. The ballot language did not say salary, it said compensation.
This is a terrible way to hire a City Manager!
If you hold a ‘public symposium’, aren’t you in effect electing the CM by public acclimation?
Would you hire a plumber this way?
According to 20 CFR 211.2 – Definition of compensation.
(b) Compensation includes, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Salary, wages AND bonuses;
The ballot language stated the compensation (which INCLUDES bonuses) for the CM should be 10x the salary of the lowest paid employee. It is very clear. To try and make a case that it is unclear, is preposterous, unless Nirenberg and Segovia are trying to redefine compensation. Perhaps they will try and say 10 times actually means 11 times. Or they may try to redefine an 8 year term to be 10 years. The voters understood what the intent of the Proposition was. It was NOT unclear. It was VERY clear ! Segovia and Nirenberg may try to make a legal case but such action would be unethical, IMHO.
The duty of the City Manager is to provide his/her assistance to the mayor and council. Sculley went beyond that and that was her downfall.
All decisions on running the City should come from elected council representatives responding to the needs of their constituents, not the CM.
Agreed. It’s the Manager’s position to manage the employees and carry out the decisions of the elected representatives.
City Attorney Segovia allows Mayor Nirenberg to allege, “It is legally unclear if the next contract could add on bonuses…that exceed the limit that Proposition B imposed…” As the result, Mayor N breathlessly pursues a new City Manager without a workable compensation plan to offer because Andy has not defined “compensatio.” But “As far as the IRS is concerned, bonus income is the same as your regular income.” Case closed, Andy? Bonus income i’s a problem only if you make it a problem.